Milwaukee Bucks: Best and Worst of the 2016-17 Season

Worst: Free Agent Signees

The Bucks went into last offseason with a plan – elevate Antetokounmpo’s game by surrounding him with shooters and defenders that could alleviate the spacing woes that crippled their 2015-16 effort.

Their two major free agent signings followed this path, with Matthew Dellavedova looking every bit the part of the off-ball point guard three-and-D weapon that would fit well with Giannis, and Mirza Teletovic being one of the league’s best stretch bigs.

Of course, this woldnt be a “Worst” if both these signings has panned out as planned. Differing factors have made Delly and Telly look less than ideal for the team this year.

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Matthew Dellavedova’s value rises and falls based on how his three-point shot is falling. He doesn’t provide much else of merit on the offensive end, and his defense is a known constant rather than a domineering force.

Although his shooting hit a skid midway through the year, Delly did finish the year at 36.7 percent from behind the three-point line. The problem is, he didn’t show much else beyond that, shooting just 40.7 percent from two-point range and posting a less-than stellar defensive rating of 107.

To be fair, expecting him to do more ignores his previous body of work with the Cleveland Cavaliers, in which he was not counted on for any consistent skill save for hitting open shots.

Delly isn’t and won’t be the starting point guard on any Bucks team going forward, at least a Bucks team with hopes of contention. Maybe with that standard set in place, his play will become more palatable as he assumes a closer approximation of his Cleveland form.

Teletovic has also struggled with his most marketable skill, shooting just 34 percent from deep and 37 percent overall.  At negative-3.4, Telly had one of the worst box plus-minuses on the team and offers virtually nothing more than a warm body on the defensive end.

Teletovic is, in theory, a perfect partner for Giannis what with his shooting, particularly from above the break in transition. Even though the shots haven’t been falling with his expected regularity, we still see this effect take place.

With both Giannis and Mirza on the court together, the Bucks have a 6.8 net rating, according to NBA Stats. However, with Giannis and no Telly, that number went down to a slightly positive 0.8.

Perhaps just the threat of the marksman on the perimeter opens up more room for Giannis to drive than someone like Michael Beasley does. Either way, this is a pairing you’d like to see Jason Kidd explore more than he has.

On the whole though, it’s hard to argue that this was anything but a disappointing year for Teletovic, and at 31 years old, you can’t imagine him improving over the rest of his three-year, $30 million contract.

Both of the Bucks’ featured free agent signees weren’t the perfect fit many predicted they’d be. This has a lot to do with how they were used, but some blame should be afforded them as well.