Milwaukee Bucks: Crucial season lies ahead for Thon Maker

By Adam McGee | Jul 21, 2018

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 7: (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) /

After showing his potential once again in the playoffs, Thon Maker faces a crucial third season for his long-term career prospects with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Thon Maker’s second season in the NBA proved to be a lot like his first one. After inconsistent opportunities throughout the year and countless moments when he didn’t look like an NBA player, the playoffs arrived and so did a startlingly effective version of Maker.

Just as he had done against the Toronto Raptors as a rookie, Maker’s presence in the lineup, and particularly his frenetic energy, caused the Boston Celtics a whole host of problems and effectively helped the Bucks to gain a foothold in a series that could have escaped them very quickly otherwise.

Still, after major contributions to help the Bucks to victories in games three and four, Maker’s influence decreased.

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In many ways that’s not all that surprising in a playoff environment where adjustments can transform the dynamics of a series very quickly, but it also begs a much more important question in regard to Maker’s role and long-term worth as a Buck.

Is the positive impact Maker has found a way to provide at important moments more indicative of his individual ability and personality, or the style of play he allows the Bucks to lean into?

Maker affords the Bucks greater freedom to switch and disrupt opponents with length and athleticism on the defensive end, while also posing enough of a threat from deep to keep the opposing defense honest with his shooting and offer the Bucks greatly improved spacing.

If Maker, specifically, is the key to Milwaukee’s ability to do those things though, his role in the Bucks’ future is likely much more significant than many believe.

With their moves this summer, it seems like the Bucks will at least test out that theory on the offensive end. The addition of floor-spacing big men like Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova will give Milwaukee much improved options to try and replicate, if not even surpass, the impact Maker has been able to have in that role in bursts over the last two years.

That means Maker will have a greater battle for minutes on his hands than it appeared he would coming out of the postseason, but in some ways that may not be the worst thing.

Not only should Maker be able to learn from veteran bigs with diverse skills like Lopez and Ilyasova, but he also projects to be a player who could benefit greatly from the development work of new head coach Mike Budenholzer and his assistant coaches.

The combination of improved coaching and meaningful competition for minutes should provide Maker with the kind of challenge he hasn’t necessarily faced up to this point, as Milwaukee has previously been painfully deficient in both coaching and quality frontcourt contributors.

If in that context Maker can emerge to claim the mantle of backup center behind Brook Lopez on merit, that would be a really positive sign for the Bucks.

Otherwise, if Maker struggles to earn his minutes and make an impact when he does get on the floor, his value will start to plunge dramatically as he nears the end of his rookie contract.

As it stands, that discussion remains something of a mystery, perhaps fittingly so for a player like Maker. Will the Bucks have to be mindful of Maker’s next contract, or will he become another first round pick who’s destined to be on another team, or out of the league, by the time the summer of 2020 rolls around?

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The upcoming season will set the table for that contract year, and if Maker is to be a long-term piece in Milwaukee’s masterplan, he’ll need to show much improved consistency, build on his modest averages of 4.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, and maintain the kind of energy and intensity that has set him apart up until this point.

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