Milwaukee Bucks: Could more changes come to their starting lineup?

The Milwaukee Bucks come out of the All-Star break looking to carry over their momentum that they carried into their week-long layoff.

Having won six of their last seven games going into the break, with their last three victories having been decided during crunch time, the Bucks have righted the ship after enduring through a five-game losing skid. Being incredibly streaky and still coming together at this stage of the season, Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo preached that there is no panicking from within the squad and that patience has certainly shown thus far.

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Antetokounmpo relayed that message during the nadir of the Bucks’ losing skid, the worst of the Mike Budenholzer era, all of which was made worse by the absence of star guard Jrue Holiday.

As Holiday continues working his way back into the Bucks’ starting lineup, could further changes be made to the Bucks’ starting lineup in regards to their fifth starter?

Donte Divincenzo has held the spot for the entire season, but as he has gone through his ups and downs this season, one can only wonder if he would better serve the Bucks in a sixth man role. Given the constant dose of energy and activity he brings to the floor, DiVincenzo could headline the team’s second unit. But will he be strong enough to hold up against superior 2-guards come playoff time?

While those concerns remain, the Bucks’ regular starting five is outscoring their opponents by +7.6 points per 100 possessions in the 253 minutes they’ve shared the floor together, per NBA.com/stats.

Could the Milwaukee Bucks continue tinkering with their starting lineup?

From that standpoint, the calls from some Bucks fans to relegate DiVincenzo to the head of the bench unit may be a little unfounded. The 24-year-old provides a real defensive spark and is best utilized playing alongside the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton.

Of course, that line of thinking applies to all of the Bucks’ supporting players and the very ones that could theoretically supplant DiVincenzo in the starting lineup.

The Bucks hoped for D.J. Augustin to be their sixth man after handing him a three-year, $21 million deal and dealing away George Hill as part of the Holiday trade in the offseason. To this point, Augustin has struggled the most of any rotation player this season as he’s averaging 6.1 points on.350/.366/.897 shooting, 3 assists and 1.4 rebounds.

Yet for all of the struggles he’s faced and the limitations he brings to the floor, he’s stepped up admirably in place of Holiday as the Bucks are 6-1 with Augustin in the starting lineup. Augustin’s ball handling and ability to coordinate the team’s offense stabilized the Bucks as they were without Holiday and as he came off the bench in his appearances since recovering from COVID.

But if the Bucks want a shooting spark next to their core four of Antetokounmpo, Holiday, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton, Bryn Forbes brings all of that and then some. Forbes is up to shooting a career-high 44.8 percent from three while averaging 9.3 points through his 36 appearances.

However, Forbes had his brief foray into the Bucks’ starting lineup by initially filling in for Holiday on their road swing out West. And having a more pronounced role led to seeing his defensive limitations in full and having the second-highest defensive rating at 114 points per 100 possessions on the team hasn’t helped matters.

The player that tops Forbes in the department is the one that many Bucks fans looked to fortifying their defense, that being Torrey Craig. Craig’s time in Milwaukee has been fairly lackluster driven by the fact that he’s played 194 total minutes thus far.

Still, there are some Bucks fans that will cling to Craig being more useful come playoff time when things slow down and his defensive expertise will only grow more impactful. But his offensive limitations make that tough to stick on the floor, especially when paired with Antetokounmpo.

So who will it become in May onwards?  Is it DiVincenzo?  Could it be a free agent that may be bought out that the Bucks will have to wait to grab due to their lack of flexibility at the moment?

We will probably have to wait until late spring, but all eyes will on how DiVincenzo can continue to improve and maintain his hold in the Bucks’ starting lineup.