Doc Rivers plots way forward in developing Milwaukee Bucks' youngsters
By Franco Luna
Top-heavy Milwaukee needs contributions from their bench
Days after the preseason wrapped up, news broke that Milwaukee was interested in trading its 2022 24th-overall pick in MarJon Beauchamp for a wing defender. It was a bittersweet acknowledgment that after three years, yet another young Buck had failed to pan out the way fans had hoped.
Milwaukee has not had the smoothest time maximizing the young talent available on its roster, and as a result, the team's general depth has suffered immensely. Last season, the Bucks bench registered a net rating of -1.0, good for 20th in the NBA. Past the top-heavy Bucks core, their tertiary unit put up a 19th-ranked 32.5 points per game.
These past preseason games have given fans glaring evidence of just how top-heavy the Bucks roster is on paper. When their starters played together, the Bucks ranked fifth in the league in both offensive rating (94.7) and net rating (net plus-16.5) even without Khris Middleton in the starting lineup. Those are excellent numbers, yet the Milwaukee Bucks went on to lose all but one of their preseason games after seeing their leads erode once the bench unit came in.
For all the rookie mistakes the young Bucks made playing together in the preseason and Summer League, it's worth pointing out that their roles on the court will be extremely different once they're playing alongside Antetokounmpo and company. There's at least reason to hope that they can produce more efficiently once they aren't expected to create their own shots or facilitate entire offenses against NBA-ready opposition.
Asked about how he approaches the development of his younger players, Rivers asserted that young players must learn to coexist with established stars before they receive a bigger nightly role.
"For all of them, you just have to learn that you're going to play with Dame and Giannis and Brook and Bobby and Khris Middleton. They all have to learn how to play with stars. You know, where they're from, they've always been the star. And now all of a sudden, they're the third, fourth, fifth option in learning how to do that."