Gary Trent Jr. and Bobby Portis are both returning to the Bucks.
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LAS VEGAS — As long as two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo dons the green and cream, the big picture is always going to be most important for the Milwaukee Bucks.
For that reason, large ideas took up Part 1 of The Athletic’s conversation with Bucks general manager Jon Horst. The outlook for next season, including an overview of the offseason, the vision moving forward and potential changes to the team’s style of play, were the first topics on the docket, but the new collective bargaining agreement has made all of the small details crucial. If the team is going to find success in the coming years, they will need players up and down the roster to make an impact and outperform their contracts.
Those minor details make up the second part of the conversation. Rather than taking a closer look at the rationale behind signing free-agent center Myles Turner, today’s conversation takes a closer look at the importance of the team’s shooting guards, the upside in a point guard room headlined by three players younger than 25, improving the situation for the veterans on the wing and what the return of fan favorite Bobby Portis could mean to the Bucks this season.
(This interview was lightly edited for clarity.)
In the first part of this interview, we talked about the importance of surrounding Antetokounmpo with 3-point shooters. You’ve decided to bring back Gary Trent Jr., and you’ll also have AJ Green. How much did their strong playoff performances mean to you in committing to them in the future and maybe their projections moving forward?
From an analytics perspective, I care a great deal about the data; you know that. You want a big enough sample size where it’s not a bet, but a certainty. I don’t know that we have that level of sample size on some of those lineups yet, but I will tell you that in the playoffs and throughout the course of the regular season, some of our highest net rating lineups, both because they were elite offensively and they were very good defensively, had AJ Green, Gary Trent, Giannis, Kevin Porter Jr. and Bobby Portis in them. And, in fact, the AJ, Gary, Kevin, and Giannis lineup, that four-man lineup, was as good as any four-man lineup against the Pacers the entire playoffs.
Now, I wish that it would have been more than the first round and we moved on and they didn’t. So we didn’t get to test that as much as we wanted, but sometimes you have to take as much information as you have and make the best bets that you can. So, there’s some data — not as much as I would like — behind those lineups, that style of play and what it can do against really, really hard teams to guard against and play against like the Indiana Pacers, who went to the NBA Finals and lost in seven games. So there’s no question that we took that sample size, we took the sample size for the regular season that we had, and we went in and we bet on it.
I think Gary Trent had his two best games of the season, maybe, in our two most important games of the season. In two closeout opportunities, the guy played unbelievable. And AJ Green was unbelievable also, and I think that says a lot about them. And don’t forget, these guys are 25, 26 years old, so they’re just entering their prime. And so I think the best is in front of those guys. I’m happy about them. They’re not just shooters. They’re tough, physical guys that can grind and defend, make a play off the bounce and those guys are going to be a lot better this year than they were last year.
AJ Green has been extension-eligible for more than a week now. What have those conversations been like and how confident are you that you will be able to get an extension done with him?
First and foremost, the day that he became officially eligible to have extension conversations, he was the first call I made. I called him. We didn’t dive deep into negotiations, but I just told him how much we love him, believe in him, and want him here long term. And I did the same thing with his agent, Matt Bollero, who I love and respect in this business.
And so we’ve already made the contact. AJ wants to be here, AJ wants to figure something out. Obviously, we’ve got to figure a deal out and we have the whole season to do it. I hope it doesn’t take that long. I think they hope it doesn’t take that long either, but as the dust starts to settle on a pretty busy offseason, that’ll be the most important thing for us to figure out with AJ. And I know he feels the same about trying to figure it out with us.
At the trade deadline last season, you acquired Kevin Porter Jr., and after he declined his player option for this upcoming season, he signed a larger deal with you. I’m not sure if you’d go as far as saying you believe he is your starting point guard next season, but it feels like a massive opportunity for him. What led to your belief and trust in him to bring him back for a second season with the Bucks?
He’s another player that I think stepped up in the biggest moments in the playoffs. With no playoff experience, he came into a very hostile environment, pressure-loaded environment, and I thought was very, very good.
He plays well off of Giannis, and people forget that a few years ago he was one of the best catch-and-shoot 3-point shooters in the league. He’s big, he’s physical, he can create for himself, he can create for others and can make shots. And he grew defensively with us this year, and I think he’s very capable on that end.
Whether he’s our starter or not our starter, that’s for Doc (Rivers) to decide, but obviously we’ve invested in him and we want him around. We’ve tried to create a situation where he has a chance to thrive and grow, and if so, he can have his option and he can benefit from it. But for us to get that continuity of a guard who we thought played well with us after we acquired him was huge and I think he’s primed to have a really big year. He’s in the right environment, he’s in the right group that loves him and supports him and is to give him the chance to be his best.
Kyle Kuzma is coming off one of his least efficient seasons in the NBA. He struggled in the postseason as well. How did you tell him to try to attack this offseason, and what do you see as his pathway for having a more productive season in his second year with the Bucks?
First of all, we were intentional, and we talked about this a lot when we did it at the deadline. Kyle was a target and nothing’s changed. I think Kyle gives us a chance to play fast, gives us a chance to be huge, play a lot of different big lineups. He’s a plus-plus defender at multiple positions and he’s a guy that offensively, when he plays with confidence and plays within the flow, is very impactful.
We still believe in Kyle. He struggled. He hadn’t been to the playoffs in a while either. And I thought he played great for us for most of the regular season after we acquired him and I think he struggled in the playoffs. And he would tell you that. Doc and I have already gone to L.A. to spend time with him. Doc’s gonna spend time with him again.
