Milwaukee Bucks: 5 goals for Thon Maker in 2018-19 season

Follow down positive developmental path

Given the long-term project he stood as upon coming to Milwaukee, a whole lot of unknowns revolved Maker’s potential role and development track when first joining the Bucks.

Yet solid to relatively strong showings late in his rookie season and during that year’s playoffs caused Bucks fans to put some stock into the Sudanese-born Maker’s learning curve coming in at a faster rate than was initially expected.

The level of anticipation and hype surrounding Maker entering the 2017-18 season disappeared in a flash when the 21-year-old’s play was submerged in ineffectiveness, which led to his spot in the starting lineup going to fellow big man John Henson.

As a result of that, we saw unwelcome tweaks in the way Maker was utilized such as setting up shop near the elbow in the mid-range area versus spacing the floor behind the three-point line for stretches in the early part of the year under former head coach Jason Kidd.

While that was subsequently corrected some time later, Maker’s prolonged struggles carried through into Joe Prunty’s three-month reign as the Bucks’ head coach and it was safe to say Maker looked adrift before his playoff revival last year.

With new head coach Mike Budenholzer and his coaching staff now entering the picture, Maker’s in better hands, given the 49-year-old’s pedigree in this area since coming on to the head coaching ranks more than five years ago.

Should we see Maker’s current player trajectory get realigned, it could very well brighten his path toward becoming an effective complementary player next to the Bucks’ cornerstone players this season and beyond.