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Three Milwaukee Bucks Make Sports Illustrated’s NBA Top 100

By Adam McGee

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It’s that time of the off-season where NBA fans get really upset about where their players fall in national player rankings again, and Milwaukee Bucks fans are not going to be left behind!

Sports Illustrated are currently counting down their top 100 NBA players ahead of the new season, with comments provided by the excellent duo of Rob Mahoney and Ben Golliver and as always fans around the NBA have been keeping a very close eye on the results.

At the time of writing, the list has only been updated up as far as the 31st spot, but it feels safe to assume that we have seen how all the Bucks representatives have panned out already.

The good news is that Milwaukee has three familiar names on the list overall, as well as one honorable mention as such in the list of snubs. Four players in the mix for the top 100 players in the league is a sign of good progress for the team, and with so much development still to come from a young team, the sky could be the limit from here.

First up, let’s talk about the snub. Jabari Parker is probably the biggest question mark that the Bucks have right now due to his injury problems, yet the SI guys are sure to make mention of him as recognition of his potential more than anything else.

Here’s what Ben Golliver had to say about the decision to exclude Parker from the main list.

"This snubbing isn’t so much an apology for missing the cut as it is a head’s up that Jabari Parker, 20, is officially on the radar. The No. 2 overall pick in 2014, Parker has All-Star potential as an alpha scorer with an old-school polish to his offensive game. He looked headed for an entertaining Rookie of the Year run-off withAndrew Wiggins, the eventual winner, before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury last December. Although Milwaukee made due just fine without its prized rookie forward in 2014–15, there’s a very good chance that the Bucks will soon live and die by Parker’s contributions."

It’s hard to dispute any of that logic either, and it’s tough to argue that Parker’s recovery won’t play a bigger factor on the Bucks future than almost any other single influence over the next few seasons.

Following on from that, it didn’t take Bucks fans very long to find the team’s first entry on the main list, as Giannis Antetokounmpo slotted in at 100.

Judging from social media, this has been a little hard for some Bucks fans to take considering just how high everyone in Milwaukee’s hopes for Antetokounmpo are. At the same time though, instead of focusing on those listed above him, there should be genuine glee for Milwaukee when people stop to consider how quickly Giannis has made the leap into this type of elite company.

Golliver hits the nail on the head in that regard too in the opening line of his Antetokounmpo commentary.

"Because it has happened in front of our eyes, one galloping coast-to-coast drive at a time, it’s easy to overlook just how quickly Giannis Antetokounmpo made the leap from “long-term project” to “quality contributor.”"

The realities of the situation can’t be ignored either though. As much as those who watch Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee closely are anticipating the Greek Freak making a big jump in production this season, the fact of the matter is that everyone needs to see him actually make it before ranking him accordingly.

"There’s still plenty of room for refinement on the offensive end: his shooting range extends, well, about one long arm’s length from the rim, and he hasn’t yet developed into a credible threat in isolation situations or pick-and-rolls. Given his ability to scale his per-minute production and improve his shooting efficiency last season, the Bucks have every reason to believe that Antetokounmpo is headed for even bigger things in Year 3. His real explosion has yet to come."

In other words, in regards to Giannis, prepare yourself to see him soar up the rankings for twelve months from now.

Next up on the list for Milwaukee was the franchise’s high profile summer signing Greg Monroe at 48. Bucks fans are largely pinning their hopes on Monroe being the marquee standout big man who can help to elevate this current squad to the next level.

At this stage everybody knows about Monroe’s fallacies, but it’s nice to see a reminder of the boost he could give to a Bucks offense that at times looked particularly lackluster last season.

"Although he isn’t quite as efficient as you might expect for a player who spends so much time in the paint, he was at the mercy of cramped frontcourt pairings with the likes of Andre Drummond and Josh Smith in Detroit. An effective post-up scorer who has sufficient size to score over most centers, Monroe further butters his bread by getting after it on the offensive glass, as he’s ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounds in three of the last five seasons."

It was another former Piston who got a new deal this summer that fared out as the Bucks highest ranked player on the list though. I’m, of course, talking about Khris Middleton who finished up at 45.

Middleton is very widely becoming recognized as one of the best players in the NBA who for one reason or another is still flying under the radar. As Golliver aptly puts it:

"Khris Middleton is perhaps the best player that most basketball fans wouldn’t recognize if he walked by them at the airport."

What makes Middleton so good is the way in which he can contribute to his team across the floor though. The impact that Middleton offers on both ends has many experts labelling him as a “Three-and-D” specialist, but there’s a little bit more variation and nuance to Middleton than that.

"His breadth of abilities on defense is impressive: he uses his size and length to handle isolation assignments very well, he excels as the small and big in pick-and-roll scenarios and can switch interchangeably as the need arises, he plays with standout energy, and he forces turnovers. Offensively, expecting Middleton to continue to develop into a lead scorer is probably asking too much, but he’s a knockdown spot-up shooter who contributes without dominating the ball and can create scoring chances through his off-ball movement."

So, to recap, Sports Illustrated don’t have any Buck inside the top 40 players in the NBA. Should that be something that Milwaukee fans feel really upset about?

Of course not.

It’s just a list, and as always NBA games will be played out based on how teams combine and interact collectively rather than straight individual comparisons.

Which Bucks even made the list last year?

I’m guessing you can’t remember because that’s just how important these things are when real basketball comes back around, but just for your information O.J. Mayo and Ersan Ilaysova were the Bucks only two representatives and in spite of that the team somehow won 41 games!

Three young Bucks made the list this year, and I’d bet on all three to rank even higher next year, and that’s what’s most important.

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