Top 2016 Offseason Priorities for the Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks are in the middle of a truly awkward rebuild.

Two years ago, they were the worst team in the league. A year ago, they were in the playoffs and everyone’s sexy pick to break out. Now they’re a team that is struggling to find its identity and figure out where it wrong.

There is real talent there, and they may have accidentally stumbled upon future success when so many injuries to their point guards prompted Giannis Antetokounmpo to run the show. (And it worked beautifully.)

Whether you call him a 1 or a point forward, the key to the future is Antetokounmpo. With that as the game plan, how can the Bucks use their offseason to pivot their roster to maximize his talents?

 

Post All-Star-Break Bucks and Beyond

Even with “Greek Freak” breaking out, the Bucks struggled because there were other injuries, but the difference in his numbers after the break are astounding:

No one has ever averaged 18 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, a block and a steal for a season while shooting over 50 percent from the field. A few have come close—guys like Larry Bird, LeBron James, and Grant Hill. Not bad for a youngster who still could add some polish and range to his game.

He wasn’t the only one who played well after the festivities, though. Khris Middleton struggled out of the gate after getting his big raise last summer. But he went from 17.9 points on 55.2 percent true shooting, 4.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds to 18.8 points on 57.9 percent true shooting, 4.6 dimes and 3.9 boards in the second-half splits.

Jabari Parker was running away with Rookie of the Year in 2014-15 before tearing his ACL. He got off to a rocky start, but his stats jumped too, from 11.3 points, 4.7 boards and 1.4 assists to 18.9, 6.1 and 2.2, respectively.

That trio showed (after the break) that they can be built around. More importantly, led by Antetokounmpo, they have an identity as a lengthy, athletic crew that plays with space on offense and can either splash home balls from deep or drive to the rim.

Defensively, they can play with the kind of length that disrupts offenses at the point of attack and generates points off of turnovers. They’ll not be only good, but darned fun to watch.

The key now is finding the right folks to put around them.

 

Tweak the Roster

Sometimes, just adding someone can ruin it, even if it’s a player who really does bring something to the table, like Greg Monroe. I love whipped cream. I just don’t want it in my lasagna.

They have to be careful to preserve their identity with whoever they add.

Bucks who are hitting the open market include O.J. Mayo, Jerry Bayless, Miles Plumlee and Steve Novak. Johnny O’Bryant and Damien Inglis are both on non-guaranteed contracts. Here is the Milwaukee contract situation if they let all of them go, according to Spotrac.com:

Also, there is about $1.9 million still going to Larry Sanders.

That leaves the Bucks with about $30 million to drop in free agency. But there are some things to bear in mind: Only Middleton is locked in on a long-term deal. Parker’s and Antetokounmpo deals will have to be on the new cap space, which means they’ll be much bigger. 

And while, in theory, the Bucks can just go over the cap to keep their own players, budgetary concerns for them are a …

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