Milwaukee Bucks: How Will The Starting Five Look?

With just a few days left before the preseason opener, let’s take a look at which five players will step onto the court first to represent the Milwaukee Bucks this coming season.

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At the end of last season, it was pretty clear that there were going to be three locks for the starting lineup in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, and Khris Middleton. As everyone knows by now, the Bucks will be without the luxury of Middleton for much of this season due to injury. With that being said, Jason Kidd still has much of the rotation to figure out.

Entering preseason, Kidd has solved a few of the questions posed by Bucks’ fans everywhere. First of all, with the absence of Middleton, Kidd remarked that Rashad Vaughn would be practicing with the starters for the time being. After a weak rookie campaign, it is nice to see the coach has such faith in the young guard.

Along with Vaughn, it is presumed that Matthew Dellavedova will be his running mate in the back court. Already a proven shooter and defender, the 25-year-old can be a solid starter and leader for Vaughn while on the floor together.

Another question Kidd answered was who would be starting at center. With the logjam created by Miles Plumlee, John Henson, Greg Monroe, and newly drafted Thon Maker, there was plenty of speculation. In the end, Kidd is going with Miles Plumlee as the starter for the beginning of the season.

Although his stats are not the greatest, Plumlee exhibits great chemistry with the two core pieces of the lineup (Jabari and Giannis), which bodes well for him and the team moving forward.

Without further ado, let’s check out the strengths and weaknesses of the starting lineup as it stands.

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Matthew Dellavedova

Coming off of his first NBA Championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in June, Matthew Dellavedova has signed with the Bucks for the next four seasons on a deal worth $38 million. With that being said, the Bucks are a great fit for him as a player.

Delly has a lot of strengths that are absolutely needed by the Bucks, while also containing a few flaws that can be contained within the rest of the lineup.

First, Dellavedova’s best two qualities are by far his three-point shooting and defensive capabilities.

Strengths

For a team that ranked at the absolute bottom of the league in three-pointers made last season, the Bucks are desperately searching for more shooters. Along with that, Khris Middleton, the team’s best three-point shooter, is out for at least the next six months, expanding the need for shooting even further.

Dellavedova is a career 39.8 percent shooter from deep and can be expected to keep that percentage up heading into this season. Also, Delly knocked down 98 three-pointers last season in 24.6 minutes per game as a bench player in Cleveland. With the Bucks, he will be a starter and will definitely see an increase in his usage rate for this season.

After playing with LeBron James as his primary ball handler the last few seasons in Cleveland, Delly’s move to play next to Point Giannis should go very smoothly. Giannis is similar to LeBron in the way that they are both point forwards who excel in attacking the rim and kicking out to open shooters. Delly thrives as a catch-and-shoot player, where he ranked 3rd in the NBA at 46.9 percent from three, and should slide into a substantial role alongside Giannis and Jabari Parker.

On the other end of the ball, Dellavedova is very talented. At 6’4″, he has great size to guard point guards and he is also extremely dedicated to playing defense. He often picks up opposing players at half court and really forces his opponent to be engaged on offense for the entire shot clock.

Weaknesses

The biggest weakness when it comes to Dellavedova’s game is that he struggles as a primary ball handler. He is a decent distributor, but it is clear that he is better when he works off the ball. This is a flaw that can easily be hidden within the Bucks’ system.

With two extremely talented primary ball handlers in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Michael Carter-Williams, Dellavedova will be allowed to play on the wing for the majority of his time on the floor. The key thing with this is that he is allowed to guard point guards on defense while playing on the wing.

Another flaw in Delly’s game is his lack of athleticism. In a game that is so often dictated by speed, vertical leap, and length, Delly is below average in all categories.

Dellavedova counteracts this with his height and high understanding of how to play defense, but he can sometimes struggle when matched up against the most athletic guards in the NBA, such as Russell Westbrook and John Wall.

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Rashad Vaughn

After being selected 19th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, Rashad Vaughn did not have the greatest rookie year. Largely regarded out of college as a sharpshooting guard, Vaughn struggled with the NBA range last season. Still, the 20-year-old Vaughn is one of the youngest starters in the NBA. The Minnesota native has plenty of upside going forward, even after a disappointing rookie season.

Although not what Bucks’ fans may have wanted, the injury to Khris Middleton has definitely opened up minutes for the other young players in the Milwaukee backcourt that should have a huge impact on the future of the Bucks.

Strengths

It’s hard to say what Vaughn’s strengths really are at the next level right now, but with such a small sample size of professional play, much of his strengths are still based on his play in college. In his one year at UNLV, Vaughn made 54 of his attempted 141 three-pointers (a 38.3 percent success rate).

Although this number translated to just 29.3 percent in the NBA, the reality is that Vaughn does have a quality jump shot, he just needs to find it and get into a rhythm from behind the arc. In a season that he is almost guaranteed to see an increase in his minutes (Vaughn played 14.3 minutes per game last year), he will get plenty of in-game shots to show the fans how he has improved in the offseason.

