Milwaukee Praised Johni Broome on Oct. 11 and Waived Him on Oct. 17. That's the Rebuild Now.

Six days is a short lifetime in the NBA, and the Milwaukee Bucks just proved it. On Oct. 11, first-year head coach Taylor Jenkins was publicly glowing about Johni Broome, the 6-foot-9 big man signed to a training camp deal on Oct. 6. By Oct. 17, the Bucks had requested waivers on Broome, Pete Nance and Jake Stephens — with one more standard contract still to be cut before the roster settles.

That sequence is the most revealing thing to come out of Milwaukee's week, more than any preseason box score. It tells you exactly how this post-Giannis season is going to operate: nobody on the back half of this roster is safe, sentiment is not a factor, and flexibility is the actual strategy.

The on-court product is what you'd expect

The exhibition results were ugly but unsurprising. Milwaukee lost its preseason opener to Minnesota 116-97 in Jenkins' first game, and dropped a third preseason game to Chicago 125-104. Reporting out of the Bucks' preseason concluded that the team still hadn't found a legitimate first option through three games — a natural consequence of a roster that no longer employs a 27.6-point-per-game scorer.

Context matters here. Last season Milwaukee went 32-50, was outscored by 6.2 points per game (110.6 scored, 116.8 allowed) and finished 25th in a points-based power rating at minus-10.22 — a collapse from a plus-3.76 mark the year before. This was never going to be a quick fix, and the market's 25.5 win total for 2026-27 reflects that.

Ryan Rollins is the one thing that isn't up for debate

If there's a stable piece, it's the backcourt. Rollins averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals across 74 games last season on 47.2% shooting and 40.6% from three. Over his final ten games he pushed that to 21.2 points on 49.4% shooting, including a 36-point outburst and a 26-point, 10-rebound, 7-assist line.

Preseason reporting has already framed this as Rollins' team, and Brew Hoop's fan survey tabbed him as the roster's top trade asset. That combination — best player and best trade chip — is the central tension of Milwaukee's season.

Trade calls are already happening

Reports this week had the Bucks actively working the phones, with guards specifically on notice. AJ Green has been named as a candidate to move. Myles Turner's trade value has been described as a problem after one year in Milwaukee, following a season in which he averaged 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks on 43.9% shooting. Meanwhile, the massive trade exception from the Giannis deal sits there as the front office's most useful mid-season lever.

A team with that many moving parts and this little established hierarchy is going to look disjointed early. That's the cost of a teardown.

What to watch before Oct. 21

The schedule offers a soft landing. Milwaukee opens at Washington (17-65 last season) on Oct. 21, then hosts Chicago (31-51) for the home opener on Oct. 23, before Philadelphia, Indiana, Houston and Cleveland close out the month. If the Bucks are going to bank early wins while the rotation sorts itself out, that first week is the window.

The Broome cut won't be the last. Expect the roster to keep churning right up to opening night — and probably well past it.