Milwaukee Bucks: Key Issues Facing The Bucks’ Core Pieces
By Adam Coffman
Miles Plumlee
Can he pair well enough with Giannis to justify his contract?
To virtually any other team in the NBA, Miles Plumlee is not worth the $52 million that the Bucks signed over to him this July. To be fair, the jury still may be out on whether the Bucks themselves overpaid for his services, as it did not appear as if they had any competition in the free agent market.
In any case, Plumlee is back with the Bucks for this upcoming season, and that alone looks to be a major positive for the team. We’ve written countless times about the excellent pairing between Plumlee and Antetokounmpo, and if both are to start together, the results should be positive.
Bucks fans don’t have a previous standard to measure Plumlee against – the former Phoenix Sun only began to see extended minutes towards the later parts of last season and even then did not command attention with his statlines.
If Giannis is to be the catalyst of the offense, Plumlee will likely function as somewhat of a barometer for the team’s offensive success. Should he prove that his excellence in the pick and roll last season was no accident, the Bucks will be in good shape.
It will be tough to evaluate Plumlee’s game individually, as his contributions for the most part lie below the surface of simple statistics, but should his fit carry over into this season, the impact will certainly be felt.