Michael Carter-Williams Is Becoming The Point Guard The Milwaukee Bucks Need

Michael Carter-Williams is ending the Milwaukee Bucks’ point guard search before it ever began this summer with truly excellent play in the new year.

It’s so frustrating to see a national narrative that you know is completely ridiculous get regurgitated over and over again. In the flurry of articles detailing the Vertical Podcast with Woj episode that tore into Jason Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks, the trade that brought Michael Carter-Williams to Milwaukee is so often included in the list of bad trades the Bucks have made recently.

There’s no denying that Milwaukee should’ve gotten more of a return for Jared Dudley and the beloved (or not) Zaza Pachulia, and that the Bucks gave up too much to bring Greivis Vasquez to town, even before he needed (potentially) season ending surgery.

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Those are obviously bad trades. The Michael Carter-Williams trade is not. Although he’s been given up on about twenty times over by now, both nationally and locally, MCW has refused to bow to the relentless tirade of doubters and haters. Instead, he’s decided to shut them up with his excellent play at the point guard position.

Carter-Williams has given the Milwaukee Bucks a lovely Christmas present: a true, starting quality point guard. Since Christmas, these are Michael Carter-Williams’ per game averages: 12.8 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 2.1 steals, one block with just two turnovers per game.

He’s also shooting 47 percent from the field during that stretch, as well as making 60 (!!) percent of his three-point attempts (although he’s only taken five threes in those eight games).

The only place Carter-Williams is slumping is the free throw line, where he’s made just 54.8 percent of his foul shots. That’s not so worrisome though, considering MCW is a 72 percent free throw shooter in his Milwaukee tenure.

Since Christmas, Carter-Williams has yet to record five turnovers in a single game, something he’d done four times prior to the holiday. Although it can be easy to write off MCW’s stellar play as an aberration thanks to the small sample size, this hasn’t been the same process leading to different results.

As BrewHoop’s Aron Yohannes pointed out on Twitter last night, Carter-Williams has been working on his mental game. That’s what’s allowing for him to have these great performances. That lower usage rate means MCW isn’t forcing shots as much as he’s taking good ones, and setting up his teammates when they have better looks than he does.

That simple change has led to Carter-Williams lowering his turnovers per game and raising his field goal percentage and assists per game in his last several games. MCW is finally learning to slow down, as Jason Kidd wrote every point guard has to do at some point.

In case you missed the article I wrote detailing Kidd’s letter and how it was addressed to Michael Carter-Williams back in the preseason, here’s the choicest quote that reads like it’s being told directly to MCW from Kidd:

"I know it doesn’t make sense yet, but try to take it down a gear. Soon you’ll be saying to yourself: Wow, the game just got a whole lot easier.Maybe someday, a few years from now, you’ll be where I am, in the coach’s seat telling a new generation of young guys the same thing."

It’s starting to look like Michael Carter-Williams has slowed down, and his statistics certainly show the game being easier for him. If MCW can average 13/7/6/2/1 with just two turnovers per game, then he’s exactly what the Milwaukee Bucks hoped for when they traded for him.

A long, athletic point guard who can rebound, pass, defend and score a bit for himself, but who ultimately looks for teammates more than he does himself. That’s always been the ideal point guard to go with the Bucks young core, but it hasn’t always been Michael Carter-Williams.

It might be him now, though. If MCW and that selfless, productive point guard are one in the same then these Milwaukee Bucks are going to be doing a lot more winning from here on out.

Next: MCW Has Two of the Top Five Bucks Plays of the Week!

Even if Jabari Parker is still learning and Giannis Antetokounmpo needs to get his confidence up, with a truly capable point guard running the show everything will get better for the Young Bucks. The playoffs may be out of sight, but that doesn’t make this a wasted season if guys like Michael Carter-Williams make leaps like this.