Milwaukee Bucks: Looking at Last Year’s Departed Players
By Adam Coffman
Jerryd Bayless
Jerryd Bayless was one of the first Bucks to officially leave the team this offseason, signing a three year, $27 million dollar contract with the Philadelphia 76ers shortly after free agency began.
While with the Bucks, he found success in an off-ball, catch-and-shoot role at point guard, upping his three-point percentage from .308 in 2014-15 to .437 last season.
This element of course made Bayless attractive to the 76ers; with the ball-dominant but shooting challenged Ben Simmons projecting to fill a Giannis Antetokounmpo-like role, Philadelphia needed someone that could play the nominal point guard spot without the typical duties of the position.
As fate would have it, both Simmons and Bayless came down with injuries, leaving the 76ers in the hands of Joel Embiid. Simmons looks to be out for an indefinite amount of time due to foot surgery, but Bayless has since made his return, playing in three games thus far and starting one, which he may do going forward.
Over this short time frame, the former Buck is averaging 11 points on 40 percent three-point shooting, which should be exactly what the 76ers were looking for.