Milwaukee Bucks: Who will be the most important reserve next season?

The case for Grayson Allen as the Milwaukee Bucks’ most important bench player

Although the case for Allen is relatively hypothetical — he obviously hasn’t played a game for the Bucks yet — it also is a little familiar. Allen is only an inch shorter and 10 pounds lighter than Connaughton and both are capable of guarding multiple positions.

As I’ve noted previously, Allen is most similar to Donte DiVincenzo and is a good bridge if DiVincenzo needs more time to recover from his surgery or is taking some time to work back into game shape.

The main differences between Allen and the incumbent DiVincenzo and Connaughton, are that Allen is a better overall shooter but also a worse rebounder than both. He is a comparable defender to each but it remains to be seen if Budenholzer will trust him come playoff time.

In the regular season with the Grizzlies, Allen held opposing pick and roll ball handlers to 0.84 points per possession and a 41.6 percent effective field goal percentage on a high volume of opportunities. In the playoffs, however, it jumped to 1.28 PPP and 67 percent eFG%, but it’s also a five-game sample and he won’t be the first option to guard pick and rolls on the Bucks.

If Allen wants to be relied on as the Bucks go further into the playoffs, he’ll need to shoot consistently like he has the last two regular seasons (39.5 percent, 4.7 attempts per game). In a small seven-game sample, Allen shot 44.4 percent (12-for-27) in two play-in games and a short five-game first round series against the Utah Jazz.