Milwaukee Bucks: Tyler Ennis Set Up To Keep Improving

With the right combination of attitude and knowledgable teachers around him, there’s no reason why Tyler Ennis can’t make further improvements with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Tyler Ennis’ per game numbers make it seem pretty ridiculous to talk about him in any really meaningful way, but there’s simply more to Tyler Ennis than meets the eye.

Listed at what seems a generous 6’3″, Ennis is short in stature and lacks anything truly eye-catching in his game, but he’s still somewhat solid. It may never be about him winning games for you, but you’ll feel confident he won’t go out of his way to lose them either.

With a lot of teams around the NBA that might have rendered Ennis as something of a spare wheel, but he just so happens to be with a team who aren’t going to be reliant on a game-changing point guard for the foreseeable future.

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None of that is to proclaim that the 21-year-old could be Milwaukee’s long term point guard, but considering the type of players that most seem to suggest fit the mold of what the Bucks are looking for, we can no longer rule out Ennis eventually falling into an important role whether it’s in the starting unit or off the bench.

As I’ve already mentioned, thanks to spotty minutes throughout the year, Ennis’ per game numbers are far from dazzling. What’s important isn’t that he had 4.5 points, 2.1 assists and 1.5 rebounds per game, but the fact that they show signs of improvement as he rounds out as a player.

At only 21 years old, the former Syracuse Orange man’s focus has to remain on development, and in a season where he set new career best marks in points, rebounds, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, free throw percentage, turnovers and offensive rating, there’s a lot to like.

Adjust his numbers to per 36, Ennis averaged 11.3 points, 5.2 assists, 4.1 rebounds, 1.4 steals and only 2.5 turnovers. If combined with good shooting percentages, most Bucks fans would gladly accept that contribution from whoever the starting point guard turns out to be next year. It may still be too soon for Ennis, but it doesn’t mean that type of scenario can’t be in his future.

With the Bucks brightest future featuring the ball in Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s hands, the team needs a point guard who will stay out of the way. That shouldn’t be viewed as something disparaging, it’s more an indicator of how the Bucks emphasis will be on high IQ, efficient players.

In his exit interview at the Bucks practice facility last Thursday, Ennis was quite open about the adjustments and learning experiences he has had to go through since arriving via a midseason trade with the Phoenix Suns. More importantly, he sounded confident that he was making the necessary improvements and would be able to seize any opportunities that are presented to him.

"Just being out there gives you experience. Knowing what I can do, kind of figuring out my game, I think just having the confidence to take more of a leadership role with the second unit, like I did in the second half of the season and then going to training camp just looking to continue that and continue taking steps forward."

It’s also worth noting that Ennis finds himself in a pretty unique position as a point guard looking to learn the game. As if getting to work alongside Jason Kidd on a daily basis wasn’t enough to help Ennis flourish as a point guard, he also has a close working relationship with Steve Nash through the Canadian national team.

Speaking of Nash and the influence of working with both him and Kidd, Ennis said:

"He’s doing a good job at kind of being a mentor to all of us. Giving us his number, telling us to reach out whenever we want. You know, good games, bad games, he hits me up. So I think getting to be around both coach Kidd and Nash is something not a lot of point guards get to do, so I’m just soaking it in."

Ennis just needs to keep working and improving at the rate he has been and he can become a steady NBA point guard with a long future ahead of him in some role-playing capacity around the league.

Next: Giannis Antetokounmpo: Top 5 Plays of the 2015-16 Season

If he can really absorb the advice and guidance passed down to him by the likes of Kidd and Nash, maybe he can surprise everyone and take his game one step further too.

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