Milwaukee Bucks individual grades for the NBA’s 2022-23 regular season

Milwaukee Bucks Grades: Mike Budenholzer and Jon Horst

Mike Budenholzer: A-

Many Bucks fans are still hesitant to be all-in on Bud, but he had a tremendous season. After the Bucks allowed the most made 3-pointers in the league in each of the first four seasons under Bud, it was reported before the season that they would look to change their defensive philosophy a bit to allow fewer threes. Well, they did just that, and they allowed the 11th fewest made threes in the league this season.

During the stretch where the Bucks were closest to full strength (January 23 up until they clinched the number one seed), Milwaukee was the only team in the league to be top five in both offensive and defensive rating. This is the deepest team of the Budenholzer era in Milwaukee, and although that’s a great thing, it can make rotations difficult, but Budenholzer has done a great job managing minutes and giving everyone chances to see what they can do before the playoffs.

He also did a phenomenal job ramping Khris Middleton up after he returned from injury. Taking a team that had its star players miss so many games and still finishing with the best record in the NBA is pretty remarkable, and Mike Budenholzer deserves his props.

Jon Horst: A

Milwaukee Bucks’ General Manager Jon Horst has assembled truly one of the best and deepest Bucks teams of all time, regardless of how the season ends. The addition of Joe Ingles has panned out so far, and Milwaukee has more options than ever before at the guard/wing spots. Horst also was once again aggressive at the trade deadline, trading away George Hill, Jordan Nwora, Serge Ibaka, and a bunch of second round picks to get a much-needed bigger wing in Jae Crowder.

Finding a way to add Crowder without giving up anything that is of importance to the Bucks was a big win. There’s no telling what will happen with this Bucks team in the playoffs, but if they do fall short, it won’t be because of a lack of talent or depth. Horst has once again put together a roster that has as good of a chance to win a title as anyone else in the league.

Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.