Milwaukee Bucks: Takeaways from 115-109 loss to Chicago Bulls
By Ben Sewell
Jason Kidd on borrowed time
It doesn’t seem like too much of a reach to suggest Jason Kidd’s future in Milwaukee must be under serious consideration from the ownership this season. The team’s roster is far too talented to be losing games to a tanking Chicago Bulls team, or to get blown out by a Dallas Mavericks team bereft of talent, but these things have already happened in the early stages of the season.
Kidd has shown an inability to find balance in his roster and maximize his rotations to the benefit of his team’s talent and health. The mismanagement of minutes would be comical if it wasn’t so concerning. In a roster that possesses such disparity in quality from the top end to the bottom, a staggered rotation is required to make sure the best can both start and finish, while at least one can be on the floor at all times.
He doesn’t have the most talented roster in the NBA and injuries are certainly a concern at this stage, but there is enough talent that Antetokounmpo and Middleton should not be leading the league in minutes played.
Kidd needs to do a better job of identifying which of his deep bench players mesh best with certain starters, and build lineups that can at least keep their heads above water as a result.
The surprise inclusion of Rashad Vaughn in the lineup that closed out the game acts as an example of this, as a lineup that has spent close to zero time together this season was always going to find it tough to deliver the goods.
Next: Win In 6 Podcast #168: Wisconsin Herd talk with Chris Reichert, Bucks mailbag
For now, the Bucks will move on and head to Houston on Saturday night to take on the Rockets for the first time this season at 7pm CT.