The Milwaukee Bucks Recent Debacle At The Point Guard Position
The Milwaukee Bucks have no true reliable point guard on the roster, and the biggest reason why is because of their recent personnel decisions
Although Giannis Antetokounmpo is leading the Milwaukee Bucks in assists this year, they still have a giant hole at the point guard position. The biggest reason why is because of the recent decisions the Bucks have made regarding their point guards over the past several seasons.
With the 10th overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected the McDonald’s All-American who decided to forgo college and play in the Euroleague before his jump to the NBA.
A part of the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2010, Brandon Jennings had four terrific seasons with the Bucks, averaging just over 17 points a game for his career in Milwaukee. He was sensational from day one, starting in all 82 games of his rookie season, averaging 15.5 points and 5.7 assists for his rookie year.
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Jennings was thrilling, entertaining, and ultimately brought some excitement to the Bucks franchise at the point guard position. On November 14, 2009, Brandon Jennings scored 55 points (29 in the third quarter) against the Warriors. Jennings’ performance set an NBA record, passing LeBron James as the youngest player ever to score 50 points.
“Brandon Jennings scored 55 points, breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s franchise rookie record, to lead the Milwaukee Bucks to a come-from-behind 129-125 victory Saturday over the Golden State Warriors. Jennings poured in 29 points in the third quarter, then scored 10 in the final 2:15 to hold off the Warriors and become only the third Bucks player to score more than 50.
The last player to do it was Michael Redd, who set the franchise record with 57 points against Utah on Nov. 11, 2006. Jennings scored 15 straight points during the third period to help the Bucks overcome a nine-point deficit and win four straight for the first time in more than two years. The Bucks (5-2) are off to their best start since 2005, the last season the team made the playoffs.”
Brandon Jennings ultimately led the Milwaukee Bucks to the playoffs in the 2009-10 NBA season, before being eliminated by the Hawks in seven games of the first round. Despite the destined star power of Jennings as the point guard in Milwaukee for the future, he was traded to the Pistons on July 31st, 2013.
This trade brought a different Brandon to the Bucks, Brandon Knight.
During his tenure with the Bucks, Knight averaged 17.8 points and despite not being known as a facilitator at the point guard position, he averaged over fives assists a game in his two seasons with the Bucks.
In the 2014-2015 NBA season, he shot 40.9 percent from three-point range, which is the best of his career. Now, trading Jennings was definitely a surprise and something the Bucks should not have done, but getting Knight in return wasn’t a bad player to receive in return.
Although Knight didn’t fit the point guard role quite like Jennings, Knight still gave the Bucks a consistent scoring option. The former Kentucky star could get hot from 3 in an instant. He scored a career-high 37 points on December 31st, 2013 in a win over the Lakers, passing his previous career-high of 32 points with the Pistons.
Although he was very successful in Milwaukee, the Bucks traded Knight to the Suns in a three-team deal, bringing Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee.
[via The Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel]
Knight was having a strong season for the Bucks but was sent out at the deadline to Phoenix as part of a three-team trade. The Bucks got point guard Michael Carter-Williams, the 2014 rookie of the year, from Philadelphia in the deal. “I wouldn’t say we gave up a lot,” Kidd said. “He (Knight) was having a great season, and he’s having a great season this year. But it wasn’t we gave up Brandon. We had a decision to make between our backcourt. The Bucks had to make a decision between Middleton and Knight, and it was Middleton they chose.
The Milwaukee Bucks ended up giving Middleton (also from the Jennings trade), a five-year, $70 million contract, and also gave Greg Monroe a three-year, $50 million deal (We all know how poorly that second deal has turned out). So, the Bucks decided to not pay Brandon Knight, who ultimately signed a five-year, $70 million contract in July of 2015 with Phoenix. So, the Michael-Carter Williams tenure began in Milwaukee.
At the time, it was a curious move as the Bucks shook up their roster in the middle of the season by trading Brandon Knight, who was flourishing and seemed like an ideal fit as the team’s starting point guard, for Carter-Williams. But the deal was likely made due to Bucks coach Jason Kidd being enamored with Carter-Williams, who often drew comparisons to the future Hall of Fame guard-turned-coach.
Carter-Williams fit the mold of the starting point guard that Jason Kidd always wanted. He also added length to a team that had players like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker, Greg Monroe, Khris Middleton, and John Henson.
At 6-foot-6, Carter-Williams fit the direction to which the Bucks were heading to. Carter-Williams averaged just under 13 points per game while with the Bucks and averaged over five assists.
However, he never took the big step that the Bucks organization and Jason Kidd were desperately looking for.
He never took the leap that many thought he would after showing flashes of star potential with the 76ers. This was especially evident in the shooting department.
While with the Bucks in 2014-15, he shot 14.3 percent from three-point range, and it didn’t get much better the next season as he shot, 27.3 percent from three-point range.
The Michael Carter-Williams project didn’t work out as anticipated, and he was ultimately sent to Chicago in exchange for Tony Snell.
As noted above, Giannis Antetokounmpo has been practically running the Bucks offense this season. But imagine Giannis playing alongside a true point guard. This would help him in the transition game and would make him more of a threat when slashing to the basket. However, the Bucks and Matthew Dellavedova agreed to a four-year, $38 million contract this past season, and as we know, he is a point guard.
Well, that is what he is labeled as. Yes everybody, the Bucks went from Brandon Jennings to Brandon Knight to Michael Carter-Williams to Matthew Dellavedova. Delly has started in all 30 games he has played in this year, so he technically has some ball-handling and point-guard duties.
He has not been good. He has shot 38 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range. LeBron practically helped him get his contract, and everyone is finally realizing that Delly is really not good at all.
The Milwaukee Bucks have a terrific young duo in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker, but still have a desperate need at point guard. They have one of the greatest point guard minds in NBA history with Jason Kidd, they need to utilize that knowledge and IQ and get a point guard for the future.
Then again, we have seen what happens when it comes to Bucks point guards. They don’t last very long in Milwaukee.