Milwaukee Bucks: 2016 Offseason Grades

The Milwaukee Bucks and their young core look to bounce back into the playoffs after a season of regression, but did they do enough this summer? Here are their complete 2016 offseason grades.

In 2014-15, the Milwaukee Bucks completed one of the largest single-season turnarounds in NBA history, improving from 15 wins the year before to 40 wins and a playoff berth. They were a franchise on the rise, with promising youngsters like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton composing the core.

In 2015-16, the young Bucks lost veterans like Jared Dudley and Zaza Pachulia, and in their first full season with Michael Carter-Williams playing in Brandon Knight‘s stead, a once mighty defense felt the full impact of Greg Monroe‘s flat-footedness on the defensive end.

Related Story: Indiana Pacers: 2016 Offseason Grades

Despite that disappointing regression, the Bucks are still a team on the rise in the East, with that Antetokounmpo-Parker-Middleton trio starting to come into its own. Heading into the offseason, however, this young team had specific needs heading into the draft and free agency.

Can the Bucks go back to the stingy defense they were in 2014-15? Can they sneak into the playoffs with the rest of the East improving as well? Here’s a look at what Milwaukee did to strengthen its short-term and long-term future with complete 2016 offseason grades.

Next: Draft Pick No. 1

Draft Pick No. 1

With the 10th overall selection, the Bucks pulled the first shocker pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, taking the (allegedly) 19-year-old Thon Maker out of Orangeville Prep High School.

There are two sides to this equation. Though Maker is one of the draft’s bigger boom-or-bust candidates, he could be an excellent addition to this already lengthy Milwaukee team if he can reach his ceiling (and, you know, if he’s actually 19).

Sure, the Bucks just re-signed John Henson last October and then brought back Miles Plumlee for four years this summer, but Greg Monroe clearly is not the answer at the center spot. With Milwaukee having shopped him for months now, it’s only a matter of time before a long-term solution is needed in the paint.

Plumlee is not that guy, contrary to what his unbelievable new contract would indicate, and there’s a good chance Henson isn’t that guy either. If Henson sputters yet again in his fifth NBA season, it might be time to admit his ceiling is being a backup big.

Bucks fans wondering who could possibly step in when the day for trading Monroe comes, meet your Maker — a 7’1″ mess of limbs with a 7’3″ wingspan and a 9’1″ standing reach. He’s got a great work ethic and, like Giannis Antetokounmpo, moves far more fluidly than you’d expect from a human with stilts for legs.

At NBA Summer League, Maker was impressive, averaging 14.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game despite shooting 37.7 percent from the field.

Maker needs to get a lot stronger and his perimeter touch could certainly use a little more consistency. If he really isn’t 19 years old, the rawness in his game is a tad concerning, though watching him play so well in Las Vegas put some of those concerns to bed.

https://twitter.com/GM_Hoops/status/753438342491111424

But if he’s actually 19 or 20 years old, his incredibly high ceiling could make this a gamble worth taking, especially for a young team banking on internal growth.

If he comes close to reaching his full potential, teams will have a pretty damn hard time scoring on the length of Maker, Antetokounmpo, Henson and Khris Middleton, let alone stopping them and Jabari Parker on the offensive end.

Grade: B+

Next: Draft Pick No. 2

Draft Pick No. 2

While the Maker pick was more of a “shoot for the stars” move, taking a four-year college player like Malcolm Brogdon at No. 36 played it much safer. Coming off his senior season at Virginia, Brogdon is a proven shooter who averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game on 39.1 percent shooting from deep last year.

Though he’s not a great athlete and a bit undersized for the shooting guard position at 6’5″, Brogdon is a smart player, a skilled defender and a solid all-around player who will bolster Milwaukee’s depth in the backcourt.

In NBA Summer League, the 23-year-old Brogdon struggled a bit. Though he averaged 10.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, the rookie guard only shot 34.4 percent from the field and 3-for-18 (16.7 percent) from three-point range.

However, the Bucks may look to trade Michael Carter-Williams at some point with Antetokounmpo taking over the point guard spot. When that day comes, having a little insurance for Rashad Vaughn, Matthew Dellavedova and Tyler Ennis in the backcourt could be useful…though it’s worth noting the Bucks haven’t officially signed this second-rounder just yet.

Grade: B-

Next: Teletovic For Three

Teletovic For Three

Last season, the Milwaukee Bucks ranked 21st in three-point percentage (34.5 percent), 30th in three-pointers attempted (15.6 per game) and 30th in three-pointers made (5.4 per game). Safe to say one of their top offseason priorities was adding perimeter shooting.

Coming off a career year with the Phoenix Suns, Mirza Teletovic is here to save the day by jacking up threes and chewing bubblegum…AND HE’S ALL OUT OF BUBBLEGUM.

Last season in Phoenix, Teletovic averaged 12.2 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.3 percent shooting from three-point range — all career highs. He single-handedly attempted as many threes (5.8 per game) as a reserve as the Bucks made as a team (5.4 per game). Give this guy an inch of space and a shot is going up.

That “shoot first, shoot again, shoot three more times and ask questions never” approach may be annoying when the shots aren’t falling, but you’ve got to respect a guy who isn’t bashful about what he is: a guilt-free shooter.

