Standing at 22-14 at the All-Star break, it’s been far from a picture perfect season for the Milwaukee Bucks thus far.
Like all 30 NBA teams, the Bucks have had to adjust with the challenges that come with playing an NBA season as the coronavirus pandemic rages on all throughout the world. Save for a rare few teams, the Bucks underwent a massive amount of roster changes and the process of incorporating new players and systemic changes has been a little tougher to stomach than some Bucks fans may have anticipated.
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With all of that said, the Bucks have won six of their last seven games. They currently stand two games back of the East-leading Philadelphia 76ers, are trending towards the right direction and have showed new ways of working than we’ve been used to seeing from over the last couple of years especially.
So without further ado, let’s key in on some of the biggest developments that emerged over the first half of the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2020-21 season.
Is this Giannis Antetokounmpo’s best season with the Milwaukee Bucks?
After a whirlwind offseason that was capped off by signing his five-year supermax extension to keep him put in Milwaukee, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to an uncharacteristic start to the 2020-21 season.
Whether that was due to the weight of making such a massive decision or the Bucks reshaping their roster and their system, Antetokounmpo needed the time and reps to find his footing, especially after a more condensed offseason unfolded.
However, we’re far removed from having to worry about Antetokounmpo’s performance and comfort level. Very far from it. Antetokounmpo is up to 29 points on .557/.285/.661 shooting, 11.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.4 blocks, 1.3 steals across his 35 appearances on the season.
The reigning MVP has shown considerable strides in key areas, whether it’s scoring in more diverse ways, improving his free throw shooting or steadily cutting down on committing offensive fouls. Defensively, Antetokounmpo is getting more used to and comfortable switching on to opposing players in one-on-one situations, which the Bucks had been loathe to do previously.
All of it has given a different twist to the same dominance we’ve seen from the 26-year-old over the last couple of regular seasons. Antetokounmpo’s MVP-winning seasons are certainly tough acts to follow and given his and the Bucks’ disappointing playoff run last season, voter fatigue has circled around Antetokounmpo and the Bucks as a whole.
At this point, the Bucks’ focus is lasered in overcoming their playoff disappointments from the last two seasons. And the most exciting part of Antetokounmpo’s brilliant regular season is that much of it is built to be sustainable when the Bucks’ campaign will matter most. Fingers crossed that remains moving forward.
Jrue Holiday’s arrival to the Milwaukee Bucks can’t be understated
There’s no question Antetokounmpo committing to the Bucks for the long-term future before the start of the 2020-21 season served as the biggest piece of business that was addressed in the offseason.
A close second, though, unsurprisingly proves to be the high-profile addition of Jrue Holiday, whom the Bucks acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans and left the Bucks with surrendering three first rounders and two pick swaps in the process. The exorbitant price the Bucks had to part with to acquire the veteran guard has been touched on extensively and while he’s currently eligible for a max extension, there’s no movement on that front as of yet in terms of his long-term future in Milwaukee.
What Holiday has done for the Bucks’ present, though, is change the complexion of team immeasurably all in his 26 appearances to date this season. Holiday is averaging 15.3 points on .491/.364/.766 shooting, 5.1 assists, 4.3 rebounds and a career-high 1.8 steals.
Holiday’s remarkably versatile defending has given the Bucks a go-to option to put on the premier players around the league, whether that’s LeBron James, Kevin Durant and so on. On the other side of the ball, Holiday’s on-ball presence and well-rounded game has given the Bucks the complementary scorer they need and one who isn’t afraid of taking a big shot late as his recent game winner against the Memphis Grizzlies showed.
More importantly, Holiday has truly fortified the Bucks’ Big 3 between himself, Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Per NBA.com/stats, the Bucks are outscoring their opponents by 10.7 points per 100 possessions in the 483 minutes those three have been on the floor together.
Holiday’s presence and swiss-army knife-like abilities has significantly changed the Bucks’ outlook and we only have to go back to when he missed 10 games due to having COVID-19 last month to see the various ways he’s stepped into his role in Milwaukee.
