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The playoffs, the draft, free agency. These are the pinnacles of NBA—and by extension Milwaukee Bucks—fandom. Well, Ranking the Roster isn’t too far behind, especially around here! Ranking the Roster: It’s baaack! The annual tradition lives on! An annual tradition, Ranking the Roster has been a staple of Brew Hoop since 2014. Back then, a little-known sophomore won the crown in a vote that showed the community’s collective prescience. In second place came a highly touted second-overall draft pick. You know who on both accounts. Other names of yesteryear include Larry Sanders (fifth), Kendall Marshall (ninth), Jared Dudley (11th), and O.J Mayo (18th). Memories… For a complete nostalgia trip down original rankings lane, click here. Of course, back then, the rules were slightly different, with fans asked to rank players—and even picks—as “assets” in this hypothetical scenario: Imagine the NBA was having an expansion draft, and the Bucks were able to “protect” their entire team from being taken by a new expansion organization, except for one player. Whoever is left unprotected will be selected in this hypothetical and totally unfair expansion draft. After this player is chosen, his salary comes off the Bucks’ books instantly, as though he was never on the team at all. Then (and this is important) the Bucks’ future plays out for some number of years, however long you care to imagine, only they no longer have the chosen player on the roster or on the cap sheet. Over time, like the game we love so dearly itself, Ranking the Roster has evolved too, with the focus strictly on which player is more important to Milwaukee’s success in comparison to his teammates. More specifically, as Van Fayaz reiterated last year, you should heed Managing Editor Emeritus Adam Paris’ advice when making your selections: Postseason success should be paramount in your mind when considering your rankings. Regular season competency is a bonus, especially if they can help the team get to a higher seed that yields dividends in the Playoffs, but think about how you envision each individual player factoring in when postseason games arrive. Considering the context of this year’s team, with the Bucks tying up the laces on a new pair of kicks as they embark on a rebuild, “playoffs” might be a bit of a stretch (it’s also partly because of this that the “Gut Check” poll portion of the series has been shelved). But they will come down the road. And when that happens, which of these Bucks do you trust? Before we get to that, let’s revisit the archives (current players only). As noted, Giannis was the first winner in the series and it will come as no surprise that he’s the only Buck to ever hold that title. With his glaring absence from the books, this year we’ll see a first—and there’s no dominant school of thought as to who might fill the relinquished throne, at least as far as I can see it. Current Player | 2025 Rank | 2024 Rank | 2023 Rank | 2022 Rank | |---|---|---|---|---| | Myles Turner | 2 | - | - | - | | Gary Trent Jr. | 3 | 5 | - | - | | Kevin Porter Jr. | 4 | - | - | - | | AJ Green | 6 | 9 | 11 | 17 | | Kyle Kuzma | 7 | - | - | - | | Ryan Rollins | 8 | 17 | - | - | | Jericho Sims | 11 | - | - | - | | Pete Nance | 18 | - | - | - | | Tyler Herro | - | - | - | - | | Jaime Jaquez Jr. | - | - | - | - | | Kel’el Ware | - | - | - | - | | Brayden Burries | - | - | - | - | | Ousmane Dieng | - | - | - | - | | Caris LeVert | - | - | - | - | | Kasparas Jakučionis | - | - | - | - | | Nate Ament | - | - | - | - | | Bogoljub Markovic | - | - | - | - | | Cormac Ryan | - | - | - | - | | Kam Jones | - | - | - | - | Tyler Herro and Myles Turner have both made the Finals as key players, so you know they at least fit the bill. Then again, Kyle Kuzma has won one. So, I’m not convinced any of those (save maybe Herro) will get my vote. Ryan Rollins made the biggest leap on the team last year—it still baffles me how he didn’t get more Most Improved Player (MIP) consideration—and seems primed to do so again. But Jaime Jaquez Jr. was runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year (6MOY) and has open forward spots beckoning him to take on a bigger role, so that’s no guarantee either. Then there’s Kel’el Ware, who’s got perhaps the highest ceiling on the team and is itching to break out so long as he gets enough minutes (and stops being so curious). Oh, and there’s a tenth overall draft pick who you already know I think has a chance to be, uh, pretty okay. On the other end of the scale, I’m also eager to see who Bucks fans don’t trust. Kasparas Jakucionis was a sticking point in the Giannis trade, but do you value him as highly as Jon Horst seemingly did? What about been-there-before vets Caris LeVert and Gary Trent Jr., who were key rotational playoff pieces just last year and the year before that, respectively? Or have they soured that much? Only time—and you—will tell. That’s what makes this exercise so fun (and evergreen). Speaking of Green, how the hell is AJ the longest tenured Buck—by two years!? Things really done changed. One final point. As it stands, the Bucks still have 17 players under contract to go along with two out of a possible three two-way players. So, with teams able to carry a maximum of 15 players during the season, anticipate roster trimming at some point. Until then, treat everyone as if they’re on the team for the year ahead. Now get your GM hat on and get to work, starting with the first ranking: Brew Hoop RtR: The 19th most important player to Milwaukee's success is... Please note that technical changes across SB Nation mean polls must now be created in The Feed, so you will see them both there and in the articles themselves. They are also capped at six options, so we’ll present these as best we can. It’s not perfect, we know, but it’ll work. Thanks for your understanding.