The Buck Stops Here Roundtable #8: Is Giannis an All-Star Lock?
By Tim Wray
A major talking point over the Summer was how the Bucks were going to manage their clogged center rotation. After 23 games, John Henson has the most starts, Greg Monroe has been the most productive and Miles Plumlee has been relegated to garbage minutes. What do you make of the situation going forward?
Tom: I think that the way the center rotation has shaken out is just about right. It was a mistake to sign Plumlee, at least at the price point that they did. I assume that the front office was pretty sure Moose would be gone by now, otherwise the amount of money invested in the Plumlee makes no sense at all. But thank goodness Monroe is still around, right? He has been great off the bench on both ends of the floor. He may not be a rim protector, but his increased activity level and busy hands have helped to make that somewhat irrelevant, especially when Giannis is on the floor to fill that role. Henson has also been good, at least since he was put into the starting lineup, but generally not as good as Moose.
Ti: I’m not sure there’s a better way to handle it than what Jason Kidd has done so far. Until one of the three gets moved, there’s no way to give them all minutes every night and have them all be effective. That means one man has to be out, and since Henson and Monroe have been better they’ve deservedly gotten all of the minutes.
Adam: The one thing I do know for sure is that I wish we didn’t have to keep talking about centers!
I’m happy with what I’ve seen from Henson as a starter, Moose has been exceptional this season, but ultimately the biggest point I’d make on the center rotation is that it’s not sustainable to neither give Plumlee a chance to play his way back into some kind of form, or play his way into some kind of surprising trade value. Something has to give on that, and I’m not entirely sure what the answer is right now. It’s easy to say that playing the three centers isn’t sustainable, but they did it at the start of the season and it didn’t really hurt the results in a way that’s different to what we’ve seen lately.
For example, if Thon’s going to get second quarter minutes in Toronto, it makes no sense that Plumlee continues to rack up DNPs.
Jordan: I certainly think we all expected it wouldn’t be easy to sort out, but I honestly never thought it would unfold like it has lately. As everyone has mentioned, we’re seeing a more consistent Henson for the first time ever really and it’s hard not to be surprised with how Monroe has played, primarily on the defensive end.
All of that obviously puts Plumlee exactly where he sits right now. Like his dream shake attempt on Anthony Davis, Plumlee’s season has only confirmed the fears almost everyone had of what a nightmare his contract could end up being over time. Well, I guess we didn’t need to hit, say the 2019-2020 season for that to happen. You’d have to think something has to give, whether it’s an injury (knock on wood) or someone’s production falling off, but the two center rotation Kidd has enacted has stuck long enough for me to think nothing will change anytime soon.
Lukas: From an on-court stand-point, I think that this rotation looks good. Henson has been solid in the starting role and is providing relatively efficient numbers on both sides of the floor. Once a per-36 minute monster, Henson seems to be developing into a serviceable starter this year. As for Monroe, he is a beast in the second unit and is playing with definite increased fervor on the defensive end of the floor. Plumlee has definitely been disappointing, but what else can you say?
Tim: It’s a slightly-positive functioning, $42 million mess.
I must say, at least consistency in the rotation has been a pleasant change over the past 10 games. Henson has been very solid in the starting role, averaging 1.7 blocks, shooting over 70% from the stripe and boasting a 8.3 net rating. Likewise, Monroe has been excellent off the bench matching up against second string centers, racking up a ridiculous amount of steals and somehow posting a better net rating than Giannis at 13.4 (WHAT). Then there’s Plumlee, who although has been poor in the minutes he has played, just hasn’t had enough court time recently to make any sort of redemptive and positive contribution.
One needs to go, but the better Henson and Monroe play, the more you want to move Plumlee, except you can’t, because he earns $12.5 million and doesn’t play…bah!