Milwaukee Bucks: Grading Grayson Allen’s season at the All-Star break

Expectations were relatively high when the Milwaukee Bucks acquired Grayson Allen this past offseason. They didn’t give up a ton and he was seen as someone who could be a consistent starter. Expectations only went up after he signed an extension before even playing a game. Well, for the most part, Allen has at the very least met those expectations.

Evaluating Grayson Allen’s 2021-22 season with the Milwaukee Bucks at the NBA All-Star break

Overall this season, Allen is averaging 11.5 points on 58.1 percent true shooting, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 steals. He’s shooting over 39 percent from 3 on over six attempts per game.

In an ideal world, a new player (especially a starter) would get the chance to work his way into the flow of things with his new teammates. That was not the case! Allen was thrown right into the fire with the Milwaukee Bucks starters as they dealt with early injuries and illnesses to Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton.

He responded by finding early chemistry with Giannis Antetokounmpo and being a very valuable floor-spacer that would make teams pay if they left him open. In his first 22 games, Allen shot nearly 43 percent from 3 on over seven attempts. He was one of the best shooters in the entire league during that stretch and we all felt great about the trade.

He then missed a game against the Miami Heat with an illness, came back to play seven more games, sat out another couple of games with that same illness, came back once again to play six games before entering COVID protocols.

In those 13 games, Allen shot under 32 percent on over six attempts from deep and didn’t look like the same player that was killing teams to begin the season. Him entering COVID protocols may have been a sort of hidden blessing, though. He came back, shot over 40 percent from 3 in his final 13 games, and looked more like what we thought expected from him after his hot start.

Diving a little further into his shooting, Allen is shooting under 39 percent on catch-and-shoot on around five attempts per game, per NBA.com/stats. That’s nearly two percent worse than he shot last season, which is a bit of a surprise but part of it is likely due to his cold stretch still dragging that down (he shot 30 percent on catch-and-shoot attempts in that 13 game rough patch).

Allen has more than filled the “Bryn Forbes role” as a catch-and-shoot guy that can fly off screens and run two-man actions with Antetokounmpo through dribble handoffs primarily. He’s shown he’s a lot more than just a guy who can let it fly off the catch.

It’s a small number of attempts, but Allen is shooting over 42 percent on pullup 3s this season (only 66 attempts) and has proven he can get his own shot off the dribble.

I’ve focused so much on his 3-point shooting with his offense because, well, that’s a large majority of what he does. Over 68 percent of his shot attempts have been from 3, but he has shown some effectiveness scoring at the rim as well. His numbers at the rim are slightly down from the last two seasons at 61 percent on 69 attempts, but I’d like to see him continue to be used as a cutter or have him drive more often as well.

Defensively, Allen has held up pretty well. We don’t need to compare him to Donte DiVincenzo anymore, but I’d still have DiVincenzo as a better defender but Allen has been solid. He’s held opposing guards to 40.9 percent shooting on over six attempts per game.

He’s likely benefitting from some shooting luck considering opposing guards are shooting 31 percent from 3 over three attempts per game, which is well below league average (35 percent) but he’s contesting nearly six shots per game, so he’s probably affecting opposing shooters a little bit.

Despite the slump in the middle of the season, Allen has been a huge win for general manager Jon Horst and has easily been the best acquisition from this past offseason. Just don’t get suspended again, please.

BTBP All-Star Break Grade: A-

Allen missed the final game before the break with a hip injury, so hopefully, the time off gives him a chance to heal up and he can finish the season the way he started it.