The Milwaukee Bucks are standing at the halfway mark of the 2020-21 season at an interesting position.
They went into the All-Star break having won six of their last seven games to improved to 22-14 on the season and two games back of the first seed in the Eastern Conference. The fact that the Bucks have underwhelmed by some is of debate, though that comes with the territory after considerably turning over their roster and losing Jrue Holiday for 10 games as he went through his bout with COVID-19.
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Given the circumstances that exist throughout this strange season, the Bucks are still in search of lasting consistency, but are weathering through this 2020-21 season as best as any team can. And along the way, some surprises have emerged.
So without further ado, let’s run through some of the biggest surprises that have emerged from the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2020-21 season so far.
Milwaukee Bucks’ Khris Middleton and his latest All-Star snub
It’s not very often you see players producing at the level that Khris Middleton has this season fail to make an All-Star Game. But that was indeed what happened for the nine-year veteran, despite averaging 20.6 points on .495/.432/.884 shooting, 6.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.1 steals over his 36 appearances.
As we touched on at the time of Middleton falling short in his All-Star bid, a poorly timed slide was one of, if not the biggest contributing factors behind why he didn’t join his teammate and this year’s All-Star Game MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, in Atlanta last weekend.
But considering the hot start Middleton got off to, which certainly helped buoy the Bucks as they navigated through all of their personnel and tactical changes, it would have seemed inconceivable for him to miss out on his third All-Star appearance.
Despite this latest snub, Middleton arguably stands as the biggest player to watch moving forward and as the Bucks prepare for their playoff run. Middleton has stood as the Bucks’ late-game engine all season and with their last three wins having been decided late, they’re getting more comfortable and resilient as they take on such reps this season.
Given his highly efficient, three-level scoring, it’s Middleton who will be tasked with leading the Bucks in critical spots. And he has more motivation to succeed in such spots down the second half of the season.
Pat Connaughton has arguably been the Milwaukee Bucks’ most impactful free agency move
Whether it was the additions of D.J. Augustin, Torrey Craig, Bryn Forbes and Bobby Portis, the Bucks didn’t rest on their laurels over the offseason. Of course, when you turn over half of your roster, it’s going to lead to many sizeable changes year over year and that’s obviously without touching on the acquisition of Jrue Holiday.
But is it possible that the Bucks’ most impactful free agency move was bringing back wing Pat Connaughton? That may be a little overzealous, given the scoring lifts the Bucks have gotten from the likes of Forbes and Portis, in particular, but Connaughton has offered up more two-way play than his fellow reserves.
The criticism levied at the Bucks for bringing back Connaughton on what eventually ended up being a three-year, $16 million deal in free agency was warranted for the events leading up to making such a deal. How much of that has overshadowed Connaughton’s improved campaign, though, has been unfair at this stage in the season.
Averaging 6.5 points on .443/.393/.824 shooting, Connaughton is turning in his most efficient season by 3-point percentage, effective field goal percentage (57.4 percent) and true shooting percentage (58.9 percent). Along with that, the 28-year-old is chipping in 4.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.7 steals across a career-high 21.1 minutes per game.
Defensively, Connaughton’s athletic strongsuits has worked well as the Bucks have incorporated more switching into their scheme and can hold his own against stronger-bodied forwards and wings.
With Connaughton’s productivity higher than ever, it all has led to him having the fourth-highest net rating on the Bucks this season, per NBA.com/stats. That certainly helps when 439 of Connaughton’s 697 minutes this season have come with Antetokounmpo on the floor and the Bucks are outscoring their opponents by 14.8 points per 100 possessions.
That, in essence, perfectly summarizes Connaughton’s value to this Bucks team as the complementary wing player they need around their cornerstone trio. While they need more help on the wing going into their playoff run, Connaughton has shown why he was such a priority in the minds of the Bucks’ front office.
Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s sharp improvement at the free throw line
As Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to a slow start by his extraordinary standards this season, his free throw shooting proved to be the most glaring concern early on.
The reigning MVP’s inconsistent free throw shooting never looked worse through his first handful of appearances this year, all of which was capped off by a truly disastrous 1-for-10 from the free throw line in a January 15 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Along with that, Antetokounmpo shot 82-for-141 from the foul line, good for 58.2 percent.
Ever since then, though, Antetokounmpo has drastically improved his free throw efficiency. Again, by his standards at the free throw line. Since that porous night against the Mavericks, Antetokounmpo has shot 171-for-243 from the free throw line (70.3 percent) and is up to 66.1 percent on this season so far.
So much has been said about how critical Antetokounmpo’s efficiency is at the free throw line and rightly so. Now averaging a career-high 10.4 free throw attempts this season, the 26-year-old is getting to the line more than ever and as we’ve seen at times this season, opposing teams will be more than happy for Antetokounmpo to beat them at the free throw line than get to the rim for an automatic bucket.
Nevertheless, Antetokounmpo’s free throw shooting uptick will be put to the test as the Bucks’ run progresses into the postseason. Considering that was ground zero of Antetokounmpo’s extended shooting downturn a couple of years ago, that will be the ultimate judge over whether how real his improvements are at the free throw line.