NBA Free Agency 2017 Player Profile: Nene
By Ti Windisch
Nene Hilario, known to most simply as Nene, was terrific in the postseason with the Houston Rockets. Should the Milwaukee Bucks go after him in NBA free agency?
When the Houston Rockets picked up Nene Hilario for a very reasonable (read: cheap) salary during the 2017 NBA free agency period, it wasn’t major news. Nene was going to a team that was moving James Harden to the point guard spot and focusing on shooting–who cares about a big man on a team like that?
Most casual NBA fans probably didn’t and still don’t, but Nene was quietly excellent all season in Houston. His role was different than it’s been for most of his career, as the Rockets rarely ever ran post-ups.
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Houston posted up 2.1 percent of the time last season. That was an adjustment for Nene, who played on a Washington Wizards team that ran more than double the post-up plays the Rockets did.
Still, the Brazilian big man did well on his new team, and in a new scheme. He became a full-time center after drifting back-and-forth between the four and the five for much of his time with the Wizards.
Could the Milwaukee Bucks be the next team to grab Nene on the low and get a lot of production out of him? To gauge the likelihood of that happening, we’ll look through his strengths, weaknesses, potential salary and fit with the Bucks.