Milwaukee Bucks fan vote: Bobby Portis is 6th man
In the first of what will be a series of fan votes conducted on the Behind the Buck Pass Twitter page, we asked, “who will be the Milwaukee Bucks sixth man in 2022-23?”
The possible answers to choose from were Bobby Portis, the Milwaukee Bucks’ sixth man during the eventual championship season in 2020-21. Pat Connaughton, the Bucks’ sixth man in 2021-22, the season where Bobby Portis spent much of the time in the starting lineup filling in for Brook Lopez. The third and final option was the newly signed Joe Ingles when he is healthy.
Out of a total of 251 votes, Bobby Portis secured a lion’s share, 62 percent of fans that voted, voted for Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton received 23 percent and Joe Ingles 15 percent. All three are viable options, and all for different reasons, let’s look at the three of them and what they all bring to the table as the Milwaukee Bucks potential sixth man.
Milwaukee Bucks potential sixth man 2022-23: Bobby Portis
Bobby Portis spent most of the 2021-22 season as the Milwaukee Bucks starting center, last season Portis averaged a career high 14.6 points and a career high 9.1 rebounds, Bobby also led the Bucks in offensive rebounds per game with 2.5 per game. Bobby shot 39.3 percent from 3-point range, his second highest clip to only the 2020-21 season and 47.9 percent on field goals, the third highest mark in his career.
During last season, Bobby Portis scored 30.2 percent of his field goals unassisted, but 100 percent of his 3-point makes were assisted, meaning when the Bucks needed Bobby Portis to get a bucket, he did so facing up for mid-range jump shots or getting to the basket and did his long range damage on the floor with others, a good ability to have as a potential sixth man.
Going back to the 2020-21 season, Bobby Portis was one of Milwaukee Bucks’ first players off the bench, Portis averaged 11.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in less than 21 minutes per game, Portis shot a scorching 47.1 percent on 3-pointers and 52.3 percent on field goals, both career highs.
Should Brook Lopez be healthy and operate as the Bucks starting center this coming season, Bobby Portis will likely again be one of the Bucks most used players off the bench.