The Milwaukee Bucks played their final preseason game Wednesday night and now have off until opening night on October 20th. The Bucks dropped their final preseason matchup against the Brooklyn Nets and finished winless during the preseason tune up.
A few things worth mentioning about the winless preseason record: one, the Milwaukee Bucks played with a full team one time, the first game in Abu Dhabi, in that game the starter who played the most minutes was Jrue Holiday with 23. Two, it’s preseason, these games do not count for anything, they do not affect the standings and nobody gets a trophy for having the best preseason record. The last time the Bucks went winless in the preseason they won the NBA Championship, so their record holds no bearing on where they can go once the actual season starts.
That said, we’re glad basketball is back and with that, let’s get some takeaways from the Bucks preseason finale.
Takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks preseason finale: Jevon Carter has earned the backup point guard spot
This one has been brought up as a takeaway from previous preseason games, and I am here to bring it up again. Jevon Carter has shined on both ends of the floor, playing consistent defense and knocking down shot after shot on offense.
Jevon Carter started alongside Jrue Holiday on Wednesday night, whether that is a sign that Carter has earned a greater role or if Mike Budenholzer was testing a defensively aimed lineup is purely speculation. Carter shot 6-of-12 including 3-of-6 behind the 3-point line, in addition to his 15 points Carter added four assists and three steals. George Hill was 3-of-6 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc and added four rebounds and two steals.
However, in this game Jevon Carter played 28 minutes and George Hill 27, nearly even, now Grayson Allen’s absence from this game could be an explanation for both getting more minutes. Looking at the two head to head over the entire preseason, Jevon Carter has played over 109 minutes, just shy of 22 minutes per game and Hill has played just under 71 minutes in four games, under 18 minutes per game.
So while we may not have a large disparity of minutes between Carter and Hill when it comes to who is the Milwaukee Bucks’ backup point guard, it looks as though thus far Carter is the preferred option. It is also quite likely that there will be several instances where either one of these two are on the floor with Jrue Holiday in lineups where Giannis Antetokounmpo is playing the center position.
Bottom line, when it comes to needing a substitute for Jrue Holiday, Jevon Carter has been the first player off the bench.