Can the Milwaukee Bucks Duplicate the Warriors Blueprint?

The Golden State Warriors ended its 39-year championship drought on Tuesday night with a 105-97 Game 6 clincher en route to a 4-2 series victory over the Cleveland Cavilers in the 2015 NBA Finals.

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The Warriors were heavily favored coming into the series and rightfully so. That only mushroomed when Cleveland’s All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving went down with a fractured left kneecap in overtime of Game 1 and was sidelined for the next three to four months.

However, the Warriors unexpectedly dropped the next two games, in large part due to Stephen Curry’s struggles from the floor. The Cavilers zeroed in on Curry and were not going to allow one man to beat them.

Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson expended a lot of energy to contain him through the first three games of the series. Their efforts would prove to be futile as Curry eventually found his MVP form in the fourth quarter of Game 3 and bottled that fire for the last three games.

Head coach Steve Kerr also inserted Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup in Game 4 which enabled the Warriors to play a style they were much more comfortable with. Kerr’s small ball ultimately allowed Iguodala to garner Finals MVP honors.

The Warriors turned their franchise around in a matter of six years. Think about that. From start to finish, it only took the team six years to begin a rebuild, and they won a championship at the end of that sixth year.

Do the Bucks have it in them to pull off a similar feat?

It’s certainly possible. The team just finished year two of its rebuild and have quite the promising future. That being said, it is still improbable that the Bucks end their turnaround with a championship. Winning it all is extremely tough to do and requires just about everything to go right.

Jun 16, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates with forward

Draymond Green

(23) during the fourth quarter of game six of the NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Warriors won 105-97. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

The Bucks are certainly making strides in the right direction. It shows in their talented young nucleus, and that’s where it all starts. Drafting well is the only guarantee to a long-term solution.

Much like the Bucks, the Warriors were not afforded Top 5 picks year after year. They had to make quality selections, and there is an added pressure to hit big on most of them. The more misses the longer the rebuild. They ended up drafting four of their five starters.

The Warriors took Curry with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. They got Klay Thompson at No. 11 two years later and added both Harrison Barnes (No. 7) and Draymond Green (No. 35) a year after that. They also drafted Festus Ezeli (No. 30) in 2012 who has proven to be a serviceable backup center.

It took the Warriors just four years to acquire one of the best starting lineups the league has to offer and that came with missing badly in 2010 when they selected Ekpe Udoh No. 6 overall.

The Bucks appear to be where the Warriors were in 2012, an extremely young and inexperienced team with a lot of promising potential. Curry grew into an MVP, and Thompson developed into an absolute star.

Green thrived as the heart and soul of the team. He became the ultimate x-factor, and it started on the defensive end. Barnes became more than just an athletic wing. He developed into a legitimate outside threat.

The Bucks have similar pieces to that of the Warriors, but they are going to need those pieces to reach their full potential in order for the team to continue to execute Golden State’s blueprint.

Jabari Parker needs to develop into the offensive juggernaut that Curry is. Parker has to make opposing teams pay every time he touches the ball, so much so that a double team is the only option. He then also has to become the type of leader that is more concerned with making the right play then filling his shot quota.

Khris Middelton has to become the consistent scorer that Thompson is. Middelton’s already shown he has the range but must develop the rest of his offensive game. He needs to become a threat from all angles on every possession.

Jan 7, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard

Giannis Antetokounmpo

(34) during the game against the Golden State Warriors at BMO Harris Bradley Center. Golden State won 101-80. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Giannis Antetokounmpo can easily fill the role that Iguodala recently displayed. Antetokounmpo doesn’t need to shut down the other team’s best player, but he needs to make them uncomfortable at all times. He also needs to finish at the rim and knock down shots when disrespected.

Michael Carter-Williams plays similar to Barnes in the sense that they are not always sure of themselves. They seem to lack confidence even though they are vital to their team’s success. Carter-Williams is a nice athletic guard but has to become a legitimate outside threat. Like Barnes, Carter-Williams must make the plays that win games.

That only leaves the center, and the Bucks are currently searching for that piece. That next center should display the glue-like qualities that Green provides the Warriors. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on the court, but an established veteran with vocal leadership and championship experience would do wonders for this team.

That center must also provide a defensive presence that would surely solidify this team. Tyson Chandler is the man for that job. The Bucks might also consider Greg Monroe in order to play a slight variation of the small ball Kerr used.

The Warriors also had excellent depth in Shaun Livingston, David Lee, Andrew Bogut, Leandro Barbosa, Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights. The Bucks can’t match that, nobody can, but they have a decent start with Jerryd Bayless, O.J. Mayo, Jared Dudley, Zaza Pachulia and John Henson. It shouldn’t be difficult to find quality bench players.

Coaching should not be forgotten. It had a lot to do with the Warriors success. They made solid improvement under former head coach Mark Jackson before Kerr came out of nowhere and took that team on a spectacular run. The Bucks also share that with Jason Kidd who seemingly became a great coach overnight.

However, Jackson really developed that talent before they were ready to win. Kidd is now charged with that same lofty task, and that took the Warriors three years. Maybe that means 2017 is going to be the Bucks year.

The Warriors have laid out a great blueprint on how to rise from the doldrums of the NBA to the very top of the mountain. The Bucks share so many similarities to the Warriors six-year rebuild plan and the type of players that team consists of. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Bucks become one of the most fun teams to watch if they can execute the rest of the blueprint.

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