Milwaukee Bucks: Marvin Williams’ retirement illuminates lack of forward depth

In light of the retirement of veteran forward Marvin Williams, the Milwaukee Bucks’ forward depth should be a point of emphasis during this offseason.

It’s been nearly a month since the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2019-20 season came to an untimely end.

And with it saw all of the big questions facing the Bucks come to the horizon as the Bucks departed the bubble down in Orlando. But not long after the final buzzer sounded in the Bucks’ Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, one immediate need popped up for the Bucks with the retirement of veteran forward Marvin Williams.

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It was The Undefeated’s Marc Spears who first broke the news of Williams’ retirement and it was something that the 15-year veteran foreshadowed even before he came to Milwaukee in early February following his buyout from the Charlotte Hornets.

But even Williams’ father, Marvin Sr., didn’t initially believe his son would go through with calling it day on his long-standing veteran career as he recently discussed in an interview with Spencer Davies of Basketball News.com:

"“He had been telling me [he was going to retire], but I ain’t been listening; I think his mom took him more seriously than I did,” Williams Sr. told BasketballNews.com. “I know how he is. He’ll say something one minute, then change his mind next week. I think it was last year, he had mentioned it to me, but I thought he was talking.“But then as the year started — when he went to the Bucks and we still continued the conversation — and then he let me know how serious he was about it, I was fine with it. I understood.”"

However long Williams’ decision had been gestating, the void he leaves behind has created one of the biggest needs the Milwaukee Bucks must address this offseason.

After all, there are far from desirable options internally to account for Williams’ spot behind superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo on the team’s depth chart. Ersan Ilyasova’s $7 million salary for next season is completely non-guaranteed while D.J. Wilson is heading into the final year of his rookie-scale contract.

In all likelihood, the Bucks will decide against guaranteeing the Turkish veteran’s salary. That doesn’t shut the door on a return to Milwaukee, but the fact that Ilyasova would hit the open market after such a scenario does raise the possibility that his third Bucks stint could come to an end in a few short weeks.

As for Wilson, the Michigan product has done very little to put together a viable case that he’s up for the task of being the team’s backup forward behind Antetokounmpo over his 1,316 NBA minutes over the last three seasons.

The 24-year-old is a shaky floor spacer, having shot 32.2 percent from three while in the NBA. Despite the physical tools and athleticism he provides and applies well on the defensive end, Wilson’s continued lack of strength makes it tough for him to hold up well when defending the interior.

If the Bucks eventually swing for a trade to bolster their playmaking and overhaul their backcourt, Wilson’s $4.5 million salary for next season is shaping up to be worthwhile trade filler, depending on what the Bucks get in return.

What Williams brought to the table, even at 34 years old, isn’t all that easily replicable. That mix of size, shooting and defensive versatility that Williams brought and the Bucks have coveted within their frontcourt and around Antetokounmpo specifically are all qualities that they’ll be credibly short on in a few weeks time.

Trying to find and refill that skill set this offseason comes with limited pathways for the Bucks to do so, whether it’s through free agency, the draft or via trade. By no means does that say that they aren’t interesting frontcourt free agency targets as my co-site expert Dalton Sell recently examined.

But that also comes with caveat that players that can space the floor, hit shots from three at an adequate rate and defend multiple positions will be in high demand all over the league, not just in Milwaukee. And that is on top of the Bucks’ own desire to preserve their leading star in Antetokounmpo as much as they can over the course of a regular season and presumably long playoff run.

Again, the Bucks are not without some significant, pressing needs that have to be addressed this fall and winter as they look to chase for an NBA title next year. While finding a versatile scoring forward may not the biggest of those needs, the Bucks don’t want to go into next season without some cover behind their superstar in that way.