Milwaukee Bucks: Remembering Miles Plumlee’s Time As A Buck

With Marc Stein reporting that the Milwaukee Bucks are sending Miles Plumlee to the Charlotte Hornets for Roy Hibbert and Spencer Hawes, we take a look at the big man’s time in Milwaukee.

Miles Plumlee was acquired by Milwaukee two seasons ago from the Phoenix Suns. He was part of the return in the infamous Brandon Knight deal.

Since becoming a Buck on February 19th, 2015, Plumlee found it difficult to consistently earn minutes while competing with John Henson and Greg Monroe. At times he looked like a productive center, especially post All-Star Break last season.

He earned his four year, $52 million contract by playing well with the two most important players to the franchise, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. The 6’11” center was productive slamming lob passes, and creating openings for Giannis with the pick and roll.

He also adequately protected the rim by using the Roy Hibbert arms straight up technique. He was a big part of Giannis, Jabari, and even Khris Middleton being able to break out during the second half of last season.

It was also the perfect timing for him to be up for a new deal, with the center market being so lucrative last season.  The Lakers signed Timofey Mozgov to a four-year, $64 million deal. Charlotte gave Cody Zeller a four-year, $56 million extension.

His deal was for a lot of money, but when it’s compared to the other centers around the league, it wasn’t much above market value. Maybe the team viewed him as the answer to Greg Monroe’s potential departure in the upcoming off season.

The problem the Bucks and Plumlee found themselves in was the logjam at his position. The Duke product struggled to open the season, leading to Jason Kidd rarely using him, instead relying on John Henson, Greg Monroe, and most recently Thon Maker to co-exist with the starters.

In just 9.7 minutes per game, Plumlee was averaging 2.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks. Those totals represent his lowest production since his rookie season with the Indiana Pacers. That is not exactly what you’re looking for right after signing a player for over $50 million.

The Miles Plumlee era was one of the more interesting story lines as of late. Not often does a player finds it difficult to crack the rotation, right after earning a big contract. He was signed to help Giannis and Jabari further their development as the lead dogs on the team. He just wasn’t given many opportunities to go out and earn his money.

When it comes down to it, it was a very odd move for the front office to make, considering he only started 14 games with the young stars. That’s a very small sample size to give a 28-year-old center a long-term deal.

Considering Miles Plumlee had been signed to support the team from the bench, this is a very good trade for Milwaukee. Hopefully, it regulates the center rotations, and opens up more consistent minutes for the rookie, Thon Maker.

Miles Plumlee will move on to the Charlotte Hornets, who were reported by Keith Smith to have had interest in him last summer.

The Hornets acquired him for the same reasons the Bucks signed him. Plumlee should create space for their stars, Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum, through the pick and roll, finish lob passes, and serve as a last line of defense for the Hornets.

He’s wanted, and the Hornets coach, Steve Clifford, has been known to use other team’s failed pieces to play productive basketball. The Bucks unloaded a bad contract, and sent him to his probable bestccase scenario. A win-win for the Bucks organization, who has made it a point to try to treat players the right way.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks: Grades And Reactions For Miles Plumlee Trade

Bucks fans should be generally happy with this deal, and wish him the best moving forward in Charlotte.