The regular season has come to an end, and the Milwaukee Bucks find themselves at the top of the NBA standings for the third time in the last five years, finishing the season with a 58-24 record.
It wasn’t pretty throughout, as the Bucks struggled in November and December before finally getting closer to full health and finding their groove from late January on. Milwaukee started the season 29-17 and then followed that up with a 29-5 stretch to clinch the top overall seed going into the playoffs.
Many different players made contributions this season, and the Bucks have shown that they are arguably the deepest team in the league. Even with Khris Middleton missing most of the season and Giannis missing more time than usual, the Bucks still finished with the best record in the league because of their depth.
Here are grades for how each player performed this season relative to expectation (one player having a higher grade than another does not automatically mean they were better; it means they exceeded expectations more). Note that only players who played over 800 minutes are eligible to be graded.
Milwaukee Bucks Player Grades: Guards
Grayson Allen: B-
There was nothing overly positive or negative about Grayson Allen’s season. He had his share of ups and downs to start the year, shooting 32 percent from three in October, then 51 percent in November, then back down to 31 percent in December before going back up to 43 percent in January. He was a name attached to many trade rumors at the deadline, but the Bucks never did end up moving him.
After the deadline, he closed the year shooting a solid 39 percent from three over the last couple of months. All in all, Allen is here to make threes, and he shot 40 percent on five attempts per game, so there is not much to complain about. His defense is never going to be reliable in the playoffs, and he won’t provide much when his shot is off, but the Milwaukee Bucks now have the depth to go away from him if they need to in the postseason.
Jevon Carter: B+
Carter took on a much bigger from the get-go this season, starting in the team’s first 20 games and ending the season with 39 starts overall. He has taken over the backup point guard role when the team is fully healthy… so much so that the Bucks were comfortable trading away George Hill at the trade deadline and rolling with Carter. He has been great as a point-of-attack defender, hounding ball handlers all season.
On top of this, he has continued his tremendous shooting since he joined the Bucks last year, draining 42 percent of his threes this year and really being one of Milwaukee’s most consistent shooters (over 40 percent from three in five out of seven months during the season). He can be a little chaotic offensively at times and take some bad shots, but his production on both ends of the court has been about as good as anyone could have expected. He should have a solid role in the playoffs.
Pat Connaughton: C
If there is one Buck who was pretty disappointing this season, it’s Pat Connaughton. Not only did he miss the first month of the season, but he never was able to find any real consistency after coming back. He was solid in the middle of the season, shooting 39 percent from three from December 17 until February 17. But prior to that stretch he was at 26 percent, and since that stretch, he is at 29 percent. Overall, he had his lowest three-point percentage since 2019 and his lowest two-point percentage since 2017. It’s been a struggle for Connaughton, and if he can’t find the playoff magic that he found during the 2021 title run, he may lose some of his playoff minutes.
Jrue Holiday: A
This was a year where Holiday needed to step up even more offensively than in the past, and he delivered with an All-Star season. He averaged his most points (19.3) and assists (7.4) since 2018, and still kept up solid efficiency despite the larger role (59 percent true shooting, 48 percent from the field, and 38 percent from three). Holiday had seven games with 30+ points this season after having just two such games in his first two regular seasons in Milwaukee combined. Of course, everyone knows what Holiday brings on the defensive end as one of the best defenders in the entire league.
With Holiday on the court this season, the Bucks outscored opponents by 9.2 points per 100 possessions, and with him off the court, opponents outscored the Bucks by 4.7 points per 100 possessions, per NBA.com. That 13.2 point swing topped the team, ahead of even Giannis. Oh, and Holiday was also THE clutch guy for the Bucks this season, shooting 48 percent from three in clutch situations. Jrue Holiday was phenomenal this season, and if he keeps up a level of play offensively in the playoffs that is even 80 percent of what it was in the regular season, the Milwaukee Bucks’ title chances are going to be very, very good.
Wesley Matthews: B-
Matthews was solid defensively but didn’t provide much offensively, which is about what most expected this season. He shot just 32 percent from three and 36 percent from the field, really only being out there for defense. But defensively, he held his own even at his age, showing the ability to defend some of the NBA’s best wings pretty well.
