 Danny Ange, Sam Presti, David Griffin. These three front office executives have made names for themselves the past couple of years by accumulating a mountain of assets through the by low, sell high philosophy. More specifically, Presti and Griffin recently held a King's Ransom over the heads of their superstars and got paid in full before the players potentially walked in free agency the following season. The question which never has a universal right or wrong answer is, when's the right time to let the star go or go all in trying to satisfy their needs in hopes of retaining them for the foreseeable future? This has to be analyzed and answered by general managers almost every season because not everyone is as fortunate as these three executives who were able to get impressive compensation for the Anthony Davises, Russell Westbrooks, Paul Georges, and Chris Pauls of the world. While every situation is different, there is precedent for us to analyze who, what, when, where, and why superstars left their old franchises at the altar to pursue greener pastures. The most topical categories we can create to sort these examples include, money wasn't an issue, teammates that the star had the support they needed to fulfill their championship aspirations. Chemistry, even if their teammates were talented enough to win the title with, were they willing to fight in the trenches with them? Legacy was perception reality to the player involved. All of these aspects ultimately formulate into incentive. Whether it was LeBron taking his talents to South Beach because he realized he would never get out of the East with Mo Williams as his wingman, Shaq leaving Orlando for the Lakers because the magic wouldn't hand him a blank check. Kevin Durant's shocking Golden State Warriors heel turn because he needed to wield the power of the ring to validate his accomplishments. Or Dwight Howard signing with Houston after just one year in LA because he couldn't fit in with the team's culture. Every single major free agency walk in recent history left at least one of these boxes unchecked. On a less prominent scale, Kemble Walker leaving Charlotte, Steve Nash going back to Phoenix from Dallas. Dick Kembe Mutombo to Atlanta. Ray Allen ghosting the champion Celtics for the rival Heat. Or even Gordon Hayward signing with Boston, all check out under the same prerequisites of retention. The reason for taking you down this memory lane is to let history speak for itself as to why the Milwaukee Bucks had no choice but to overpay, trade the mascot and hand over the key to the city to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for just drew holiday. When you have one of the five players in the league whose mere presence automatically makes you a legitimate title contender, you do everything in your power to make sure they are happy and equipped to their satisfaction so that when the time comes for them to put ink on paper to commit long-term to the franchise, they don't have a single excuse to leave. Do you think the Lakers cared about their future draft picks when spraying each other with bottles of champagne in the bubble? That small forward from Wichita State in 2024 will surely have the same impact as Anthony Davis, right? Nothing in the draft is guaranteed. And certainly a ring isn't either even with a superstar but having a player to get you to the doorstep is if you are willing to check all of the boxes necessary to keep them in house. The Milwaukee Bucks have done just that. And now it's on Yanis to prove that loyalty is more than just a word in the dictionary.