Milwaukee Bucks: 3 players who have regressed this season

Sterling Brown

It hasn’t been the season third-year Bucks wing Sterling Brown anticipated.

After flirting with flashes and breakouts over his first two seasons in Milwaukee, Brown was expected to be one of the up and comers to fill in on the wing in the wake of Malcolm Brogdon‘s departure to the Indiana Pacers last summer.

While the likes of Pat Connaughton and Donte DiVincenzo have taken up that challenge, Brown has lagged behind as a result of him undergoing his worst statistical season of his young NBA career. In his 45 appearances this season, Brown has averaged 5.0 points on .367/.316/.771 shooting splits (a career-worst 47.8 true shooting percentage), 3.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists across 14.8 minutes per contest.

The cause of Brown’s offensive slide has been a curious one and it’s important to remember that the 24-year-old suffered a shoulder injury that did keep him out of four games in late November and early December.

Since making his return to action on December 6, Brown’s been incredibly inefficient by posting 4.5 points on .340/.284/.773 slash line and he has the worst offensive rating of any non-garbage time Bucks player, per NBA.com/stats. From the beginning of the season to November 27, Brown shot 16-of-41 from three (39 percent).

While it may border on reckless to speculate whether Brown’s shoulder requires some work or clean up whenever the offseason rolls around, lines can be traced to his downturn from that injury. And what that means for his future in Milwaukee, and the NBA as a whole is a big question, given that Brown will be a restricted free agent.