East Notes: Bucks, Roster Upgrades, Pacers, Heat

Bucks

The Bucks deserve high marks for their offseason additions, according to ESPN reporter Kevin Pelton, who gave a “B-plus” to Milwaukee.

“Signing Gary Trent Jr. for the minimum turned Milwaukee’s offseason around,” Pelton wrote. “Before adding Trent, the Bucks had no capable replacement for (Malik Beasley‘s) shooting in the starting five. Trent, a 39% career 3-point shooter, fills that role as a more capable defender and shot-creator than the more limited Beasley.”

That wasn’t the Bucks’ only obvious on-paper improvement.

“Milwaukee upgraded from Patrick Beverley and Jae Crowder as veteran backups to Taurean Prince and Delon Wright,” Pelton noted. “Adding so much experience on minimum contracts makes it clearer why the Bucks looked long term in June, drafting 19-year-old guard AJ Johnson with the No. 23 pick.”

• Despite some rumors, GM Jon Horst said the Bucks have “zero intentions” of trading center Brook Lopez, as we relayed here. 

Pacers

The Pacers haven’t made many notable moves, beyond perhaps signing center James Wiseman, but that’s OK. They are coming off a run to the Eastern Conference finals and only need to build on that. Pelton gave them a “C-plus” for their offseason.

“The Pacers locked in much of the roster that took them to last season’s Eastern Conference finals, re-signing Pascal Siakam (four years at the max) and key reserve Obi Toppin (four years, $58 million guaranteed) before agreeing with guard Andrew Nembhard to a three-year extension worth $59 million,” Pelton wrote.

Now, the status of center Myles Turner looms.

“Those new deals mean Indiana has gone from using cap space last summer to having a 2025 crunch with Turner headed toward unrestricted free agency,” Pelton added. “If the Pacers can extend Turner without pushing into the luxury tax, their offseason spending will look much better.”

• In case you missed it, the Pacers are signing Las Vegas Summer League standout Cole Swider to a two-way contract. We have the full story here.

Heat

Forward Caleb Martin left for the 76ers and that is likely to prove costly for the Heat, who landed a “C-minus” grade from Pelton for their offseason thus far.

“Financial issues helped cost the Heat Caleb Martin, who declined an extension offer in conjunction with exercising his $7.1 million player option,” Pelton wrote. “Given Martin’s base salary ($8.1 million plus $1.2 million incentives) didn’t come in dramatically higher than that figure, it’s worth wondering whether Miami should have saved elsewhere in order to bring him back.

“Instead, the Heat re-signed forward Haywood Highsmith and center Kevin Love and added veteran guard Alec Burks. Burks is valuable at the minimum but he’s another perimeter player on a roster full of them that’s thin on combo forwards similar to Martin.

That said, the summer hasn’t been a total loss for Miami. And hey, there’s still time.

• The most recent addition to the Heat roster? Try shooting guard Josh Christopher, the summer standout who landed a two-way deal. That was about two weeks ago. We have that full story here.