Milwaukee Bucks History: Top 10 Small Forwards In Franchise History
By Adam McGee
7. Tim Thomas
Tim Thomas has had a quote from former Bucks teammate Ray Allen follow him around for a long time. Allen is famously quoted as saying: “Tim Thomas could be the best player in the league”. It’s the word “could” that’s important there, and it’s a “could” that has haunted Bucks fans for many years.
Having been drafted as a seventh overall pick in 1997, when the Bucks traded for Thomas it was believed that he could be the addition to tip their promising young core over the edge. As it turned out, Thomas found a way to be effective, but only in the capacity of a role playing backup.
If Thomas’ potential had been realized, the Bucks could have gotten the little bit extra needed to get over the line in 2001. As it was, when that team started to dissipate, it was Thomas who remained the longest.
Thomas started less than half of his 385 games played as a Buck. As a steady and productive contributor, his numbers were good, but they’ll never tell the whole story. For the Bucks, Thomas averaged 12.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists over six seasons with the team, making 44.2 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from deep.