Another strong point for Vaughn is his size. At 6’6″, he has very good size for an NBA shooting guard. Due to the “Team All-Length” qualities of the Milwaukee Bucks, Vaughn’s size allows him to easily fit with the rest of the team, especially on defense, where the team mostly plays in a position-less system.

Weaknesses

On the other hand, Vaughn has plenty of flaws in his game, some of which overlap with his strengths. For starters, it is true that he hasn’t found his stroke from three. This is a problem because he came into the league with hopes of being a knockdown shooter, and that has not happened in the slightest. In order to become a legitimate NBA starter, Vaughn will need to get his percentage up from deep.

Defensively, Vaughn needs to work on showing constant effort. He has all the raw tools and ability to play solid defense, but he isn’t always dedicated to doing it. Some of his defensively struggles can be attributed to hitting the rookie wall, but he needs to improve upon his effort in year two.

Vaughn’s other major problem comes in his small sample size of play. This is just his second year in the NBA, and after playing just 23 games in college, there has not been much time for Rashad to prove himself. This is a year where he should get plenty of opportunities so for the sake of his future with Milwaukee, he will need to step up in a big way.

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Giannis Antetokounmpo

Now working on a four year, $100 million extension, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the focal point of the Bucks’ future. With his insane height, length, and athleticism, the “Greek Freak” is a social media MVP.

With his ability to dazzle fans with his blocks, passing, and awesome fast breaks, Giannis is a fan-favorite. He is much more than just that, though. Since being selected 15th overall in 2013, Antetokounmpo has improved every single season in the NBA, and many people believe that he will play well enough to earn All-Star honors this coming season.

Coach Jason Kidd has already told the media that the offense for the Bucks will center around the idea of Point Giannis. With this, he is declaring that Giannis will be the primary ball handler on the offensive end, while picking up his best match-up on defense. The fact that Milwaukee is running with 6’11” Point Giannis running the show might seem weird to the uninitiated, but in reality, it’s the best thing for the team and extremely exciting.

Strengths

For a player of this caliber, Giannis has plenty of strengths. For starters, he has tremendous court vision for a player of his height. His ability to see over his defenders and make smart, accurate passes to his teammates makes him a valuable playmaker.

To create these situations, Giannis is also adept at attacking the basket and drawing lots of attention. Once a team commits to his drive on defense, Giannis has all the tools to see the floor and find the open man.

Giannis is very talented in the half court, but he excels the most in transition. His length allows him to cover the floor very quickly and he also possesses a killer euro-step. His work in the fast break is what has warranted his fan-favorite label, especially in the online community. His Vines are all over social media and his outstanding off-the-court personality makes him an even more popular figure.

Lastly, Antetokounmpo is a very capable defender. With his height, length, and quickness, Giannis can guard all five positions if he needs to. This versatility is absolutely tremendous and allows the Bucks to do many things. Antetokounmpo’s ability to guard multiple positions allows Jason Kidd to implement a position-less defense, which has proved to be quite effective in the past.

Although the Bucks might have had a down season on defense last year, Giannis gives the team a great defensive backbone that can lead Milwaukee to a great season on that end of the floor.

Weaknesses

The major weakness in Antetokounmpo’s game is his lack of a three-point shot. He has shown growing confidence in this part of his game, but that does not make up for his three-point percentage of 25.7 percent last year.

Even though he is still an outstanding player, adding a three-point shot is what can move him to the next level. He is already great at attacking the basket, but by holding the defense accountable for his shot behind the arc, Giannis would find even more space to attack.

With the entire team being centered around the play of Giannis, the addition of the deep ball to his game would not just influence his numbers, but the team as a whole.

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Jabari Parker

For Jabari Parker, this is a huge season coming up. After tearing his ACL in his rookie year, he bounced back quite well in 2015-2016, but this is the year for him to take the leap up to the next level.

With Khris Middleton out, Parker will be called on to form a dynamic duo with Giannis Antetokounmpo. With the athleticism and talent that both of them possess, they have the opportunity to start something special in Milwaukee.

Last season, Parker finished with 14.1 points per game. Although this doesn’t look like a staggering number for the second-year player, his statistics after the All-Star break were. Post All-Star break, Parker averaged 18.9 points per game and started to knock down the three with some consistency. He is still a very young player, but this is the time to make that jump.

Strengths

Clearly Parker’s major strength is his outstanding ability to score. Despite losing much of his rookie season due to an ACL injury, Parker made the jump from college ball to the NBA very well. With that injury, one could argue that his first season was basically a redshirt and his true rookie season was this past year.

With that, the Chicago native should bring his scoring numbers up by a substantial amount this season. His combination of an excellent mid-range game along with his ferocious attacking of the basket is exciting to even the casual fan.

Parker also possesses a tremendous fearlessness when he attacks the rack. Take this dunk, for example, where he leaves the ground knowing exactly what he wants to do:

Yeah, put that one on your wall.

