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Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Giannis Antetokounmpo signing a three-year extension with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo has signed a three-year, $186M extension with the Milwaukee Bucks, per Adrian Wojnarowski.
The Greek Freak’s contract with the Bucks now runs through the 2027-28 NBA season.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the latest news in the Association.
The Celtics and Bucks might have a little something to say about that, though.
We’re finally back, folks. The NBA season is nearly here once again. And that means it’s time to get some power rankings cooking again before all the action tips off.
There are so many teams who could win it all this season. Obviously, in the East, we’ve got the Bucks and the Celtics who made arguably the biggest moves of the offseason with their acquisitions at point guard. On the other side, we’ve got the Heat who completely botched everything.
The Western Conference looks absolutely stacked with talent from top to bottom behind the Nuggets. In particular, the Pacific division looks like it might be one of the strongest we’ve ever seen in league history.
Let’s sort through it all in our very first NBA power ranking of the season.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Bucks signing Cam Payne to a one-year deal.
Cameron Payne has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, per Shams Charania.
This latest development in the Association comes a couple of hours after the Boston Celtics landed Jrue Holiday via a trade with the Portland Trail Blazers, and the reactions were plenty.
The Bucks moved for Payne — who will be Damian Lillard’s backup in the point guard position. Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the latest signing in the league.
Here’s how NBA players reacted to Damian Lillard’s trade in Milwaukee.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Bucks trading for Damian Lillard.
Damian Lillard has been traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a multi-team trade, per multiple reports.
The Bucks landed Lillard, while Portland received Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton, Toumani Camara, 2029 first-round Bucks pick and Bucks pick swap. Finally, the Suns got Jusuf Nurkic, Nassir Little, Keon Johnson, Grayson Allen.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the new explosive duo in the Association, that of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is putting the Bucks to the test this season.
This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning. Here’s Mike Sykes.
Bucks fans, listen. As a Wizards fan, I cannot begin to know your pain. My team has been feckless and incompetent for my entire life. I don’t really know success from an organizational standpoint in the NBA.
But y’all? Y’all do. Not only has your team won a championship in the last 5 years, but you also have one of the top-3-or-so players in the world on your team. Giannis Antetokounmpo is like that.
It looks like there’s a solid chance all of that can come crumbling down soon, though.
In a sprawling interview with the New York Times, Antetokounmpo raised the stakes quite a bit for the Bucks in the 2023 season.
Milwaukee’s brightest star is eligible for a contract extension next offseason. After the 2024-25 season, he can opt out of his deal and become a free agent. So, of course, that means it’s time to start contract extension talks. Rumors spread fast around the NBA – especially with small market stars like Antetokounmpo.
This man didn’t take the time to give anyone any assurances. Simply put, Giannis hasn’t said he’s leaving Milwaukee, but he also hasn’t said he isn’t.
“You’ve got to see the dynamics…How the coach is going to be, how we’re going to be together. At the end of the day, I feel like all my teammates know, and the organization knows that I want to win a championship. As long as we’re on the same page with that, and you show me, and we go together to win a championship, I’m all for it.”
Simply put, he’s unsure. And that’s fine! He should have some concerns about this team. It’s coming off of one of the most devastating playoff losses we’ve seen in NBA history. To be upset by an 8-seed in the first round is jarring. It’s time to legitimately think about this team’s long-term picture and Antetokounmpo is just doing that. That’s fine and fair.
But that’s exactly why this time should be so terrifying for Bucks fans. We don’t really know what the trajectory of this team is.
The Bucks got Giannis to sign an extension in 2020 because the organization was able to improve on the fly. It used draft capital to scoop up Jrue Holiday and pair him with Antetokounmpo. Plus, the team had a younger, spry version of Khris Middleton that we simply haven’t seen in years.
Now? They’re older. They have very little draft capital to use because of that Holiday trade. It’s hard to find ways to actually make this team better without improving from within.
Maybe Middleton can return to form defensively. Maybe Brook Lopez continues to be a perineal Defensive Player of the Year candidate. Maybe Jrue Holiday will find a way to improve again. I’m not sure.
But the clock is ticking. The NBA is on Giannis watch — again. It’s not time to hit the panic button, Bucks fans. But it is time to be concerned. Hopefully, your team’s next move is its best move.
