Some things sound better in theory than in practice, and for the Milwaukee Bucks, pairing Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis on the court is one of them.
While both players bring immense value individually—Lopez as a rim-protecting, floor-spacing big, and Portis as an energy booster and scorer off the bench—together, their combined impact has been far from productive.
The numbers paint a bleak picture. According to PBP Stats, in the 440 minutes Lopez and Portis have shared the floor this season, the Bucks have posted a net rating of -2.29. Their offensive and defensive ratings during those stretches—111.33 and 113.62, respectively—would rank 20th in the league in both categories if extrapolated over the season.
At its core, the problem (at least as this writer sees it) lies in redundancy and lack of mobility. Brook Lopez thrives as a drop defender, controlling the paint and contesting shots near the rim. But Portis lacks the quickness to rotate effectively on defense or to stay in front of athletic forwards and centers.
When paired, these two slow-footed bigs leave the Milwaukee Bucks vulnerable to teams that can space the floor or push the pace.
The Bucks are struggling whenever their two big men share the floor
Portis’s well-documented limitations as a defender are glaring in these lineups. He struggles to stay with quicker power forwards who can attack off the dribble, and he doesn’t have the instincts or timing to contest shots at the rim effectively. As a result, Lopez often ends up compensating for Portis’s defensive lapses, which pulls him out of position and disrupts the Bucks' defensive schemes.
The results are unsurprisingly quite predictable: open threes, driving lanes and breakdowns in pick-and-roll coverage. Teams have exploited this pairing recently, pulling Lopez away from the rim while targeting Portis in isolation or with cutters.
Offensively, the Lopez-Portis pairing doesn’t generate enough spacing or dynamic movement. While both players can shoot from deep, neither is a consistent playmaker or driver. When they’re on the floor together, the Milwaukee Bucks often resort to relying too heavily on Damian Lillard or Giannis Antetokounmpo to create something out of nothing.
This also creates issues when one of the two is forced to operate from the perimeter while the other occupies the paint. Portis, in particular, struggles in this role, as his long-range shooting can be streaky and doesn’t command the same gravity as someone like Lopez.
While he has done a fine job rearing this Bucks squad after their horrid start, head coach Doc Rivers deserves criticism for leaning too heavily on this combination.
While injuries and depth issues may explain the occasional need for these lineups, there’s no justification for the amount of minutes they’ve logged together. It’s clear from both the numbers and the eye test that these lineups aren’t working, yet Rivers has continued to trot them out, often to disastrous results.
Lopez and Portis are valuable pieces for the Milwaukee Bucks, but together, they’re more of a liability than an asset. If Doc Rivers continues to lean on this disastrous pairing, Milwaukee risks squandering valuable minutes and potentially jeopardizing their standing in a hyper-competitive Eastern Conference.
It’s time for Rivers to make the tough but necessary adjustments—before this experiment costs the Milwaukee Bucks more than just a few games.
The two-big experiment in Milwaukee has failed
It’s understandable why the Bucks have tried to lean into a “tall ball” strategy with Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. After all, size and length have been foundational to Milwaukee’s identity in recent years, particularly during their 2021 championship run.
Teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers have demonstrated that playing two big men can work—Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley have become a formidable duo, combining rim protection with switchability on the perimeter.
But the difference is stark: Allen and Mobley are far more athletic and versatile defensively. Both can cover ground quickly, switch onto smaller players, and recover to contest shots. Their defensive mobility makes Cleveland’s tall-ball approach viable in a way that Milwaukee simply can’t replicate with Lopez and Portis.
The solution is obvious and straightforward: stagger their minutes. Lopez and Portis are both excellent in specific roles but not as a duo. If the Milwaukee Bucks need to find ways to allow Giannis Antetokounmpo to rest without sacrificing size, then perhaps Tyler Smith, Chris Livingston and Liam Robbins could play some power forward or center minutes.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ championship window is still wide open, but they must adapt to stay competitive in an ever-evolving league. Leaning on outdated concepts like "Tall Ball" will only hold them back, especially when the results—both statistically and on the court—are so clearly negative.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.