Weaknesses

The first major weakness in Parker’s game, however, comes on the defensive end of the floor. He struggled mightily on defense for a few reasons.

There were multiple times throughout last season where you could see Parker was lost, almost oblivious to where he should have been. Either he missed a switch or took a chance on a steal that was just too late. These faults, however, are things that are improved with time and practice.

Jabari is still extremely young and defense is not always something that comes easily. He has all the physical tools of height and size to match-up either on the wing against small forwards or down low with some power forwards. He is still going through a learning phase on defense, but it will help him to be in a lineup with good defenders like Giannis, Delly, and Miles Plumlee.

Other than his defense, Jabari’s offensive game can be improved by stepping out behind the arc more often. He shot a disappointing 25.7 percent from three last season, but he also attempted only 35. If he worked hard on his shot in the offseason, as many people are alluding to him doing, Parker’s confidence and percentages from distance should rise up. That would certainly help the Bucks as a whole.

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Miles Plumlee

As site expert Ti Windisch wrote earlier this week, Miles Plumlee has not had the most predictable NBA career. With players like John Henson and Greg Monroe on the roster, it is definitely surprising to some people to see Miles Plumlee in the starting lineup.

Still, that’s where he is and the team seems to be behind him in this. During last season, Plumlee started only 14 games and averaged 14.3 minutes per game on the whole.

The former Duke Blue Devil’s numbers were pretty solid in that time frame, scoring 5.1 points per game and snatching 3.8 rebounds per outing. They may not look flashy, but when placed on a Per-36 minute scale, he averages around a double-double (13.0 and 9.6). What doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, however, is what makes Plumlee so valuable to the Bucks.

Strengths

The biggest strength for Plumlee and the Bucks is his chemistry and fit with the other players in the lineup. The Bucks are firmly set on owning the future behind Jabari Parker and Giannis Antetokounmpo. With that, the team is looking to build around those two (and Khris Middleton) in the best way possible.

Plumlee works tremendous well with both of those players, especially as a finisher in the pick-and-roll. Plumlee has great hands and an athletic ability that allows him to rise high for alley-oops or to finish spectacular dunks.

With this, the advantage of having Plumlee in the starting lineup is his small usage rate. While on the floor, Plumlee’s usage rate from last season was 15.5 percent. In comparison to Monroe’s 23.5 perecent and Henson’s 19.1 percent, this is far lower.

This is a great thing for the starting lineup because it allows the offense to mainly run through Jabari and Giannis, both of whom are well-deserving of high usage rates.

Also, Plumlee is an ideal fit alongside Parker in the frontcourt because of his ability to protect the rim. With Giannis and Plumlee on the floor, Jabari will have great rim-protectors behind him if he gets beaten off the dribble. With Miles as a versatile anchor to a defense, his athleticism contributes to the possibility of a position-less defense, which is exactly what the Bucks want to run.

Weaknesses

Although it is a positive that Plumlee has a limited usage rate, that is in part because of his lack of a post game. Plumlee does not have tremendous back-to-the-basket talent and is not a guy you can just dump the ball to and watch him go to work. In one-on-one offensive matchups, he is not very effective and that therefore leaves him primarily as a screen and roller in most situations.

This is in large part shown by the fact that over 30 percent of his shots last season were dunks. Also, 75 percent of his shots were assisted, showing that it’s hard for him to create his own shot. Still, these are things that are not entirely necessary for him, so it should not be too much of a worry.

Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Overview

In total, Jason Kidd has designed a pretty solid starting lineup. They are set on focusing their offense through their two stars in Jabari and Giannis with solid chemistry pieces to put around them. Matthew Dellavedova presents a good fit because of his ability to knock down the open three, especially off the catch-and shoot. He is also an outstanding on-ball defender that should help the team that saw a dramatic drop in defensive efficiency from two seasons ago to last season.

Then, the shooting guard position could be filled by Rashad Vaughn, who is hoping to see a huge rise in his three-point percentage this season. He came into the league looking to be a knockdown shooter, and it is time to reach that goal. His low usage rate of 13.5 percent also contributes to the idea that he does not need the ball in his hands to succeed. In college, he excelled in working off the ball and can get his shot off in multiple different ways.

Next in the lineup are the two stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. They are the key to the entire Bucks’ roster this season because without a big leap in their production, the team will really struggle. Giannis and Jabari both have All-Star potential in their careers, but they need to start realizing that and getting down to business as a dynamic duo.

Lastly, the lineup is rounded out by Miles Plumlee. The 27-year-old center is the oldest player in the starting lineup and will anchor the defense down low. His athleticism is a great fit next to the attacking stars of Giannis and Jabari, who can create an instant pick-and-roll combination with him.

Once the lane starts to open up, it’s time to see some high-flying dunks or dagger three-pointers. It’s going to be a fun season. Let’s get started.