Milwaukee Bucks: Pros and cons of bringing back Johnny O’Bryant III
By Dalton Sell
Training camp is underway for the 2021-22 NBA season, and the Milwaukee Bucks brought back a familiar face to join them.
As first reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Bucks have signed Johnny O’Bryant III to a training camp deal. Charania notes that O’Bryant will compete for one of the Bucks’ open roster spots. The team is on the record having recently attended a recent workout for the veteran, and it looks like they must have seen something that they liked enough that it was worthwhile to bring him aboard at least for camp.
Of course, O’Bryant has familiarity with the organization as he was drafted in the second round by the Bucks in the 2014 NBA Draft. The big man would play two seasons with the team for a total of 101 games between the regular season and playoffs. Although he was never a cornerstone piece, most Bucks fans were glad to hear that J.O.B. would get another shot in the NBA as he targets a comeback after several years away from the game. With that being said, here are the pros and cons of what O’Bryant might bring to the table for the newly-retooled Bucks.
The pros of the Milwaukee Bucks signing Johnny O’Bryant III
Despite a very successful offseason, one of the biggest concerns for the Bucks remains their lack of depth at the center position. It is something that has been covered consistently, with the Bucks’ options being slim behind Brook Lopez and fan-favorite Bobby Portis. While signing O’Bryant does not eliminate those concerns entirely, it gives them some more size in the frontcourt for the moment. Naturally, O’Bryant is best suited to play power forward as he stands at 6-foot-9, but he has played some center throughout his career regardless.
On the floor, the biggest eye-catcher for him might be his improvement with the 3-point shot. O’Bryant shot just one triple during his 101 game stint with the Bucks, not having been a threat from the outside at all. In the time that he has spent overseas over the past few years, he has upped his attempts to 3.7 per contest. While he has knocked down a mere 31.9 percent of those tries, having a willing shooter is something this team will always embrace, especially at a position of need. Just like with Lopez and Portis, big men tend to shoot the basketball from distance better than ever before once they land in Milwaukee.
On top of that, it is not like this is a high-risk signing by any means. O’Bryant will accompany the team to camp, where they could get a better look at him. Having previously played with Bucks like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, perhaps rekindling that chemistry will help him find his footing. He is not the most exciting player that the team could have brought in, but there are several things to like about potentially keeping O’Bryant around for the 2021-22 season.