Going into the second half of their season, the Bucks will only continue leaning further on Holiday. Given what we’ve seen of him in his growing time with the Bucks, Holiday will calmly embrace the looming challenges ahead.
Mike Budenholzer is adjusting with the times for the Milwaukee Bucks
Given how the Bucks’ 2019-20 season concluded with such a massive thud and brought up all sorts of questions regarding the Bucks’ long-term future, it was fair to wonder if the man that brought about the Bucks’ renaissance would see it through such disappointment.
Through various reports, the Bucks made it quickly known that Mike Budenholzer’s job in Milwaukee was safe going into this season. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t tough conversations between Budenholzer, the Bucks’ front office and ownership on how to move forward, just as The Athletic’s Eric Nehm divulged on the ‘Weitzman Can’t Jump’ podcast with Yaon Weitzman:
"“There was a lot of conversation when I talked with people around the (Bucks) that this can’t happen again. You can’t do the same things, you can’t lose the same way every single game. You have to be willing to do different things…I think a big part of that was making Bud realize that it can’t happen like this again. Not to say win or you’re out. That wasn’t the edict from ownership, but I think the edict from ownership was if you lose, you can’t do it like that.”"
While he was certainly forced to adjust from being so dependent on his and the Bucks’ system, Budenholzer has taken everything in stride and has embraced working in a different way than he has traditionally been used to.
There’s the increased minutes workload that Budenholzer has deployed for the likes of Antetokounmpo, Holiday and Middleton. Additionally, Budenholzer has been more flexible defensively as the Bucks have incorporated more switching and is catering to the strengths of the team’s new and improved core overall.
The Bucks and the Budenholzer have taken their lumps this season, some in part due to Holiday’s absence, and all made in mind of learning what will and won’t work when the postseason rolls around.
At this point, Budenholzer won’t earn the benefit of the doubt when it comes to proving his worth in the playoffs and learning from his many and very public downfalls both in Atlanta and Milwaukee over his coaching career.
But to this point in this season, Budenholzer has done all of the very things that has been asked of him and has generally put the Bucks in their best position to succeed. Whether that will stay true in the Bucks’ playoff run will not only impact their contending hopes but could define Budenholzer’s time in Milwaukee in general.
Brook Lopez still holds value to the Milwaukee Bucks
Last but not least, Brook’s role with the Bucks has been a popular topic of conversation to this point in their run this year.
By an individual sense, Lopez is having a fine campaign by his standards, especially compared to the offensive struggles that he experienced last season. Averaging 10.8 points while shooting 34.8 percent from three, Lopez has played to the same standards of his supporting role, although he’s attempting the fewest shots (8.4) and 3-point attempts (4.4) of his Bucks career.
On the defensive end, Lopez hasn’t played to the same peak he sported as a rim protector, a year in which he earned All-Defensive second team honors. Some of that certainly speaks to the rejiggered supporting cast that the Bucks assembled over the offseason while some of it speaks to the ongoing reinvention the Bucks are seeking to have by installing different schemes.
All of that has taken a hit to his overall defensive value where he holds the third-highest defensive rating this season. With Lopez best utilized as the focal point behind the Bucks’ drop-back defensive scheme and protecting them, it’s in these instances where the Bucks fall victim to the shooting onslaughts that have dogged throughout the Budenholzer era.
While Milwaukee is trying to change that and best utilize Lopez within their new ways of working, it still is fair to say he will be leaned during the most important parts of the Bucks’ season.
To that point, Lopez stands as the Bucks’ lone traditional big man within their frontcourt. At his size and strength, he will be needed against some of the premier traditional centers that stand in their way when looking to come out of the Eastern Conference.
Milwaukee has yet to face against the Philadelphia 76ers this season as their first matchup against one another will come on St. Patrick’s Day after the All-Star break. That will serve as a fascinating barometer for how the Bucks and Lopez match up against Joel Embiid, a bona-fide MVP candidate.
All of this isn’t to say that Lopez’s time with the Bucks won’t end soon. He still stands as one of the trade chips the Bucks have to improve their roster in ways that fit their ever-evolving system over the offseason. But that day isn’t here quite yet, barring some surprise by the trade deadline.