Milwaukee Bucks: Let’s Talk About Centers

The issue of who is going to start at the center position for the Milwaukee Bucks next season seems to be the single largest talking point of the team’s offseason right now. There are other things happening, but they’re just not as interesting or as hard to figure out to be quite honest.

Will Khris Middleton re-sign with the Bucks? I would say there’s at least a 90 percent chance that he does.

Who will the Bucks draft? Almost certainly the best player available, who will likely not be a starting center.

Will the Bucks sign [insert big-name max contract free agent center here]? No, they won’t. The timing isn’t right. And more importantly, there are three guys in Milwaukee who are going to fight for that spot already. And one who deserves it.

Feb 20, 2015; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center John Henson (31) dunks during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Although he has been lambasted by fans and writers alike, John Henson quietly had the best season of his career in 2015. He led the Bucks in PER (player efficiency rating, a metric that attempts to evaluate the overall effectiveness of a player) in both the playoffs and the regular season, tied his career high offensive rating and greatly improved his defensive rating from 2014, another statistic in which he led the Bucks during the regular season.

How is Henson not a lock to start from day one next year in Milwaukee? I’m legitimately asking, because I don’t see any better options. I’ve written about why people sleep on Henson already (he doesn’t take many shots, so he hasn’t posted an impressive points per game total at this point in his career) and Zach Lowe of Grantland believes he’s a special player as well. Seriously, give this guy a shot already. He’s more than earned it.

I’m still a bit in disbelief that Henson didn’t start as soon as Larry Sanders departed from the team. The Bucks claim to #OwnTheFuture, but they started 30-year-old Zaza Pachulia over 24-year-old Henson most of the regular season and throughout the Playoffs, despite the fact Henson is six years younger and outplayed Zaza for most of the season. How is that at all attempting to better prepare for the future, unless Jason Kidd has already decided Henson is not suited to start for Milwaukee without even giving him a real shot.

I want to address the other two centers on the team before I go on, but I’m anxious to talk about Henson more so I’ll make it quick. Zaza Pachulia is a great yet fairly expensive veteran presence who provides leadership and very solid play, despite his apparent inability to leave the ground for any reason. A lot of people think he is very bad, but they probably don’t know much about basketball.

Miles Plumlee is a great guy to bring off of the bench who is 26 and probably won’t ever be a starting center in the NBA. He hustles hard and is a fairly good rebounder, but he hasn’t really impressed anyone yet, which is not a good sign of potential. One of those two should probably get dealt in the offseason, to save money and a roster spot, but I haven’t decided which one I’d rather see kept yet.

Now I’m going to do something I usually don’t do and issue a warning. If the Bucks deal Henson to move up in the draft (as had been rumored) it will be a mistake. This is a player who has shown flashes of real talent, who is worth far more than a gamble in a draft that is top-heavy with good big men but has no center who is worth giving up Henson for at a spot that will be available to Milwaukee. They can’t get a top four pick, which means Karl-Anthony Towns and Jahlil Okafor are both out.

Outside of those two I don’t see any center in this draft being better than John Henson. Willie Trill Cauley-Stein (yes, that’s actually his real name now) is touted as a great NBA prospect because of his length and defensive prowess. Those are things Henson already proved he can do in the NBA. WTCS has not, and his offense is nothing to write home about either, considering in his three years at Kentucky he never cracked the top four Wildcats in points per game.

I know that the grass always seems greener on the other side, but that kind of logic is what has kept the Bucks in the bottom tier of NBA teams for so long. Let this talented young core that has been assembled in Milwaukee actually get a chance to play together before it gets torn apart. I really don’t understand the fabricated holes at center and even at point guard a lot of people seem to point out. I’m guilty of it too in my Ti’s Trades pieces, but that’s only because there happen to be a ton of guards and centers available this offseason and there’s no way Giannis and Jabari don’t start for the next decade in Milwaukee.

Keep in mind that Carter-Williams/Middleton/Antetokounmpo/Parker/Henson haven’t played a single minute together as a starting five yet. That’s a lineup that is terrifyingly long and incredibly young, ranging in age from 20-24. There is definitely a slightly scary lack of outside shooting there, which I’ll probably write more about later, but this is an interesting team that could end up being pretty damn good.

Henson is a big part of that. Or he should be, at least. So far I’ve stood by the Kidd-as-pseudo-GM regime (he’s clearly an excellent coach, it’s only his personnel moves that I’m not sold on), even through the still-questionable Brandon Knight trade, but dealing Henson for anything except an irrefusable offer (which I highly doubt is going to happen) is a move I simply cannot get behind. Why break up this promising young team before it even gets to play together?