Milwaukee Bucks: How To Make The Offseason 'Win' Work On The Court

User avatar
RealGM Articles
Lead Assistant
Posts: 4,773
And1: 45
Joined: Mar 20, 2013

Milwaukee Bucks: How To Make The Offseason 'Win' Work On The Court 

Post#1 » by RealGM Articles » Thu Jul 28, 2016 5:57 pm

With a frenetic summer signing period finally slowing down, we have finally have a chance to evaluate how everything has come together for teams across the league. Five franchises in particular stood out because of the collection of talent they acquired both in the draft and free agency. In this series, we’ll look at not only why these teams “won” their summers, but the work that’s now required in order to mold their new-look rosters into a cohesive units.


What the Milwaukee Bucks got right


In the midst of a disappointing second season under Jason Kidd, the Bucks did at least seem to find a direction for their future. With budding superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo set to be the team’s offensive engine, Milwaukee needed to build a rotation to complement his unique combination of size and skill.


At the top of that list was finding some shooting. Last year, the Bucks ranked dead last in 3-pointers attempted and in the bottom third of 3-point percentage. Too many times last season, Milwaukee trotted out lineups that contained only one or two real threats from beyond the arc. That is a recipe for failure in the NBA -- something that is reflected by the fact the Bucks finished a dismal 26th in offensive rating, per our RealGM database.


With the penetrating Antetokounmpo and the slashing Jabari Parker set to spearhead this attack for years to come, shooting virtually everywhere else on the roster is an absolute must. The acquisitions of restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova (a career mark of 39.8 percent from 3) and Mirza Teletovic (39.3 percent last season on nearly six attempts per game) filled a massive need. And at just 25, Dellavedova is at an age that will allow him to grow along with the rest of Milwaukee’s young core.


The Bucks also shocked everyone on draft night by selecting another player that could add to that promising collection of talent in Thon Maker. If a team was in ever a position to gamble on an intriguing talent, it was Milwaukee this season. With three players under 24 (Middleton, Parker and Antetokounmpo) set to headline their roster for a long stretch of time, playing it safe with a lottery pick was unnecessary. If Maker develops into a legit player, he’ll add to Milwaukee’s collection of long, athletic, position-less forwards -- a group that could wind up producing some terrifying lineup combinations in the very near future. And if Maker doesn’t pan out, it’s not a problem because the rise of this team will already be predicated on their new-age “Big 3.”


In their last piece of business, the Bucks brought back Miles Plumlee -- a player who is arguably their best choice to slot into the starting center role. Plumlee isn’t an anchor on defense, but he’s active and rebounds well. If he can stay passable at the end, he’ll more than make up for with his excellent finishing in pick-and-rolls (he ranked in the 99th percentile in the entire league, per Synergy data). With Plumlee and John Henson now locked up thru 2020, the Bucks have a solid 1-2 punch at a crucial NBA position.


Questions that need answering


- Will Jason Kidd pick the correct style of play to suit his personnel?


It was almost painful to watch Kidd (along with interim head coach Joe Prunty, though he was a bit better about it) try to wedge his young thoroughbreds into a slow-paced, halfcourt sets. The Bucks “Push” or “Corner” offense -- where a big catches at the elbow and players move off-the-balll to trigger a series of cuts and different actions -- is fine for more skilled, less dynamic teams or for this group to use selectively in walk-up/dead-ball situations. To use it as a major part of your offensive system, like the Bucks did, particularly early on in the season, is a gross misuse of personnel.


It’s not hard, especially now with more shooting in the fold, to envision Milwaukee as a up-tempo, free flowing offensive attack -- think of something like the “star-less” Nuggets under George Karl or any Mike D’Antoni coached team. This is a team built to push the ball, attack quickly in transition or free-flow into basic actions (drag screens, wide pin downs for Middleton) early in the offense. Now with more shooting in tow, the Bucks could survive slowing the tempo a bit better, but it would still be less than ideal.


Kidd knows this but, like any head coach, has to battle his impulse to control a group of young, inexperienced players. The fact that these players are far from wily vets is likely why Kidd chose to put in a system where he could curtail the pace and give a little direction to young players that will likely have their struggles (that produce terrible shots and bad possessions) learning to deal with freedom. But this team is clearly built to fit a consistent, fast-paced style with a heavy emphasis on letting their primary scorers, particularly Antetokounmpo and Parker, attack the basket early and often.


It will be interesting to see how much freedom Kidd is willing his new group. The directive he gives this team on offense could be the difference between an average season and a breakthrough campaign that puts the Bucks near the top of the Eastern Conference.


- What is the best way to setup this rotation?


Milwaukee is a team whose roster should be devoid of traditional player descriptors like “point guard”, “power forward’, etc. In figuring out how these pieces fit, the Bucks should be considering player types instead.


In Antetokounmpo, the Bucks found a player whose greatest impact comes when the ball is in his hands. Parker and Middleton are both effective off-the-ball in a variety of ways (for Parker, slashing and iso scoring, for Middleton as a spot-up shooter, off-screen player and second-side ballhandler). Plumlee and Henson (the two bigs Milwaukee is not trying to actively deal), they have two pick-and-roll finishers who don’t need post touches to be effective.


Dellavedova may be listed as a point guard, but he’s really a 3-and-D player best used playing off-the-ball, with someone like Antetokounmpo being his new LeBron James. Michael Carter-Williams is pretty much solely effective when the ball is in his hands, but obviously not impactful enough with it to have an entire attack run through him. Ditto for Tyler Ennis. Teletovic is basically the easiest player to slot into the rotation because he’s simply a pure shooter that needs to guard opposing big men.


Because of the options for shooting are still limited (it’s basically just Dellavedova, Teletovic and Middleton as proven commodities at this point) and the skill overlaps are still an issue, Kidd has to be very precise in how he doles out his minutes. In fact, the Bucks may need to stick to a more rigid rotation than any other team in the league in order to keep the right personnel groupings together and avoid any lineup combinations that offer no complementary overlaps of skills -- ones that become, to use a poker term, leaks.


Listing the pro’s and con’s of possible lineup combinations for the Bucks for next year would likely produce the basketball equivalent of “War and Peace.” That’s how tricky the lineup dance facing Kidd will be. But if handled astutely, it could raise the ceiling on the Bucks success this upcoming season.


Synopsis


Looking over the Bucks' offseason, it’s clear this team did an outstanding job. They addressed their biggest deficiency (shooting) with two free agents on reasonable deals. In the draft, they nabbed a player with the potential to add another dimension to an already promising long-term outlook. And to top it off, the kept their core pieces together and retained a valuable, young player in Miles Plumlee.


But that success will mean nothing if the team’s coaching staff can’t put these pieces together in ways that produce on-court success. Perhaps no other coach in the league has a chance to influence his collection of talent than Kidd. Push all the right buttons and the Bucks will explode to the top. If Kidd, fails to provide a coherent direction, however, Milwaukee’s primary agenda next summer may be finding a new head coach.

Return to Articles Discussion