Milwaukee Bucks: Should ball movement increase next season?

As the Milwaukee Bucks search for ways to get even better next season, should increased ball movement be a consideration for Coach Mike Budenholzer?

Boasting the fourth most efficient offense in the NBA last season, the Milwaukee Bucks can still improve next season, although they may have to look around the margins for those gains.

One area that may certainly be deserving of closer examination from Mike Budenholzer and his coaches, though, is the team’s approach to ball movement, and in turn the fluidity with which it creates quality shooting opportunities.

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By no means were the Bucks a team full of selfish ball hogs last season. In fact, by comparison to some junctures in the franchise’s not so distant past, Milwaukee’s offense was relatively free flowing in 2018-19.

Milwaukee’s assists per game mark, perhaps the most surface level and rudimentary measure of ball movement that’s still frequently cited in that context, bears out some of those positives as the Bucks’ 26 assists a night ranked seventh best in the NBA. A deeper dive offers a glimpse of a passing picture that was distinctly more mediocre, though.

The Bucks ranked 10th in assist ratio, a measure that considers a team’s frequency of assists per 100 possessions, and were just 15th in terms of the percentage of their made field goals that were assisted, with 40 percent of their makes being unassisted.

Breaking beyond assists into simple passing data, Milwaukee dished out an average of 284.6 passes per game, which ranked a lowly 22nd in the NBA. And in the secondary assist category, which registers passes to direct assists without dribbling and within one second of reception, and therefore acts as a solid indicator of willingness to really swing the ball around, the Bucks also finished 22nd with just 2.8 secondary assists per game.

So, what does all of this mean?

It goes without saying that more passes doesn’t necessarily equate to good passes, and better offense, but putting Milwaukee’s passing in context within the wider NBA certainly proves instructive in reflecting on their play style.

One simple reason why the Bucks would be hard pressed to land at the top of the various assist and passing rankings is Giannis Antetokounmpo. The league MVP is a willing passer in his own right who frequently creates for others, but he’s also an incredibly gifted scorer who’s capable of putting the ball on the floor and driving to the rim without any passing to set up his moves. Taking away from that completely would be neither wise or necessary.

There was likely another contributing factor, though, and it’s one that will require revisions based on the personnel changes the team has endured over the summer.

Milwaukee’s first choice starting lineup last season consisted of four players who were capable of creating for themselves off the dribble, and on any given play it was possible that Antetokounmpo, Eric Bledsoe, Malcolm Brogdon or Khris Middleton could have opted to go iso in order to create a scoring chance.

With the departure of Brogdon to the Pacers, one of those options has now gone. Equally significant is the fact Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver, veteran additions who could soak up much of Brogdon’s minutes, present as very different players to the former Rookie of the Year.

The Bucks have added weapons in terms of catch-and-shoot three-point threats this summer, and to make the most of them it may well require increased player and ball movement.

This shouldn’t be a problem for Budenholzer as a coach, as it was always a core part of the Spurs teams he was an assistant on, and indeed on the Hawks teams he coached to success with the help of Korver’s sharpshooting.

The question is just how much could the Bucks build a greater focus on passing into their system without taking away from the individual tendencies of their best players, such as Antetokounmpo and Middleton.

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There’s certainly a balance that needs to be worked out in that regard, but if the coaching staff can find the right mix, there’s undoubtedly a path to be found for an even more efficient and deadly offense in 2019-20.

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