— When you’re talking on TV all the time, you’re bound to make mistakes. Ryan Clark made one when he made a joke about Tua Tagovailoa’s work ethic live on air. He apologized for it and, honestly, you’ve got to respect that. Cory Woodroof has more.
— Christian D’Andrea has one fatal flaw for each NFL team that will stop them from winning the Super Bowl. Except for the Eagles. The Eagles are perfect.
— We’ve got six bold predictions for the College Football Playoff this season, including Pac-12 dominance?!?!?
— Shoutout to Kevin Hart for making fun of himself. This is a treat. Cory has more.
That’s all, folks. Enjoy your day and Happy College-Football-is-Back Weekend.
Milwaukee Bucks fan favorite Bobby Portis is only 28, but he will be the oldest player on Team USA at the 2023 World Cup. Dubbed ‘Crazy Eyes’, the stretch five took a break from shooting on the last day of training camp in Las Vegas to talk to …
Milwaukee Bucks fan favorite Bobby Portis is only 28, but he will be the oldest player on Team USA at the 2023 World Cup. Dubbed ‘Crazy Eyes’, the stretch five took a break from shooting on the last day of training camp in Las Vegas to talk to HoopsHype about his journey through his career, the opportunity to represent the USA, the upcoming season for the Bucks, and more.
Besides Notre Dame who was your go-to team in the NCAA Football video game?
Full disclosure, I was born the same month of Marcus Freeman. While he is the head coach at Notre Dame, traveling the world in private jets and dining at the White House, I sit here writing about all of it.
I may have other responsibilities, but for effect let’s only cite that one.
Being the same age as Freeman I can assume part of our college experiences were at least somewhat the same. Being 35 years old today means being in college during what was the peak of the old NCAA Football video game by EA Sports. My college, Division III powerhouse North Central College, unfortunately wasn’t in the game (Kam Kniss would have been a 99 if they were) but Ohio State obviously was.
News came out this week that a year from now the game will be re-released with players getting compensated. It’ll be the first new game since the NCAA Football ’14 (based on the 2013 season) edition.
[lawrence-related id=59325]
So back to Freeman. Just how good did the video game say Freeman was as a player entering his senior year?
NCAA Football ’09 (which was based on the 2008 season) rated Marcus Freeman aka ROLB No. 1 as his name was in the game, the following:
Overall: 96
Speed: 87
Strength: 80
Agility: 86
Acceleration: 92
Awareness: 84
The 96 overall clearly screams star, but that 84 for awareness should be concerning for a future head coach. Now I’m wondering what Tommy Rees’ awareness was in the game and if at times it randomly dipped to 40 (said in sarcasm font).
If you’re curious, Freeman’s 96 overall wasn’t even the best for a linebacker on Ohio State that year. James Laurinaitis was one of two players to get a 99-overall ranking in the game, joining Tim Tebow.
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Not sure what Mike Budenholzer was doing here.
So the Heat really did the thing, huh? Miami took out the No. 1 overall-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
This is the biggest upset we’ve seen in the NBA in — quite literally — a decade. The last No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 8 seed was Tom Thibodeau’s Chicago Bulls in 2012 when they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers.
This is history, man. Everyone is going to remember Jimmy Butler as the architect who made it happen. And, specifically, they’ll all remember Butler catching a lob on the final play of regulation but tossing the ball in the basket while also falling down.
It was an absolutely phenomenal play. I’ve never seen anything like this before, man.
JIMMY BUTLER SENDS GAME 5 TO OT 😱
HE'S GOT 40 PTS. UNBELIEVABLE.
📺: NBA TV pic.twitter.com/x9AGDSlxpC
— NBA (@NBA) April 27, 2023
But the thing about it is that, honestly, probably shouldn’t have happened. Give Miami all the credit in the world for absolutely making this happen. But there’s a series of coaching errors from Mike Budenholzer and the Bucks here that made this all possible.
Let’s take a look at them.
Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Bucks’ first-round elimination from the Miami Heat.
The No. 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks have been eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs after losing their series to the Miami Heat in five games, in what is now considered one of the biggest upsets in NBA history.
As expected, Twitter didn’t let coach Mike Budenholzer, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee off the hook after tonight’s elimination.
