Brayden Burries was one of the most exciting players at NBA Summer League because he earned extended opportunities to handle the basketball and make plays. However, that privilege could be stripped from him once the regular season begins due to the Milwaukee Bucks' loaded backcourt. One anonymous Bucks assistant brought up this fear-inducing point to Spotrac's Keith Smith.
“This was really fun, because we got to the put the ball his hands a lot. He showed scoring and playmaking that you didn’t always get to see in college... Not sure how much that’ll happen in the season, because we’ve got a lot of other ballhandlers and creators. But seeing that he can do it is really, really exciting.”
Burries might be denied opportunities due to Bucks' logjam
As the assistant alludes to, Milwaukee has a lot of players who can do what Burries does. Just looking at the backcourt, the Bucks have Burries, Tyler Herro, Ryan Rollins, Kevin Porter Jr., Gary Trent Jr., AJ Green, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Caris LeVert. All of those players, outside of maybe LeVert, will be expecting minutes next season. Burries, being the youngster of the group, could see his role reduced.
To be clear, Burries can make things happen without the ball in his hands. He is an off-ball threat at all times, which fueled his success in college. Yet, as Burries showed in Summer League, averaging 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and two steals per game, good things happen when the guard has the ball and is playing a prominent role.
The Milwaukee Bucks will risk stunting his development if they toss him to the side in favor of any of their many rostered guards. He could still be successful, without a doubt, but it might take more time to unearth his true potential if he doesn't have a ton of opportunities right off the bat. For a team that needs a draft home run after so many years of strikeouts, that's a very risky strategy.
Bucks' roster jam is the biggest question mark left of the summer
The Bucks currently house 17 players on standard contracts. They need to trim that number down to 15 before the regular season starts, and the obvious place to start is the backcourt. If Milwaukee can move off one or two of their current guards, it would immediately move Burries further up the depth chart and give him more opportunities. Essentially, they could knock out two birds with one stone.
Only time will tell how the Milwaukee Bucks tackle their logjam. The team does have rumored interest in Peyton Watson and Jonathan Kuminga via sign-and-trade. Perhaps the Bucks could offload one or two of their guards in that scenario. Maybe there is another team that would give up assets to acquire someone like AJ Green or Kevin Porter Jr. No matter what, moves are coming.
Milwaukee has a lot of good guards, but Brayden Burries' development should be among the team's top priorities currently, even if it means moving one or two of them.
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