Milwaukee Bucks: Grades for Bryn Forbes’ two-year, $4.7 million deal

Looking at Bryn Forbes’ fit with the Milwaukee Bucks

Obviously bringing in someone of Forbes’ shooting caliber fills arguably the biggest need the Bucks had to address this offseason.

It’s easy to look at the career 40 percent shooter Forbes has been at the NBA level and view him as a plug and play option for the Bucks. The fact that he’s coming off a season in which he hit 111 catch-and-shoot triples and shot 39.5 percent on such shots just shows the shooting pedigree Forbes brings to Milwaukee, per NBA.com/stats.

If that isn’t enough, Forbes’ range is also a positive asset for a Bucks team that has regularly let it fly from well behind the 3-point line. Forbes is among a rare class of shooters to have hit at least 115 triples and shot 39 percent on 3-pointers taken from 25 to 29 feet last year.

It’s clear just what kind of scoring and shooting spark Forbes can bring to the court off the ball. But those defensive limitations loom large over Forbes’ fit in Milwaukee, especially given how they prioritize the defensive end as part of their defensive identity.

It doesn’t help that Forbes logged the highest defensive rating of any Spur last season, even in what was a rebuilding year. While he possesses decent physical tools with a 6’5″ wingspan, Forbes’ undersized nature is ironically too big to ignore as opposing teams will surely go mismatch hunting anytime Forbes is on the floor for high-leverage minutes. That is if he’s on the court for those kind of minutes.

Again, it can’t be be overstated how much of his physical deficiencies will prove to be the biggest impediment. But Forbes will certainly be specialized even more so in Milwaukee, given the system and creators he’ll be playing around.