Bobby Portis is proving last season wasn’t a mirage for Milwaukee Bucks

There was no offseason move bigger for the Milwaukee Bucks than re-signing fan favorite and key role player Bobby Portis. There was tons of speculation that he would sign elsewhere for more money but instead, he took a smaller contract to stay with the defending champs and a team he found to be comfortable.

Although it isn’t a huge financial commitment this season, the idea is that the Bucks will reward Portis with a larger extension this offseason since they’ll be allowed to do so with his Bird Rights. There was a bit of risk to committing to Portis after last season could have been seen as an outlier in his career.

He shot an astounding 47.1 percent on 3-pointers, part of his game that had fluctuated season-to-season and was developing. He wasn’t a great defender but progressed through the regular season and playoffs into someone who could be out there and relied upon in NBA Finals games.

I was all in favor of re-signing Portis, especially at the price they got him at, but I thought there could be a step back from what he was last season. Through his first 12 games this season, I have been shown that there was no need to be concerned and that Portis’ fit with the Bucks is as perfect as we thought last season.

Bobby Portis has quickly become one of the Milwaukee Bucks’ most important players

Especially with the loss of Brook Lopez, any minutes that Portis could have given the Bucks in the frontcourt would have been much needed. But the fact that he has been as good as he has is one of the main factors why the Bucks are getting out of their early hole.

Since being inserted into the starting lineup earlier this month, Portis is averaging 17.5 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and almost a block per game. This also includes shooting over 47 percent from behind the 3-point line and 62.5 percent true shooting, so it’s not just increased opportunity that has resulted in the higher point total.

Offensively, Portis is a perfect fit alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo as he provides quality spacing but can also crash the offensive glass. When Portis is shooting the ball as he has since getting into his rhythm coming back from injury and going back to last season, teams need to respect him or he’s going to hit the wide-open jumper more times than he’ll miss (seriously, he’s shooting over 55 percent on wide-open 3-pointers so far this year).

Last season, lineups with Portis and Antetokounmpo were plus-9.5 points per 100 possessions. This season they’ve taken it to another level now that they’ve gotten comfortable playing alongside each other more and have posted a plus-13.9 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required).

In fact, he is such an important piece to the team and so good alongside Antetokounmpo, that the reigning Finals MVP recruited Portis in the offseason to come back and stay with the Bucks.

Defensively, we still see Portis get picked on when he’s forced to guard on the perimeter, but he has improved overall when compared to the early part of last season. His block rate has increased from 1.7 percent to 2.7 percent and while he isn’t an elite rim protector, he has done a good job of contesting shots around the basket. Opponents are shooting under 35 percent on shots in the paint (non-rim attempts) against Portis this season, per NBA.com/stats. 

He has also provided a huge boost to rebounding when playing with Antetokounmpo, something that has been a huge key in turning the early season struggles around.

He continues to bring the energy and effort that made him such an endearing figure to fans and it’s always a treat to see Portis play at Fiserv Forum when he gets the crowd going which, in turn, fires himself up in the process.

In a season where the Milwaukee Bucks’ depth, specifically in the frontcourt has been tested, Portis has stepped up and in doing so, is proving that he is one of their most important players and that last season wasn’t a fluke.