Milwaukee Bucks Mailbag: Bucks NBA 2k17 Difficulties

In our second Milwaukee Bucks Twitter mailbag, Ti Windisch answers Bucks questions concerning NBA 2k17 and young players.

Hello and welcome to the Milwaukee Bucks mailbag! In order to connect even further with Behind the Buck Pass readers we’ve decided to try a second mailbag–in addition to the one featured on the Win in 6 podcast, now we’ll have a text mailbag as well!

We took questions both on our Twitter and FaceBook pages this time around. Be sure to ask away next Friday if you have any burning Bucks questions. Without further ado, let’s get to the questions!

This is a tough one. Pre-Khris Middleton injury, I’d definitely say over. I was actually high on the Bucks and thought they’d be a playoff team, with how good Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker looked after the All-Star break.

These days I’m not so optimistic. Those two will still be really good, but without Middleton the Bucks suddenly lose their best defender and their best shooter. I’m taking the under, unless Milwaukee finds a replacement for Middleton who is better than Rashad Vaughn/Jason Terry.

This one is not so tough. I’d take Giannis becoming maybe the best player in the NBA for sure. It’s easy to add players when you have a transcendent talent–just ask LeBron James about the quality of his teammates since he went to the Miami Heat.

The Bucks could definitely add three sixth men caliber players going forward if Giannis messes around and averages a triple-double. Players would want to play with him. He is caps out where he is and the Bucks are deeper they might be better this season, but it won’t bring a title to Milwaukee.

I’m guessing Shakha means “is it really hard” to play with the Bucks. And I think it is. Playing with Giannis is fun because he can dribble around most guys, but the lack of spacing on the Bucks suck. And Jabari is exactly the kind of player that doesn’t translate well to 2k.

I love playing with spacing on 2k. I always build my teams with four shooters and one good rebounding center, and you can’t do that with the Bucks. Here’s my darkest confession–I never play with the Bucks on 2k, unless they’re randomly given to me.

This is not a fun question. If one of the big two–Giannis and Jabari–missed two months then the Bucks season is over. Whichever one were to get hurt, I imagine Mirza Teletovic would get a starting nod.

You’d see Matthew Dellavedova, either Terry or Vaughn, either Giannis or Jabari, Teletovoic and one of Greg Monroe, John Henson and Miles Plumlee. One of the three centers gets traded, because there’s no way ownership wants to pay all of them all year for a 30-win team.

They wouldn’t have to tank. They would be awful. As would most teams missing two of their best three players.

"Tim W. – Do you feel, from the little you’ve seen, that Thon Maker is going to see any significant playing time this year? Is he looking as good as we’d hoped?"

No and yes. Thon Maker has looked fantastic compared to what I at least expected. He’s making it harder to not play him, but just look at the players in front of him at power forward and center.

Plumlee, Henson, Monroe, Jabari and Teletovic are making a combined $58 million this season. Money talks, whether it should or not. Those guys will play, and they all play where Thon would.

I don’t think Thon can or should play at the three, and Giannis and Michael Beasley will get those minutes anywhere. So the only way he gets significant playing time is if he’s in the D-League. Which is not impossible, as Chris Reichert told me on Timeout with Ti episode 48.

Next: Five Takeaways From Bucks v Pacers

Thanks for all of the great questions, everybody! Check back next week for more answers.