Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing each position heading into 2021-22 season
By Dillon Graff
Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing each position heading into 2021-22 season – Bigs
2020-2021: Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis.
2021-2022: Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis.
Off-season additions: Re-signed Bobby Portis – Two years, $9 million with a player option.
The big win for the Bucks this off-season was getting Bobby Portis to return for a below-market deal. This is essentially a one-year deal to run it back before he’s able to retest the market the following season and get his much-deserved payday. The big man was a key piece for the Bucks in their playoff run last season, and he will reclaim his spot in the rotation next season behind the starter in Brook Lopez, who also had a great run.
Lopez and Portis should be deployed in a similar fashion to last year, with plenty of Antetkounmpo sprinkled in at the five when the situation calls for it as well. Having these three big men has given head coach Mike Budenholzer no shortage of lineup options to conjure up, and he will continue to do so once again next year.
Even though the Bucks big man rotation stayed the same, this feels like a big win for Milwaukee. The expectation was that they would lose Portis and be forced to go garage sailing on the open market for a replacement, which thankfully did not happen.