Milwaukee Bucks: The future of Thon Maker
By Paul Headley
The Milwaukee Bucks’ decision to select Thon Maker with the 10th pick in the 2016 NBA draft was met with raised eyebrows around the league. How did Maker look this season, and how does he project going forward?
When I first informed a close friend, a long-suffering fan of another franchise, that I was writing a piece on Thon Maker, his response was predictable: “Why?”
On the face of it, Maker didn’t do a lot this year to warrant much attention. The Sudanese center averaged a mere 4.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game in 2016-17.
Peer closer into the numbers and a more enticing player emerges. Maker was a lot more productive during his time on the court than traditional stats suggest.
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Basketball-Reference defines a league average player efficiency rating (PER) as around 15.0, and a league average win-shares per 48 minutes (WS/48) as .100. Maker sported a 14.0 PER this season, as well as a very respectable (for a rookie) .113 WS/48.
That is to say, despite minimal burn for a large part of the season, Maker contributed more to winning basketball games than the average rookie.
It wasn’t just Maker’s surprisingly productive play that turned heads. The young Buck also gained admiration for his work-ethic and infectious positivity. As Jason Kidd noted:
"“He’s always smiling. I don’t know if he’s ever been in a bad mood.”"
Let’s peel back the positivity and see exactly how good Maker was during the season, how he affected games positively and how he can improve next season and beyond.