After months of waiting, we have finally arrived at Milwaukee Bucks Media Day! Today, I was at Fiserv Forum bringing you live updates and highlights from Bucks brass, coaches, and players as they embark on the 2025 season. In the first set of interviews, co-owner and governor Wes Edens held a solo press conference, followed by a joint press conference with General Manager Jon Horst and Head Coach Doc Rivers.
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter Jim Owczarski opened the questioning for Edens, asking
about the decision-making process to give Horst a multiyear contract extension back in April:
When asked about Giannis’ commitment level in Milwaukee by ESPN’s Jamal Collier, he told us that Giannis made it clear in June that he was committed to Milwaukee (although that was later contradicted by Giannis, but more on that later):
Edens also talked about the process the team went through to bring in a player like Myles Turner by having to waive and stretch Damian Lillard:
Edens followed that up by saying he believes the Bucks have a strong chance to come out of the Eastern Conference and that the decision to bring on Myles Turner proved they are serious about winning:
Before leaving the podium, Edens talked about the current state of the local TV rights, and where he sees they could go in the future:
“We’re very fortunate to have a very attractive market, in the restructuring of those contracts. We were considered to be one of the more attractive markets, and that’s because there’s a good audience here in Wisconsin. I do think when you look at the landscapes, we have a tremendous long-term national deal that starts next year, $7 billion a year. I think that when you look at local TV rights over the last five, even 10 years, they’ve kind of gone the other direction. That said, there’s a lot of interest in local rights, and so maybe this evolves in a more collaborative way. I think what Phoenix has done, what Utah has done, [is] definitely one possibility for it.”
After Edens, it was Horst and Rivers who stepped up to talk with the press. Before things even got started, Horst dropped some big news that Giannis wouldn’t be attending Media Day and would miss the start of training camp, due to contracting COVID-19 while still in Greece. Once he is healthy and starts testing negative, Giannis will travel back to the US to join the team. Giannis later joined media day via Zoom, at around 9 p.m. local time in Greece.
After an opening statement, Horst was asked about his contract extension and cited multiple seasons to stay in Milwaukee, bringing up his desire to win, among other, more personal connections with the team and city:
Horst also gave an update on the ongoing contract negotiations between the team and AJ Green, who is eligible for an extension:
Doc Rivers talked about the role that new starting center Myles Turner would have with his new team, compared to what he did in his 10 seasons with the Indiana Pacers:
“Similar role, but doing more. His ability to stretch the floor will stay the same, his three-point shooting, hopefully we can get him more threes this year. One of the things that Myles is really grown into is he punishes switches. You switch a guard on him, he’ll put his head underneath the basket and punish you for it and I think that’s something we wanna use. His ability to block shots and on the other end to grab offensive rebounds. Then I thought last year they used him on the elbows more as a passer and a facilitator and we can use him in that role as well.”
For those wondering who might be in the starting lineup come October 22nd, Rivers didn’t really give any hints at who he’s thinking about, but did say he has two or three different combinations he’s looking at to go with:
Those were my biggest takeaways from the press conference with the Bucks brass. Let me know what else stood out to you in the comments below. Next up will be highlights from the press conferences with Giannis, Myles Turner, and Bobby Portis.
