With Damian Lillard injured, the Milwaukee Bucks are looking to put even more responsibility on the shoulders of Giannis Antetokounmpo. ESPN's Brian Windhorst says the front office is pitching, "We’ll give you more control, more touches, more creation responsibility" to their star player, which makes plenty of sense, but keeping AJ Green and Gary Trent Jr. may help fully embrace it.
Bucks need their two knockdown shooters to support Giannis
When he drives to the hoop, defenses collapse, allowing the Greek Freak to kick it out to an open perimeter shooter. Usually, the team has had one specialist in this role. Kyle Korver. Bryn Forbes. Grayson Allen. This past season, they had two. AJ Green and Gary Trent Jr. oftentimes shared the floor together and lit it up, which gave the Milwaukee Bucks a jolt offensively.
Due to the sheer gravity that Giannis commanded, these two thrived on the floor with him. Green shot 31-of-83 (37.3 percent) off passes from the star forward, while Trent was at 43-of-89 (48.3 percent). Among Milwaukee's three-man tandems to log at least 200 regular season minutes, Green, Trent, and Antetokounmpo had an offensive rating of 127.3, the second-best on the team. First was 127.7.
Even better is that neither player is a defensive issue, something that was sometimes an issue with former 3-point specialists. Green is an underrated defender, using his sturdy frame to square off with players of all different builds. Trent has an incredible motor on that end, and he uses his active hands to generate steals.
The Milwaukee Bucks should look to build off that by keeping this trio intact, which is very possible. Green is on a non-guaranteed deal, but he should absolutely be back, maybe even with a new deal under his belt. Trent is set to hit free agency, but Milwaukee can - and should - offer him a nice new raise to keep him around.
Surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will more than likely operate as the team's primary floor general next season, with two elite shooters could give this offense a needed jolt. If both players do return and take on larger roles next year, which they undeniably should, it wouldn't be surprising if the Greek Freak tallied a new best in assists.
Those two marksmen are among the best in the game, and they fit the exact mold of players the Milwaukee Bucks should be looking for this summer.
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