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One of the main concerns for the Milwaukee Bucks is handling the future of NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo. There is no assurance whether he'll stay or request a trade following a third straight season where the Bucks were eliminated in the first round. Other than that, there are other businesses the organization has to take care of.
The Bucks are still determined to surround Antetokounmpo with a competitive group to help them contend for a title. The organization still believes in Milwaukee's chances of bringing another championship while the Greek Freak is in his prime.
However, ESPN's Bobby Marks revealed that improving the current group could be difficult for the front office.
The Bucks lack depth, which was the problem in the postseason. Marks said that Milwaukee cannot trade multiple first-round picks at this point. Additionally, the only draft asset the franchise can trade is between the 2031 and 2032 picks.
Also, if Antetokounmpo chooses to stay, the team's payroll might be a disadvantage. The Bucks will owe the 2021 Finals MVP, Damian Lillard and Kyle Kuzma $130 million next season. That leaves only $34 million of the team's $164 million salary.
Additionally, the Bucks will have some of their most important role players up for a new deal. Most of them are set to be free agents over the summer.
"Lopez, Bobby Portis, Taurean Prince, Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. all could become free agents this summer. (Portis and Porter have player options.)" Marks wrote.
But the NBA insider revealed that there are positives for the Bucks next season. The organization can add players through free agency and trade because of its financial situation.
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Mikal Bridges Embraces Knicks After Extension
One of the New York Knicks' biggest remaining offseason questions was finally settled last week, with their most pressing extension candidate finally getting the long term deal he's been seeking. Mikal Bridges agreed on a four-year, $150 million contract extension, signaling the joint interest the parties have in making it work long-term. Bridges wasn't the cleanest fit in his first year with the Knicks, but New York bet on his pedigree and opted to roll with the asset in locking down a major piece on a potential Finals team. The Knicks were excited to clean up some of the questions about how their finances would be allocated going forward, and as it turned out, that excitement was mutual. Bridges posted a picture of his playing in Madison Square Garden not long after, sending some direct appreciation to his team. The settlement now locks the Knicks' entire starting lineup in through the 2028-29 season, giving this core several more whacks at winning it all in the vastly weaker Eastern Conference. Their top six players are all returning, and they've already spent the summer consolidating the bench while finding a head coach better suited for the score-first core in Mike Brown. Questions still abound concerning whether the Knicks have enough defenders to make the Jalen Brunson-Karl-Anthony Towns pairing work on defense, but the hypothetical version of Bridges should be enough to make their jobs easier alongside fellow wing defender OG Anunoby. Should Bridges rediscover some of his old defensive mastery while scoring at a more efficient clip in a role that better suits his game, this contract could look like a steal by decade's end, as their star forward no longer has reason to worry about his security.
Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love Just Put the 'Aaron Rodgers Is a Bad Teammate' Narrative to Bed Once and For All
The story is very familiar to Green Bay Packers fans: when the team decided to select Aaron Rodgers in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft, their incumbent quarterback, Brett Favre, was not happy. And he let everyone know about it, including his successor. For his part, Rodgers kept his head down and picked up whatever he could from watching the eventual Hall of Famer play the quarterback position. Fast forward 15 years to 2020, and Rodgers found himself in the same position as Favre: feeling like he was on top of his game, but seeing Green Bay take his eventual successor in the NFL Draft. That, of course, was Jordan Love, the current Packers starting quarterback. Green Bay Packers Quarterback Jordan Love, Once Again, Describe How Well Aaron Rodgers Treated Him Over the past several years, there has been a narrative pushed by many members of the national media that Rodgers is a bad teammate. Some of these claims started to pop up during his final years with the Packers, but they gained steam and notoriety while he was with the New York Jets. The only problem with these claims is that they hardly ever came from players that actually were teammates with Rodgers. And, for his part, Love has always praised his predecessor for how welcoming he was despite the narrative surrounding them immediately following the 2020 NFL Draft. In his recent post on the Players Tribune, Love once again praised Rodgers for what he did for him as a mentor and teammate: “I don’t think it really set in for me until I started doing interviews, and every question was basically, ‘What about Aaron?’ “In my mind, I was like, ‘What do you mean? He’s one of the best to ever do it. I’m about to learn everything I can from this dude.’ “But before me and Aaron could even talk, the narrative was rolling. And it’s so crazy to me, because from the jump, Aaron was great with me. He laid out how he was in my same situation, and that he wanted to make sure there was no hostility. I told him I just wanted to learn and soak it all in. “I mean, I’d been a QB2 for a lot of my life. For me, it was nothing new. It was perfect, actually. Think about it: you’re coming into this league at 21 years old. It’s a different world. I’m not even talking about just football. You have to be able to command a room and know how to talk to different guys, how to motivate them — what to say, what not to say. I got to watch Aaron and how he handled those situations, and that was invaluable.” Love went on to describe how he learned from watching his legendary predecessor, how he picked up on when defenses were making substitutions too late, how he built chemistry with Davante, how he “manipulated” defenses instead of just “playing” against them. He also said that the biggest thing he learned from Rodgers was that the most important thing in the NFL, in games, in practices, in everything, is to be consistent. And when it came time for Love to take over as the Packers starting quarterback, he knew what was expected. So did his mother, he told him, “Big shoes to fill. You going to be alright? You gotta play good, or they’ll get another quarterback.” Fortunately, for Love and the Packers, he has been as good as they could have hoped and continues to get better. And Rodgers’ mentoring and welcoming demeanor played a big role in that.
Cowboys former first-round pick forced to leave practice due to injury
Injuries have been a prevailing theme for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. They’re still without Trevon Diggs, Shavon Revel Jr., and Josh Butler, which has thinned out the secondary. On offense, they’ve had better luck but still lost starting left tackle Tyler Guyton for several weeks. Now another projected starter had to leave practice on Monday. 2023 first-round pick Mazi Smith had to visit the medical tent, then headed to the locker room following the examination from the team’s medical staff. Smith is entering his third season in the league, and can ill-afford to miss time. He’s been struggling to hold down a starting spot and enters the preseason in danger of losing his job. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 337 pounds, Smith was brought in to be a run-stuffing nose tackle. Through two years, he’s been unable to find his footing, recording 54 tackles and two sacks. It’s not fair to place all of the blame on Smith, however. He’s been asked to perform different roles under three different defensive coordinators. Dan Quinn had him playing as an attacking 3-tech in 2023 while Mike Zimmer placed him in a more traditional 1-tech role. Smith performed better under Zimmer, but is asked to do more attacking under new coordinator Matt Eberflus, which has put his struggles front and center once again. Should he miss extensive time with this injury, it could be devastating to his chances of keeping the starting job.
Matt LaFleur sheds light on concerning Tucker Kraft situation
The Green Bay Packers continued work on the field on Saturday, with tens of thousands of fans in attendance watching amid the annual Family Night. However, one notable player who was not able to make it to the field and practice was tight end Tucker Kraft. The former South Dakota State Jackrabbits star is nursing a lower-body injury, forcing the Packers to take it easy on the tight end and keep him on the shelf rather than risk aggravation of the issue. Speaking to the media, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur opened up about Kraft’s status, via Green Bay reporter Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “MLF said Tucker Kraft has been dealing with a groin injury and powering through it for the last two days but they decided to give him a couple days off.” Kraft is expected to be among the major targets in the Packers’ passing attack in his third year in the pros. Selected in the third round (78th overall) by the Packers in the 2023 NFL draft, the 24-year-old Kraft is looking to surpass his production in 2024, when he posted 707 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 50 receptions.
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