Milwaukee Bucks: Building an ideal rotation without Khris Middleton

The big man rotation

The Bucks’ big man rotation is much more solidified than its wings with both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez firmly entrenched in the starting lineup and set to see the majority of minutes at the 4 and 5 positions.

However, there is still some debate regarding which reserves should see playing time and in what role. Thus far, Ersan Ilyasova and Robin Lopez have been the Bucks’ rotational big men behind the starters, but each have had their own struggles so far this season.

Here are some stats on the Bucks’ big duos:

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Ersan Ilyasova is the first big man I have coming off the bench in my rotation, where he notably replaces Brook Lopez at center before sliding down to power forward after giving Brook a quick breather.

Ersan has struggled a bit to start the season, shooting just 26.7 percent from three through the first 10 games while posting a team-worst net rating of -7.0. However, he is still the best and most versatile big man the Bucks have coming off the bench.

He also thrived next to Giannis as the de facto center last year, posting a +18.8 net rating with the Bucks’ superstar as a duo. This convinced me to have him cut into Robin Lopez’s reserve minutes at center a bit, resulting in Ilyasova receiving the most reserve big man minutes by far.

Robin Lopez makes his first appearance in my rotation midway through the second quarter next to Giannis. That duo has posted a solid +7.4 net rating in 51 minutes together thus far. He later gets some third quarter minutes next to Ersan with whom he’s had a +2.4 net rating in 75 minutes together on the court.

Much like Korver, Robin has struggled to find chemistry with his teammates yet, posting a modest +4.6 net rating in his reserve center role. However, I think it’s still important to keep him involved in the rotation to some degree to acclimate him to the system and his teammates, keeping him ready for matchups the Bucks will need him for, such as the Sixers.

I have slightly decreased his role, though, to make room for perhaps the most notable and controversial member of my big man rotation: D.J. Wilson.

Although a certain faction of Bucks fans has been clamoring for Wilson to receive more minutes for a while now, some may consider it odd that I decided to involve him at center as well as his true position of power forward.

While D.J. lacks the strength to battle with some of the more physically imposing centers in the league, he can certainly function as a small ball 5 in certain settings, particularly when paired with Giannis in the front court. Here is some of his 2018-19 two-man lineup data:

In my big man rotation, I have D.J. sharing minutes with both Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe in his first minutes off the bench at power forward. Later in the third quarter, I have him sharing minutes with Giannis functioning as the de facto center. Both of these lineups seem ideal based on last year’s data, while I steered clear from pairing him with a non-rim protector like Ersan Ilyasova.

I think it’s important that the Bucks try to see what they have in Wilson at this point. He impressed in his limited role last year, though shooting consistency has remained a problem for him.

With Middleton out, the Bucks should take advantage of some of the extra minutes available to develop some of their younger guys, such as Wilson, during this softer stretch in their schedule.