Milwaukee Bucks: Built to compete with towering East frontcourts

The Milwaukee Bucks are tailor-made to match up with the hulking front courts their Eastern Conference rivals boast heading into next season.

Among all of the frantic change across the NBA this summer, the Eastern Conference continues to emerge as home to a trend that would have seemed implausible as recently as a couple of seasons ago. As such, it sets the table for a new challenge for the Milwaukee Bucks to face.

The rise of small-ball in the NBA over the past five seasons or so has been incredibly well-documented. Running alongside that, there’s been the startling plight of more traditional NBA centers.

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Evidence of that fact likely doesn’t come much more obvious than the news of Greg Monroe opting to sign a deal to play in Europe next season. Monroe signed a three-year, $50 million contract with the Bucks as recently as the summer of 2015, yet since it has expired he’s been forced to bounce around on minimum deals, before now choosing to play for German powerhouse Bayern Munich.

Still, it would be inaccurate to simplistically describe Monroe’s trajectory in recent years as representative of all traditional centers in the league. In fact, big men with true size are arguably growing in importance once again, they’re just now required to be more versatile and deliver a more diverse range of contributions.

Milwaukee’s Brook Lopez, who signed a new deal of his own this summer, has acted as proof of that with his own dramatic evolution as a long-range shooter. The modern big man needs to bring the tools associated with the position throughout NBA history, but at least one of either floor-spacing, playmaking or increased mobility are now also requirements alongside the center’s fundamental skill-set.

In assessing the landscape for bigs across the NBA, it’s striking how high quality pairings are particularly coming to the fore among some of the East’s best teams.

Elsewhere in the Central Division, the Indiana Pacers have had two of the NBA’s best young big men on their roster for the past couple of seasons, yet now they seem to be ready to truly commit to Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis playing side by side next season.

Al Horford‘s decision to leave Boston for Philadelphia has also given the 76ers an incredibly imposing duo as he teams up alongside Joel Embiid, a player who is undoubtedly at the top end of the discussion for the league’s best center.

Although the NBA champion Toronto Raptors will undoubtedly take a major step back without Kawhi Leonard, it’s also worth noting that they won’t be short of size and skill in their frontcourt positions, with Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol all capable of combining as talented pairs.

Of course, the Bucks were well placed in terms of their own starting frontcourt of Lopez and league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo last season, but it’s how Milwaukee has padded out that part of their roster beyond the starting five that’s even more noteworthy ahead of the new campaign.

Ersan Ilyasova and D.J. Wilson both return to offer stellar cover at the power forward spot, the ability to slide up to center, and very different styles of play all the same. Additionally, the recent arrivals of Robin Lopez and Dragan Bender only further fortify the Bucks’ options at center.

Robin makes for an obviously natural replacement for Brook, while the wildcard potential of Bender beyond that makes for another interesting wrinkle.

What’s telling when considering Milwaukee’s frontcourt options isn’t just the fact that they have different options and player types that will allow them to adjust throughout the course of the season. Instead, what might be most significant is the sheer number of quality players Milwaukee can turn to.

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If the frontcourt positions prove to be increasingly important in the East next season, the Bucks will know that they’ll have the talent to go toe-to-toe with any and all comers. Just as importantly, if those battles turn attritional, Milwaukee has the depth to outlast any opponent in the Eastern Conference.

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