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.
Milwaukee Bucks potential sixth man 2022-23: Pat Connaughton
Pat Connaughton has been with the Milwaukee Bucks since 2018 and his role has increased every season since joining the team. With Bobby Portis in the starting lineup during the 2021-22 season, Pat Connaughton was the Milwaukee Bucks sixth man during the season, Connaughton also started 19 games during the season.
During the 2020-21 season, Connaughton was also the Bucks’ sixth man, playing two more minutes per game than Bobby Portis who was in his first season with the Bucks.
Last season, Pat Connaughton averaged 9.9 points, a career high, and 4.2 rebounds. Pat also shot 39.5 percent on 3-pointers, which would be his career high outside of his second season in the NBA with Portland when he played just eight minutes per game. In fact, Connaughton has increased his 3-point percentage every season he’s been with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Connaughton’s role can’t be understated as one of the Bucks’ most underrated and important role players. Last season Connaughton was assisted on 89 percent of his shots and 95.2 percent of his 3-point attempts, proving himself as a very important safety valve for other Bucks players.
Furthermore, Connaughton made 51.3 percent of 3-pointers he took with four or fewer seconds on the shot clock and 45.5 percent with a defender within two to four feet of him.
Milwaukee Bucks potential sixth man 2022-23: Joe Ingles
Receiving the fewest amount of votes of the three potential sixth men for the Milwaukee Bucks is Joe Ingles, while it may be fair considering that Ingles will likely be out until the the beginning of 2023 recovering from his ACL injury, the skills that Ingles brings to the table make him worthy to be the first man off the bench for the Bucks.
Of the three options presented for the fan vote of sixth man, Ingles brings arguably the best playmaking ability. Ingles had the lowest percent of his shots assisted on of the three players, Ingles was assisted on 70.4 percent of his field goals and 75.6 percent of his 3-point makes, proving that when needed, Ingles can create his own shot.
It is also worth noting again that Joe Ingles doesn’t get credit for being as good of a defender as he is. For his career, Joe Ingles sports a career defensive rating per 100 possessions of 108. The Bucks as a team last season had a team defensive rating of 111.8.
Ingles is a 40.8 percent career 3-point shooter, 39.2 percent on 3-pointers in the playoffs, and averages 25.7 minutes per game, last season as the Milwaukee Bucks’ sixth man, Pat Connaughton played 26.0 minutes per game. So Ingles could certainly handle the minutes.
Ingles is also a very underrated passer, as the ball handler running the pick and roll, 40.7 percent of possessions resulted in scores, ranking him in the 86.6 percentile in the NBA. Having Ingles on the floor as the sixth man could bring some needed playmaking to the Milwaukee Bucks second unit.
Stay tuned to the Behind the Buck Pass Twitter page for more polls leading up to the season.