It's a story Bucks fans have already heard ad nauseam: the answer to Milwaukee's defensive woes was hiding in plain sight all season, and Doc Rivers just refused to see it.
And so Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jericho Sims barely saw meaningful minutes together until it was already too late for Milwaukee.
While the Bucks hemorrhaged precious points and watched their playoff hopes crack under defensive pressure, their most dominant pairing on that side of the ball sat on the bench.
Antetokounmpo and Sims can still be Milwaukee's defensive backup plan
When they did play, the Jericho-Giannis pairing brought an edge Milwaukee desperately needed and turned a porous defensive unit into legitimate stoppers. Teams struggled to score at the rim in those minutes, and it was clear that Sims' vertical physicality paired with Giannis' horizontal versatility created a unique defensive foundation the Bucks had not seen until the trade deadline.
According to PBP Stats, the Bucks registered a defensive rating of 88.9 points given up per 100 possessions when Antetokounmpo and Sims shared the floor together.
In those minutes, the Bucks were a net-plus 27.5, which is elite. For context, that defensive rating would've ranked as the best in NBA history over a full season. Obviously, the sample size was criminally small, but the impact was undeniable.
Yet Rivers treated this nuclear combination like a state secret. Even as Indiana torched Milwaukee in multiple playoff games, the team's head tactician stubbornly stuck to rotations that had failed him all season.
As fans know well, Sims didn't see consistent action until Game 6 of those playoffs, when the Bucks were already staring elimination in the face and scrambling for answers they'd had all along.
Milwaukee's defense ranked a meager 12th during the regular season while their most effective defensive weapons (including Andre Jackson Jr.) collected dust on the bench. All the while, Rivers experimented with Brook Lopez-Bobby Portis pairings that consistently bled points.
What makes the road ahead even more exciting, though, is the positional versatility the Bucks have now unlocked by adding Myles Turner to the mix.
If Doc Rivers so desires, he could very easily create a triple-big lineup with Giannis and Sims and transform Milwaukee's late-game defensive strategy entirely. Just think about it: Turner's perimeter shooting keeps the offense spaced while his rim protection complements Sims' interior presence. Giannis becomes a roaming defensive coordinator, switching everything and creating chaos in passing lanes.
Rivers' failure to recognize this combination cost Milwaukee their season. Milwaukee already has the pieces to fix their biggest weakness. They just need a coach with the creativity and audacity to use them. And even now, it remains to be seen whether or not they actually have that.