Entering his fourth year with the Milwaukee Bucks, D.J. Wilson has an opportunity to break through into the team’s rotation this 2020-21 season.
Throughout his three seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, it’s safe to say D.J. Wilson has largely lurked in the background of the franchise’s renaissance.
Sure, there have been flashes of potential along the way, but Wilson has been consistently passed over in favor of more proven and experienced players over the course of his three seasons in Milwaukee.
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After nearly seeing his time with the team come to an end as he was included in the failed sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic last month, Wilson will goes into his fourth season with the Bucks looking to prove the same things that have followed him over his NBA career.
And while he’s eligible for a contract extension as he enters the final year of his rookie scale contract, it’s hard to imagine the Bucks committing to Wilson after 1,316 total NBA minutes so far.
Perhaps the uncertainty facing Wilson after this season has motivated him going into camp as Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer noted earlier in the week that Wilson has done well so far.
#Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said new point guard D.J. Augustin & D.J. Wilson have had a good start to camp.
— Jim Owczarski (@JimOwczarski) December 9, 2020
With all that in mind, let’s look at three ways that will help D.J. Wilson crack the Milwaukee Bucks’ rotation going into the 2020-21 season.
Goal no. 1 – Space the floor at an adequate efficiency
Over his limited minutes at the NBA level and on assignment in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd, Wilson’s long range shooting hasn’t been as steady as one would like.
Through his first three seasons, Wilson has shot 32.2 percent on his 205 3-point attempts in his minutes with the Bucks and has hit 38.2 percent of his 110 threes taken when down with the Herd.
While he has fallen short of providing 3-point consistency as an NBA player, Wilson has certainly looked to improve that element of his game. That includes reworking his shooting mechanics as he had done going into the 2019-20 season just as he talked about with The Athletic’s Eric Nehm ($$) last year.
Despite those changes, Wilson didn’t make consistent strides as a shooter, even under his limited minutes last season. And it’s fair to even wonder what kind of shooting threat Wilson is, given the lack of consistent opportunities he’s seen during his first three seasons in Milwaukee.
But until Wilson proves himself to be at minimum, a capable 3-point shooter, it’s hard to see him being a respected floor spacer by opposing defenses.