I think the biggest thing with Kyle is just getting the familiarity, working with our coaches in the off-season, being part of a training camp and just really building into a system where he understands where he’s gonna get his looks, how he can have his impact and where we can understand him better. He’s very, very good (at power forward). And so I think getting him more minutes at the four … is going to be helpful.
He’s a guy we believe in a lot, and I think he’s going to have a big year with us this year, just having continuity with a good team and a full offseason with a good team, which he hasn’t had in a while. So we’re excited for him.
Taurean Prince was productive for you in the regular season, but ended up struggling to make that same type of impact in the postseason. What gave you enough confidence in him to bring him back again next season?
I think a little bit like Kyle, I think continuity is going to be good for TP. And I think our roster … is better suited for Taurean this year than it was last year. I think Taurean had a hell of a year for us.
He was one of the top five in the league in 3-point shooting. Again, a plus defender, a great professional, a great locker-room guy, just someone that you want to be part of your organization, but also can play. He played most of the year guarding ones and twos and being guarded by twos and threes and he should be like a wing-forward, like a three-four. And the way that our team is built now, he’s gonna have a lot more of those matchups.
Probably, he will come off the bench, although who knows, it’ll be open competition, but I think if you put him in a position where he’s playing against the right positions night in and night out and he’s doing it off the bench versus a starter and he can have the same type of production that he had last year, I think it’s going to be a home run for us. I’m excited to have him back.
Bobby Portis has been such a big part of everything you guys have done over the last five years that it just felt like there was never any doubt he was going to be back next season, but could you talk about how much he means to this team?
Well, I’m glad you didn’t have any doubt. I did. I was nervous as hell. I did not want to go through a season, a practice, a day without Bobby Portis as part of the team that I’m a part of. I think Bobby is so much the ethos of who we are. He is the underdog. He fights. He grinds. There’s no one that cares more, in my opinion, about the Milwaukee Bucks than Bobby.
He loves the Milwaukee Bucks. He feels like it’s a family, it’s a city and a fan base that’s embraced him. It’s an organization that’s embraced him. And he continues to give back to our organization and take less on the margins and do different things here and there. I felt like it was a tough negotiation with his agent, Mark Bartelstein, who I love in this business as much as anybody, and I thought we got to the right place. But it was a tough negotiation.
Bobby chose us. Bobby wasn’t short on options, but he wanted to be here. He wants to win, and he wants to with this group of guys. He loves playing with Giannis. He loves the things that we’ve done in free agency. He was high on the guys that we brought back. He and I talked a lot about the roster and just his thoughts on different guys. And I’m just really excited he’s with us.
We have already discussed Scoot (Kevin Porter Jr.) and bringing him back to Milwaukee for a second season, but you also brought in two other point guards. Let’s start with Ryan Rollins. Why did you think he was such a good fit for you moving forward?
I thought Ryan played well for us. He had a little bit of a breakout year, like AJ Green the year before. I think they’re on similar timelines. I love that he got some playoff experience. I thought he did well in the few minutes that he had.
People probably don’t think about it a lot, but Ryan had a decision midway through this season to play or not with a pretty serious shoulder situation and he played. That just shows you how tough he is and how committed he is. He played a good half of our season and in the playoffs with a pretty painful shoulder situation, which he’s gotten taken care of. It’s totally resolved. He is totally healthy now, and that alone I think is going to give him more confidence in fighting through screens defensively and taking hits offensively.
But he is a big guard that’s physical, that can shoot. He’s been coming on as a playmaker, can finish in traffic, and is a good defender on the ball, which we want. I say this all the time and I say this with affection because he is one of my favorite people and I think he’ll love this shout-out. he reminds me of George Hill. I think he has a George Hill-type career in front of him and that’s high, high praise in my opinion because G-Hill is one of the best people that I’ve been around.
For us to be able to invest in him, give him a deal that keeps him with us for a couple of years, it’s a bit of a bridge deal. He’s got a chance to outplay it, and we’ll take care of him, we hope to figure it out at the end, but it gives him some security that I think he’s earned. I think Ryan was a important pick-up for us. Doc was pushing for the Ryan pick-up. It’s something that we wanted to figure out.
In addition to bringing back Scoot and Ryan, you also added Cole Anthony. What do you think he can do for you next season?
The idea on Cole is — and you can see a theme — there’s another 24, 25-year-old guard. He just turned 25 in May. Cole’s an electric scorer. Two years ago, he was in the running for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. In our system, in our metrics, he’s performed like a kind of starter, key reserve at different points in his young career.
He’s electric with the ball, a very capable shooter. I think he can be one of the guys that you’ve seen year in and year out come into our system and get a higher dose of better shot quality because of playing with Giannis and playing in our system and improve as a shooter. I think he could have a huge shooting year, which would be massive for him and us. And he’s just got an edge to him. I hope he takes this as an affectionate thing, and this is true, when I saw the idea of Cole Anthony, him being free and our chance to get him, I think he’s like a guard version of Bobby Portis. I think he can bring so much swag and energy to our team.
He’s capable of winning a game by himself any given night. And I think he’ll grow in our system having less possession-by-possession pressure on him playing with Giannis and playing in Doc’s system and Doc having been a point guard and being able to mentor him the way he has with Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins. I think he could have a huge year for us and if he does, it will be a great decision for him and a great decision for us.
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Eric Nehm is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the Milwaukee Bucks. Previously, he covered the Bucks at ESPN Milwaukee and wrote the book “100 Things Bucks Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” Nehm was named NSMA’s 2022 Wisconsin Sports Writer of the Year. Follow Eric on Twitter @eric_nehm