Milwaukee Bucks may have to fill spot in starting lineup once again
The Milwaukee Bucks’ starting lineup was a key to their success this season, but they may have to brace for changes in that regard going into an uncertain offseason.
With their 2019-20 season having come to a close, the Milwaukee Bucks now face a whole host of questions that come with an offseason that arrived far too early.
Their Conference Semi-finals loss to the Miami Heat has forced the Bucks’ organization to look into the mirror and address the issues that arose in their latest playoff failure. And while the Bucks will explore any and all changes that will be necessary in bringing their roster to the next level to reach the NBA Finals next season, some changes may be made for them.
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Take their patented starting lineup, which was the backbone of their success this season.
To that point, no five-man unit that saw the floor together for at least 250 minutes during the regular season had a higher net rating than the Bucks’ regular starting unit as they outscored opponents by +18.9 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com/stats.
In their 89 playoff minutes together, that unit’s net rating ticked down to +8.3 points per 100 possessions.
All throughout their run, even as it was crashing and burning in the Conference Semi-finals, the Bucks’ starting lineup of Eric Bledsoe, Wesley Matthews, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez was a source of stability for the team as a whole. The fact that they didn’t play more minutes together in the playoffs played a part in why their season has ended prematurely.
There’s the obvious player where that revolves around, that being point guard Eric Bledsoe. After all, Bledsoe’s already mired in trade speculation, which came courtesy of The Athletic’s Shams Charania, and it didn’t take long for the Bucks to be linked to Oklahoma City Thunder star guard Chris Paul in the wreckage of their season ending.
But the more underlying change that may occur centers around veteran wing Wesley Matthews, who saw his Milwaukee homecoming come to a stunning end. Matthews holds a $2.6 million player option after signing a two-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum last year.
Matthews strictly played a low-usage offensive role that was predicated on spacing the floor and launching from the beyond the arc where he went 36.4 percent during the regular season and 39.5 percent in the playoffs. But all year long and especially in the postseason, Matthews’ ability to cover star shot creators like Heat All-Star guard Jimmy Butler proved to be immense to the Bucks’ defensive capabilities and overall structure on that side of the ball.
Across 125.5 partial possessions, Matthews limited Butler to 25 points on 6-for-15 shooting (2-for-6 from three, 11-for-14 from the foul line), three turnovers and three blocks over the five-game series. As all Bucks fans are painfully aware of, it was in the times where Matthews wasn’t on the floor to cover Butler that played a part in why they’re currently at home.
Even as the Bucks logged a lower defensive rating with Matthews off the floor rather than on it over the playoffs, Matthews showed just how valuable of a perimeter stopper he still remains at 33 years old. And for his sake, especially in a free agency market that couldn’t be more uncertain than the climate itself, he’s hoping it made quite the impression around the league.
Matthews made quite the risk by signing the contract he did with the Bucks last summer, amid plenty of suitors as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported at the time of his signing. Of course, there were advantages that the Bucks could offer, whether it’s the ability to play for his hometown team as well as fulfilling his individual pursuit of challenging for an NBA title.
Having fallen short on the latter, Matthews now has to decide whether to pick up his option at a still unconfirmed date with key offseason events like the draft and free agency getting pushed back yet again. The decision, among many others, will certainly affect what the Bucks look like going into the 2020-21 season.