Milwaukee Bucks: Can Sterling Brown continue filling out attacking abilities?

While the primary focus on his development centers around his 3-and-D abilities, Milwaukee Bucks swingman Sterling Brown’s promising attacking prowess stands as an interesting point in his evolution.

Going into what will be his third season with the Milwaukee Bucks, swingman Sterling Brown is heading into something of a crossroads in his young NBA career.

Brown was among the overwhelming majority of Bucks players to benefit from the arrival of reigning NBA Coach of the Year, Mike Budenholzer, in what was Brown’s sophomore campaign last year.

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Sure, injuries and a few DNP-CDs did limit the 24-year-old to 58 regular season appearances, but Brown also managed to make spot starts near the end of the season and most notably during the Bucks’ postseason run with the injuries to backcourt teammates in Malcolm Brogdon and Tony Snell.

And it was apparent that Brown’s 3-and-D abilities were more encouraged under Budenholzer and Co. than the Bucks’ previous coaching regime, which led to slightly better efficiency and a little more consistency from the Chicago native last year as he knocked down 36.1 percent of his 147 three-point tries.

Brown’s development as a 3-and-D wing will be crucial as he continues to carve out a role with the Bucks and the league as a whole, especially with him standing as a restricted free agent next summer. Yet to simplify Brown’s game to those two facets would be misleading and it’s his ability to make opposing defenses pay with the ball in his hands and drive to the hoop that has lingered on in the background of his development the last two years.

As we’ve seen over his Summer League appearances, assignments with the Wisconsin Herd, and when the Bucks have turned to their bench mob to lead the way on load management days, Brown has often been tasked with more responsibilities with the ball.

That experiment has been more encouraging on the whole and his growth as a slasher was evident in big moments last season, such as when he nearly led the Bucks to a late season overtime win over the Atlanta Hawks last year, if it wasn’t for a last second teardrop from Trae Young.

Brown’s incremental improvements in both handling the ball and putting his head down to look to finish at the basket resulted in him compiling a 55.8 two-point percentage last season, a significant jump from the 43.9 percent he finished with in his rookie year.

The driving force behind that was the upgraded finishing Brown displayed within the restricted area as he converted 59.7 percent of his 129 attempts from that area of the floor, per NBA.com/stats. For frame of reference, Brown finished 49.2 percent of his 65 attempts taken in the restricted area for his rookie campaign.

Draw it out even further and Brown showed plenty of promise when driving with the ball in his hands last year, as evidenced by the 54.3 shooting percentage he sported on the 70 field goal attempts he took in such opportunities. The former Mustang’s initiating with the ball enhanced his playmaking ability, with Brown tallying 2.9 assists per 36 minutes last year, compared to the 1.2 assists per 36 minutes he averaged for the 2017-18 season.

Needless to say, there’s a lot to like about the progress Brown has made in rounding out his skill set beyond just spacing the floor and bringing plenty of hustle and heart on the defensive end, which already have been staples in his game since arriving in Milwaukee more than two years ago.

Considering the size and strength he possesses, the trajectory Brown has displayed in filling out his ball skills could become a more pronounced asset in his skill package over time, especially under the guidance of Budenholzer and his coaching staff that carry a high developmental pedigree.

Of course, time will tell if Brown can maintain this path as he goes into a critical season both for him personally and for the Bucks and he’ll have to put in plenty of work to garner regular minutes in what’s a crowded wing rotation as well.