Perhaps. But I wasn't all that impressed by the way Giannis played off Dame, it seemed like the PNR would have been fantastic for him. But he doesn’t seem to make it work, because he keeps not setting the screens.
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The PNR chemistry with Dame has been surprisingly clunky, but in hindsight, Dame requires a PNR style that more deliberate and about getting HIM openings.
The real terror of Giannis, though, is his ability to be the handler in inverted stuff, and I think OKC would lean into that harder than the Bucks are set up to, because Dame is so small.
Very few opposing teams are really set up to contain a “Shai screens for Giannis” primary action.
The guys most teams want guarding Giannis+Shai won’t be cleanly switchable in most cases.
And if you drop Giannis’s defender, you’re giving him, AND Shai, two of the most creative and versatile drivers in the league, a ton of runway to find angles to the rim or to pick out shooters/cutters with their off the dribble passing
With only one defender still out in space against BOTH All-NBA guys, or help coming from a surrounding cast who are almost all legit shooters, and several good cutters.
In that regard, I feel like a big part of the problem with the Dame-Giannis PNR is the guys around them aren’t very good, or very versatile, especially with Middleton out so much.
yeah that team would be completely insane
you'd need injury to SGA or Giannis to beat them
It's not a stars+scrubs lineup: it's a complete, versatile team.
Yeah, I think that's more about Dame than about Giannis ultimately. And the supporting cast, as you note.
Two huge unknowns in this - whether Giannis would go to OKC, and whether Presti is willing to make any all(ish) in kind of trade. Well, i guess also with all those picks and young guys if they have a bench spot for Thanassis too
It's a fun hypothetical for sure.
I can see it, I'm just skeptical Giannis could play that way, though LA_33 is making a pretty good case that this might be because Giannis is trying to play his style with lesser teammates because he hasn't got better options.
But yeah, replacing IHart with Giannis would basically, on paper, make a Voltron.
The problem with dealing with OKC is that while they have a ton of assets, public perception is going to require Horst to get something substantial for Giannis, not just end of rotation guys. Assuming Horst is into job-preservation mode (as it appears to be), he'd have to be pushing for getting JWill or Chet for Giannis, which would never happen.
I mean Giannis for Hartenstein, Wallce, and Isaiah Joe plus picks (just for example) looks like MIL is getting fleeced.
That really isn’t Presti’s MO though. He has no real incentive to change the culture that he’s built.
On the other hand, if the paths are standing pat because the new CBA limits your avenues of trading out of the mess or getting a haul from OKC (and this is the trade that the Thunder would be waiting for imo so Presti should be ready to spend big, especially where the team/SGA is in their development cycle), Horst may well bite. The next job won't care about PR wins - they want to see someone who is inventive in trying to remake a roster on the fly. Horst has some incentives to try to land this plane smoothly, not just give the appearance of doing so.
I think its funny that we are writing off the Bucks less than ten games into the season.
It's way too soon to write the Bucks off.
BUT they sure do look old, slow in rotation on D (maybe just bored with regular-season hoops)
Agree that Horst has to land the plane smoothly - which is why Horst won't be remaking MIL on the fly if he doesn't get real talent back. And with OKC, real talent means JWill or Chet, not any of the other guys.
As for writing MIL off after five games, I don't think anyone is saying they are done, but it's hard to imagine that they are going to play consistently winning basketball when they have plays like this one:
View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1852164410518745112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1852164410518745112%7Ctwgr%5Ea3e3baef8cb5e29c19b3f0d5e2dfb41d6864f742%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.si.com%2Fnba%2Fmilwaukee-bucks-worst-defensive-possession-youll-ever-see
We can agree that any Giannis trade to OKC will almost have to include one of the two.
Beyond that I would just say that the NBA season is long and the Bucks can still figure it out. They aren't cooked just yet.
Wob needs something to discuss so...