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Milwaukee Bucks season preview

By Dan Israeli

Nov 26, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) and guard Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Bucks defeated the Timberwolves 103-86. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) and guard Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Bucks defeated the Timberwolves 103-86. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA season will be here before you know it and FanSided is here to get you ready. In the lead up to Opening Night, we’ll be previewing two teams each day, reviewing roster changes, discussing important players and challenges, and hearing the perspective of our FanSided site experts. Let’s get ready for basketball!

Roster Changes

Inputs: Thon Maker (PF, NBA Draft pick No. 10); Malcolm Brogdon (SG, NBA Draft pick No. 36); Matthew Dellavedova (PG, signed for four years, $38 million); Mirza Teletovic (PF, signed for three years, $30 million); Jason Terry (PG, signed for one year, $1.5 million); Michael Beasley (PF, traded from the Houston Rockets); Tony Snell (SG, traded from the Chicago Bulls)

Outputs: Greivis Vasquez (PG, signed with Brooklyn Nets); Jerryd Bayless (PG, signed with Philadelphia 76ers); O.J. Mayo (SG, unsigned); Damien Inglis (SF, signed with the New York Knicks); Johnny O’Bryant (PF, signed with the Washington Wizards); Tyler Ennis (PG, traded to the Houston Rockets); Michael Carter-Williams (PG, traded to the Chicago Bulls)

Retained: Miles Plumlee (C, signed for four years, $52 million); Steve Novak (SF, signed for one year, $1.5 million)

Most important player

It has to be the Greek Freak, right? Bucks fans weren’t quite sure what to expect when the team drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo with the 15th overall pick of the 2013 NBA Draft, only knowing that he had freakishly long limbs and a name that would fit awkwardly on the back of a jersey. Fast forward three years and The Alphabet is looking like a ginormous steal, especially when you gander at his post-break numbers last season (18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.9 blocks per game).

Now, with Khris Middleton likely out for the whole season, and Point-Giannis ready to take the league by storm, it would only make sense that the 21-year-old Greek treasure is dubbed the most important player to the Bucks’ 2016-17 success. Right?

Wrong. Giannis will need to continue being the all-around force he was since March of last season, and if preseason highlights are any indication, he will be. A year after drafting Giannis, however, the Bucks spent the second overall pick on Jabari Parker, a dynamic scoring power forward with a career trajectory comp of Carmelo Anthony. Parker played in just 25 games of his rookie season though, due to a torn ACL, and the shine wore off a little entering his sophomore year.

Parker was able to play in 76 games in 2015-16, 72 as a starter, and finally began to show glimpses of his superstar potential in the second half of the season. After the break, Parker averaged 18.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, while venturing further out onto the perimeter as a shooter. (In total, Parker made nine threes on 35 attempts last season.) The shooting should continue to improve, but it’s Parker’s rejuvenated athleticism after a major knee injury that is most encouraging. He flies to the rim on baseline dunks with ease and can also go to work on post-ups with his signature spin-move floater.

Parker has immense potential as an offensive leader and go-to crunch time scorer, which, despite having a sky-high ceiling, doesn’t seem to be Giannis’ profile, especially if his new focus is breaking down defenses and distributing. With commitment Jabari can become a better defender than Carmelo, but will still need to improve as a rebounder and get more aggressive on the offensive glass. Still, Parker has looked even more dynamic this preseason and should take the next step this year on a very talented and eager Bucks roster.

Biggest weakness

The biggest strength for the Bucks is still their court-strangling size. Despite losing 6-6 point guard Michael Carter-Williams via trade, coupled with the crippling injury to Middleton (6-7, 6-11 wingspan), Limb City still has Giannis, Jabari, John Henson, Greg Monroe, Thon Maker, Miles Plumlee and even Mirza Teletovic (6-11 wingspan!) to throw at opponents. The team is still huge, even though it did them no real favors on defense last seasonseason (22nd in defensive efficiency).

The Bucks’ biggest weakness last season was supposed to be one of its biggest, or at least most improved, strengths heading into this season. Similar to the Thunder, who lost Kevin Durant in free agency, the Bucks got a huge portion of their threes from one player last season and that player, Middleton, is likely done for the year. While Middleton is no Durant, the loss can be quantified as even more catastrophic for the Bucks than it will be for the Thunder. That’s because the Bucks were already dead-last in 2015-16 with just 440 threes made, and 143 of those came from Middleton. That’s 32.5 percent of the team total. No bueno.

Of course, the Bucks brought in reinforcements even before Middleton went down, signing Teletovic (2.3 threes per game on 39.3 percent off the bench last season) and Matthew Dellavedova (1.3 treys on 41 percent) while also drafting Malcolm Brogdon, a combo guard with decent range, in the second round. Those moves, however, were meant to supplement a poor shooting team and now the additions will be required to make up the bulk of outside shots on a team desperately in need of spacing.

The issue of spacing may be overblown in the NBA and the Bucks might be wise to focus less on opening up looks for, say, Parker on the perimeter if it’s simply not his or their strength. The team has a lot of offensive talent as Giannis can get to the hoop at will while Parker is developing a plethora of moves within 15 feet.

Yes, Delly can possibly excel at catch-and-shoot with Giannis like he did with LeBron, and yes, Teletovic will be allowed to fire at will off the bench. Without Middleton, however, the Bucks will simply be forcing the issue with all-out spacing and should focus more on putting the ball in their best players’ (Jabari and Giannis) hands.

Related Story: Indiana Pacers Season Preview

What does success look like?

— Ti Windisch, @BehindtheBucks, Behind The Buck Pass

The definition of success for the Milwaukee Bucks 2016-17 season changed dramatically after Khris Middleton slipped on a wet spot and tore his hamstring. Before that unfortunate event, the Bucks were looking to fight for a playoff spot. The postseason was the goal.

If the Bucks were going to fight for a seventh or eighth seed with Middleton, it’s impossible to expect them to make the postseason these days. If Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker both take massive, Greek Freak-sized strides this team could still make the playoffs. But that’s a lot to ask.

Middleton was better than most people realize, even now that he’s become an NBA Twitter darling. He was this team’s most consistent contributor last year, and his loss on both ends is mind-bogglingly tough for Milwaukee to overcome.

Simply seeing the two healthy members of the Bucks big three — Giannis and Jabari — make significant strides would be a successful season for the Milwaukee Bucks. Even if that means missing out on the eighth seed, seeing Giannis and Jabari get closer to the star potential they both have would make this a fun and rewarding season.

The Bucks want to win sooner rather than later with their rising team salary bill, but expecting a team starting Tony Snell to be a playoff team is a big ask, even if they’re paying out of the wazoo for three centers who can’t share the floor.

The playoffs will be worth the wait, if Giannis and Jabari both get much better in the meantime.