How does Semi Ojeleye fit with the Milwaukee Bucks?
The natural fit would be as a lower-tier replacement for P.J. Tucker after his reported signing with the Miami Heat.
At 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds, Ojeleye is right around the same height and weight as the former Buck. Their stats are also strikingly similar. Tucker is a career 35.9 percent 3-point shooter on 2.9 attempts per game, while Ojeleye is 34.9 percent on an average of two attempts.
Taking a deeper dive into their respective numbers this past season, Ojeleye tallied a 71.5 percent 3-point attempt rate while Tucker was at 67.2 percent. Ojeleye also shot a higher percentage from deep this past season (36.7 percent, 2.8 attempts) than Tucker (33.6 percent, 2.3 attempts).
A small benefit that Ojeleye does bring over Tucker as well, is that he’s not only limited to corner triples. According to NBA.com/stats, Ojeleye impressively shot nearly 38 percent on his above the break 3-pointers (82 attempts) while Tucker shot 25 percent (16 attempts).
Tucker also provided a big presence on the offensive glass and although the offensive rebounding rates were similar this past season (3.9 percent for Tucker, 3.6 percent for Ojeleye), Ojeleye has never come close to the offensive rebounding rate that Tucker posted in the playoffs (7.4 percent) However, Ojeleye can’t be a direct one-to-one replacement for Tucker, both on and off the court.
In an ideal world, the Bucks would have been able to have both players on their roster, but Ojeleye should provide good value for his contract and now has a built-in role in the rotation. I’m not going to say Ojeleye will be as good as Tucker, that’s an unfair expectation.
But he has shot the three at a 37.2 percent clip the past two seasons and is a strong defender, quite similar to Tucker. It’ll be a tiered down version of what Tucker provided (Ojeleye isn’t in the same tier as Tucker as a defender, he isn’t the same veteran presence, etc.), but there’s room to be hopeful that Ojeleye can do some of what the heart and soul of the Bucks’ championship did.