In 52.7 partial possessions where he defended Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Jayson Tatum, or Jaylen Brown, he held those players to just six points on 1-of-8 shooting. Matthews probably can’t be a reliable playoff guy throughout the entire playoffs, but he’s someone who certainly could be used in some situations if Milwaukee needs an answer defensively. The possibility that he could still be pretty useful in the playoffs at all is a win in itself, so not much to complain about from Matthews this season.
Milwaukee Bucks Player Grades: Forwards
Joe Ingles: B
It was a rough start for Ingles after he returned from injury in December, shooting just 19 percent from three in his first five games and having more turnovers than assists. However, since then, Ingles has really played the way Bucks fans expected him to off the bench, shooting 43 percent from three with three times as many assists as turnovers.
He has become a steady shooting option and solid as a ball handler off the bench, which the Bucks very much needed. His defense hasn’t been great, but offensively he lived up to expectations and will have some important minutes in the playoffs. The nice thing about Ingles is that even if his shot does go cold, his ball handling and passing can still be valuable.
Khris Middleton: B-
Middleton is a tough player to grade. He missed more time than anyone expected and really provided almost nothing up until January 23. Even after returning, his minutes were limited at the beginning, and he didn’t become a starter again until March. Considering many were hoping he wouldn’t miss much time at all this season, he definitely can’t be graded too high after only starting in 12 games. However, Middleton has actually ramped himself up very well since coming back and has gotten pretty close to his usual self going into the playoffs.
In the last month of the season before tweaking his injury again, he averaged 20 points and seven assists on 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from three. If his defensive intensity can improve in the playoffs like it usually does and his offense remains where it’s been lately, Middleton will once again be that key sidekick to Giannis that the Bucks were missing last year.
Milwaukee Bucks Player Grades: Bigs
Giannis Antetokounmpo: A-
It was another typical great Giannis season, as he finished the year averaging 31 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists per game and is an MVP candidate for the fifth straight season. He was once again the best two-way player in the game this season, leading the league in points per minute while also reducing opponent field goal percentage more than anyone else in the league (players on average shot 6.8 percent worse when defended by Giannis than they normally do).
This wasn’t Giannis’ most efficient scoring season, but a lot of that has to do with him having one of the highest usage rates in the league due to missing Khris Middleton for most of the year. His efficiency returned to an elite level after he and Middleton returned in late January again, and he was incredible over the last 30 games or so. Giannis continued to prove that he is the best player in the world this year, and hopefully he can further cement that title with another legendary playoff run.
Brook Lopez: A+
If you went back in time about 10 months and told a Bucks fan how good Lopez would be this season, they wouldn’t believe you. After missing most of last season after needing back surgery, many were skeptical about just how much the 34-year-old could provide this season, and it seemed that a decline, whether small or large, was imminent. Well, Brook has had his best season as a Buck, playing like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate all year and also averaging 16 points while shooting a career-best on both threes (37 percent) and twos (64 percent).
Lopez dominated as a rim protector, averaging a career-high 2.5 blocks per game and consistently altering opponent’s shots around the rim. On top of what he did on both ends of the court, Lopez played in 78 out of 82 games and was the most reliable of the starters in terms of staying on the court all season. In a year where Middleton missed a lot of the season, Antetokounmpo missed 19 games, and Holiday missed 15 games, Brook Lopez is arguably the biggest reason why the Bucks still finished with the best record in the league.
Bobby Portis: B-
Portis has been a double-double machine all season, finishing with more double-doubles than any other bench player. That part of his game was consistent all season, but the part that wasn’t was his 3-point shot. After being a great 3-point shooter in each of the last two seasons, Bobby really struggled to find his shot for the first part of the season, shooting just 32 percent from three in his first 45 games. But lately, the shot has come back, and he closed the season shooting 45 percent from three in the Milwaukee Bucks’ final 25 games, which is a great sign for the playoffs.
Overall, it was an okay year for Bobby that was maybe slightly worse than expected due to how poor his defense was and how long it took him to find his shot. Still, the energy he brings combined with his elite shooting lately will be very helpful to the Bucks for a postseason run.
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.