Milwaukee Bucks: Constructing an ideal playoff rotation

Milwaukee Bucks: Constructing an ideal playoff rotation – Closing thoughts

Obviously, rotations can change on a night to night basis depending on matchups, who’s hot, foul trouble, and any other number of factors. This rotation is meant to function simply as a general guideline through the playoffs.

I tried to stay away from the bad all-bench lineups that Coach Bud has favored in the regular season by staggering the starters, and I hope Bud tries to do something similar with a shortened rotation. The obvious trade-off is that the starters will see slightly less minutes together all at once, but I personally believe the drop-off in those bench minutes is too great a price to pay otherwise.

I never truly considered players like D.J. Wilson, Sterling Brown, Frank Mason III, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo for this shortened playoff rotation, though Mason III in particular has looked very good in the bubble when he’s played. For a team that is somewhat thin at the point guard position, there’s a chance he could see some time if there’s an injury or foul trouble. Tim Frazier even got an opportunity last year, after all).

Regarding Williams, the sample size of his lineup data with the Bucks is quite small in comparison to the rest of the team’s, so his stats should be taken with a grain of salt.

To conclude, I had a fun time putting this together, and I encourage you to come to your own conclusions based on the data I’ve presented. Like I said, there’s certainly room for interpretation and debate when building a rotation model like this.

In any case, Coach Budenholzer and the Bucks will have some adjustments to make for Game 2 and the rest of the series against the Magic, and keeping a tighter playoff rotation could be a good place to start.

Special thanks to Jeff Siegel, the founder of Early Bird Rights and new Cap Specialist for Klutch Sports, and David Balderston, the creator of the Rotations tool this illustrated model was based on. The inspiration for this article would not have been possible without their work.