Pardon the cliché, but 2012-13 was an up-and-down season for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The ups: Larry Sanders and his fast rise to the top echelon of long, active young bigs; securing a playoff spot after finishing ninth in the East two straight years; that NBA BIG commercial featuring clips of Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis set to the theme song from Laverne & Shirley.
The downs: a first-round playoff exit; that trade where they sent Tobias Harris (and others) to the Magic for J.J. Redick (and others), who then walked in free agency; that trade again.
On the face of it, the move was made to help Milwaukee push for the playoffs. But 1) it didn’t make them better, and 2) the push never needed to be made. After acquiring Redick, the Bucks went 12-17 and still finished four full games ahead of the ninth seed Philadelphia 76ers. The whole endeavour earned them the right to get swept by the Heat by an average score of 100–85.
Meanwhile, Harris, a second-year forward who averaged about 11 minutes per game in his time in Milwaukee, flourished in Orlando. He averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 27 games with the Magic, becoming many a fantasy team’s second-half darling and looking every bit a worthwhile starter going forward, either at the three or the four.
The Bucks followed that move up by swapping out their head coach and pretty much the entire rest of the team (see below) in the off-season. In most cases, a changeover like that signifies a team looking to get younger and rebuild from the ground up, but no: The Bucks brought in replacement pieces of similar ages and skill levels, along with recently fired Atlanta bench boss Larry Drew, and look every bit an eighth or ninth seed in this year’s Eastern Conference.
Only time will tell if there’s method to this madness. And until then, at least Larry Sanders is crazy fun to watch.
Additions
Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, Caron Butler, Carlos Delfino, Zaza Pachulia, Gary Neal, Luke Ridnour, Khris Middleton, Nate Wolters, Giannis Antetokounmpo
Departures
Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, J.J. Redick, Drew Gooden, Marquis Daniels, Mike Dunleavy, Joel Przybilla, Luc Mbah a Moute, Gustavo Ayon, Ish Smith
So … they shipped off the entire team other than Larry Sanders, John Henson, Ekpe Udoh and Ersan Ilyasova — all PF/C types — and they brought back roughly half the league (give or take).
Knight likely replaces Jennings in the starting lineup, but may be even less of a natural point guard than his predecessor. Running alongside him will be Mayo, who gambled on a one-year deal with the Mavs last year and won, putting up 15.5 points with a career-high true shooting percentage, and cashed in on a three-year, $24-million deal. Butler — acquired via trade from the Clippers via the Suns — will get the starting small forward job in his 12th season, having filled that role the last two years in L.A.
Delfino and Ridnour will bring shooting and ball distribution, respectively, off the bench. And a bonus: As both are starting their second tour of duty with the team, maybe a few fans will be able to bust out some semi-vintage jerseys.
Key Storylines
– Third-year big man Larry Sanders took a quantum leap in nearly every statistical category — from PPG and percentages to PER and win shares — last season and finished a close third in Most Improved Player voting. In the process, he went from a guy who averages 12.4 minutes one year to a franchise player and building block the next. With all eyes on him and an even greater role (if he can avoid foul trouble), can he continue the rise, perhaps even bringing his post game up to par with his rebounding and blocking?
– How will Drew dole out minutes to his crowded frontcourt? Sanders and Henson are both crazy-talented, crazy-skinny shot-blocking wunderkinds, but neither has demonstrated much of a scorer’s mentality. Meanwhile, the six-foot-nine Ilyasova has a good inside-outside game (44 per cent from three-point range last year) and works well with either. All three are 26 or under and deserve major minutes, but if management keeps the status quo they’ll all be locked in some sort of timeshare. The team also brought in Zaza Pachulia, familiar with Drew from Atlanta, who may muddy the picture further.
– How many ways will the name Antetokounmpo get butchered by opposing teams’ play-by-play guys? A skinny, raw player out of Greece, young Giannis is still a year or two (or three) away by most accounts, and may spend a good part of the season with the Bucks’ D-League affiliate in Fort Wayne. But when you inspire tweets like this from well-respected NBA types, the organization that took you 15th can probably give itself a pat on the back:
Breakout Player
O.J. Mayo. The former third-overall pick has a gunner’s mentality and should get the green light as the team’s go-to scorer. If he keeps up his newfound efficiency from three-point land (40.7 per cent last season, and league average or better from every zone along the arc), he could push his scoring numbers up over the 20-point-per-game mark for the first time in his career.
Scale of Decency
Half-decent. These Bucks have all the challenges of a slapped-together super team (chemistry, minutes battles, new playbook and language, etc.) without the top-end talent. That said, the majority of the new additions are all capable, veteran players, and Drew took his Hawks to the playoffs in each of his three seasons there. Plus, seeing as this team pointedly avoided a teardown, they look to be in win-now mode and may not be done adding veteran talent. A move for an upgrade at point guard or small forward could bump them right into the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
