Thon Maker Shows Promise in the NBA Summer League
By Dan Larsen
After putting in some respectable performances in the NBA Summer League, Milwaukee Bucks fans should be excited about Thon Maker‘s future.
Maybe things won’t be so bad after all!
That seemed to be the common sentiment among NBA analysts and Milwaukee Bucks fans after getting a chance to see the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft, Thon Maker, play significant minutes in the NBA Summer League.
No player has arguably been talked about more in the wake of the 2016 NBA draft than Maker. The Bucks set off a chain reaction of unexpected draft picks when they took Maker, a relative unknown who had spent the past season playing basketball overseas.
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The pick left many skeptical, and in turn brought many eyes onto the Milwaukee Bucks Summer League games to see what Maker could really do.
Though it was only a few games, and it was against below average talent (to put it mildly), Bucks fans have real reason to be excited rather than panicked about the future of Thon Maker.
In five Summer League games, Maker averaged 14.2 points and 9.6 boards per game. This well exceeded what any Bucks fan expected before the Summer League campaign started, and were very respectable numbers for any player to post.
It wasn’t his stats, however, that necessarily gave Bucks fans reasons to be excited. After all, Maker shot just 37.7 percent from the field, something he’ll have to improve on significantly if he wants to play major minutes this upcoming season.
It was the flashes he showed in his game that got people’s attention.
First, Maker did what most scouts already told us he would. He can be a high energy big who runs the floor well, rebounds like a mad man, and gives maximum effort on every play.
This may sound like an overrated skill to have. However, few players, especially big men, are able to keep up a high level of effort for as many minutes as Maker played. This suggests that Maker could be effective in large chunks of minutes, not just in a sixth man role where he’d be coming off the bench.
Maker’s ability to the run the floor also went beyond what a typical seven foot player can do. Maker was able to run and bring the ball up the floor like a guard, showing tight dribbling and solid footwork. This suggests that Maker could potentially run some plays, or at the very least be involved with handling the ball on offense, if he’s asked to do so.
We’ve already seen, especially over the final quarter of the season, what the Bucks can do on the break with Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Jabari Parker. Now picture Maker in the mix. The Bucks have four (!!!) guys who could devastate teams on the break at any given time.
The second thing Maker did relatively well was cut to the lane. Often times, as seen in this past season, the Bucks were unable to run effective pick-and-rolls, particularly because their center, Greg Monroe, wasn’t quick enough to effectively roll the basket.
Maker, on the other hand, is super quick, enabling him to get to the rim in 2-3 steps. This could give the Bucks yet another effective roller to the basket, an underrated but necessary skill for any big man to have. This could really be an asset when Antetokounmpo is driving to the lane, as Maker could use his length and quickness to get easy baskets.
Maker also showed flashes of having some range. In five games, Maker made 6-19 on his attempts from deep. This included hitting some difficult step backs. He was far from a finished product as his percentages suggest, however, Maker has excellent form on his shot and could, with time, develop into an effective stretch four with some serious range.
On the defensive end, Maker struggled, often getting himself into foul trouble and not understanding where he needed to be in certain situations. However, Maker had some ridiculous shot blocks, especially in situations where it looked like he may not have been close enough to effectively contest the shot.
All of these positive skills were on display in his 17 point 17 rebound performance against the D-League Select Team.
Let there be no doubt; Maker is still a very raw player and has a long ways to go before being an impact player in the NBA. Summer League Basketball is also very low quality and anything seen in it should be taken with a major grain of salt.
However, as his performances suggest, Maker has real potential and couldbe a special player if he puts it all together.
In many ways, Maker’s performance in the Summer League this year mirrored that of another unknown foreign kid who the Bucks took not so long ago.
It wasn’t that either Maker or Antetokounmpo dominated their competition, or put up ridiculous stats that screamed superstar in their initial appearances. It was that, despite being very raw in many phases of their game, you could see that they possessed real potential and skill. You could see the flashes of a solid NBA player in their game, even at such an early stage of their careers.
With some work and refinement of his game, Maker should, at the very least, be an effective high energy role player who runs the floor well, rebounds, can block shots, and occassionally hit a jump shot. His role this year could be similar to the impact Larry Sanders had in his first two NBA seasons.
If he fills out more physically and develops to his full potential, it’s not a stretch to imagine Maker developing into a Serge Ibaka type stretch four with elite shot blocking skills.
It may just have been Summer League, but Maker’s performances should help put some of the doubts Bucks fans had to rest.
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All we wanted to see out of Maker were some flashes, and that’s exactly what we got in the five games the Bucks played.