I understand why people would like to believe this whole thing can be saved, but you might as well forget it. If you look at the luxury tax the Bucks are paying, over $52 mill a year, and in the smaller market, it's not sustainable, without championships, or at least late runs. Only two teams pay a higher tax, and the Clippers and Golden State have a wealth of money more than covering those losses, through corporate sponsorships. In Milwaukee, it's a pure loss.
There's no way they dump the surrounding cast and improve the team without going deeper into the tax debt, and based on who they could even get, that debt could end up being well over $100 mill. Not a snowball's chance in hell that will happen.
No. They are going to dump contracts, and make trades, and begin rebuilding, unless they have lost their minds. As for players you lose, a youth movement pretty much eliminates almost everyone, and even Jackson, Jr., in my estimation, is never going to be anything more than a journeyman guard who ends up being a 2nd or 3rd option.
I can hear the Bucks ownership now, listening to Horst tell them that for a few bucks more they can win it all. In the meantime, they're writing out mid 8-digit checks to pay for those comments he's been saying, but aren't working.
Intelligent management says, break the band up. Being a die-hard fan, we might say; "It's only money," but at a certain point, even those with super deep pockets know they aren't going to be able to take that championship trophy home with them when they sell the team. So, why bother?