Luckily for Milwaukee, his ability to spread the floor should be a boon to the Bucks’ bottom-feeder offense from last season, even if he doesn’t enjoy the same kind of career year he had in Phoenix when he set the single-season record for made-three-pointers by a bench player.

For the measly price of three years and $30 million, the Bucks got a highly entertaining player and quality shooter who will provide instant offense off the bench.

It’s hard to get better value than that on this market, especially since quite a few contenders would’ve loved adding a bench piece like this for that kind of price.

Grade: A-

Next: Delly Deal

Delly Deal

The Bucks got unfairly judged on this deal when their $38.4 million offer sheet for restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova turned into a sign-and-trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but rest assured, it’s really not as bad as it seems.

In their exchange with the defending champs, Milwaukee still signed Delly to the original $38.4 million deal over four years, but all they gave up were the rights to Albert Miralles — a 34-year-old originally drafted in 2004 who will never play in the NBA anyway.

Though the deal hard-capped Milwaukee at $4 million above the luxury tax line, the Bucks didn’t reach that point and had no incentive to do so anyway. Sure, they gave the Cavs a nice trade exception used to bring aboard Mike Dunleavy, but the Bucks shouldn’t be knocked just because this offer sheet turned into a sign-and-trade.

Though $9.6 million a year seems like a high price to pay for a guy who was praised/criticized for being little more than a hustle/dirty player a year ago, most of those people didn’t pay attention to his vastly improved 2015-16 campaign.

Delly is not the most refined player we’ve ever seen, and his jump shot is still more destructively ugly than Medusa in a funhouse, but he’s coming off a career year with the Cavs, averaging 7.5 points and 4.4 assists per game on 41 percent shooting from downtown — all career highs.

With MCW’s future uncertain and Ennis still being an unreliable youngster, Delly bolsters Milwaukee’s backcourt with a player who can log minutes at both the 1 and the 2. He adds three-point shooting, hard-nosed defense, and on a team with oodles of length, will provide spot-on lobs for alley-oops. It seems like a lot to pay for a backup guard, but Delly is actually a pretty solid addition.

Grade: B

Next: Plumlee's Plump Payday

Plumlee’s Plump Payday

If it weren’t for this SMH-worthy signing, the Bucks would’ve had a phenomenal offseason. They drafted relatively well despite the inherent risks of a boom-or-bust candidate like Maker, they added some much-needed shooting on a cost-effective deal with Teletovic, and they bolstered the backcourt with a large deal for Delly.

But paying $52 million over the next four years for a backup/third string big like Miles Plumlee is borderline insanity. Even with the NBA’s salary cap skyrocketing, this is just absurd.

Behind the Buck Pass

To be fair, $13 million a year will only be 13.8 percent of next year’s $94 million salary cap — the equivalent of a $9.6 million deal under last year’s $70 million cap. In 2017-18, it’ll only be 12.7 percent of the projected $102 million cap — equal to an $8.9 million salary last year.

But that’s still an insanely large amount to pay for Plumdog’s services after he averaged 5.1 points and 3.8 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game for the Bucks last year. This isn’t the Miles Plumlee that started for the Phoenix Suns back in 2013-14, averaging a career-high 8.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

That Miles Plumlee still had plenty of potential and seemed like he was about to carve out his niche in the league. This Miles Plumlee is 26 and will — or, more accurately, should — be buried in a frontcourt rotation of Monroe, Henson and Maker, with Jabari Parker playing some time at the 4.

Having a third string big on hand until Maker is ready to be a consistent piece in Milwaukee’s rotation is fine, but not for $13 million a year. Even if Monroe is traded, that’s a massive amount to pay a mediocre backup for four years.

This deal signifies that Plumlee will be a long-term fixture in the frontcourt, and that’s not exactly reassuring — even in the worst-case scenario where Milwaukee trades Monroe, gives up on Henson, watches Maker amount to a bust and needs someone to fill in.

Grade: D

Next: Overall

Overall

The Bucks have a promising young core, but like the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West, they could be a dark horse to make the Eastern Conference playoffs in 2016-17.

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By addressing specific needs (three-point shooting, backcourt depth, veteran experience) with specific free agency targets (Mirza Teletovic and Matthew Dellavedova), the Bucks managed to complement their young core while also adding another tantalizing youngster through the draft in Maker.

However, points have to be taken off for that brief moment of insanity where a four-year, $52 million offer for Plumlee seemed like an acceptable thought. Being unable to trade Greg Monroe also hurts, creating an awkward situation for the Monroe-Maker-Plumlee-Henson quartet.

Unless Jason Kidd plans to put Monroe back in a sixth man role, where he and the Bucks had some success last year, it feels like this team’s future is waiting on an inevitable trade. Milwaukee was unable to facilitate one this summer, meaning their once mighty defense will still need some work in 2016-17.

More hoops habit: Indiana Pacers: 2016 Offseason Grades

However, even though the Bucks didn’t really bring in any game-changers on the defensive end, Maker could become one in the future and Milwaukee still managed to inch closer to a return to the postseason. It wasn’t a standout summer, but the Bucks are still on the right path.

Grade: B-