Milwaukee Bucks: Ranking The Best Players By Position In Team History
By Phil Watson
The Milwaukee Bucks were formed in January 1968. The NBA awarded an expansion franchise to group headed by Wesley Pavalan on Marvin Fishman that would start play in the fall of 1968, along with an expansion team in Phoenix.
The Bucks loaded up on veterans in their expansion draft in May 1968, selecting former All-Stars Wayne Embry from the Boston Celtics and Guy Rodgers from the Cincinnati Royals, along with Len Chappell from the Detroit Pistons. Milwaukee also selected Larry Costello from the Philadelphia 76ers, but Costello never wore a Bucks uniform. Instead, he was the first coach in franchise history. Another notable pick in the expansion draft was guard Jon McGlocklin from the San Diego Rockets; he became Milwaukee’s first All-Star in 1969.
The first college draft in 1968 didn’t yield much. The Bucks selected forward/center Charlie Paulk out of tiny Northeastern State in Oklahoma with the No. 7 overall pick. Paulk played 17 games and 217 minutes for the Bucks before being traded to the Cincinnati Royals in April 1970 in the deal that brought Oscar Robertson to Milwaukee.
The franchise changed on the flip of a coin in the spring of 1969. Milwaukee and Phoenix, the two expansion entries from the year before, finished with the worst records in the Eastern and Western divisions, respectively. So the Bucks and Suns would have a coin flip to determine which team would pick first in the 1969 NBA Draft. This coin flip was sort of a big deal—the top prospect in the country was UCLA center Lew Alcindor. The Bucks won the toss, outbid the ABA’s New York Nets and landed Alcindor—who would go on to become one of the greatest players in NBA history.
Alcindor—by then known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—teamed with Robertson to bring a title to Milwaukee in 1971, still the fastest rise from expansion team to NBA champion in league history—a scant three years.
The Bucks made one other trip to the Finals with Abdul-Jabbar and Robertson, losing in seven games to the Boston Celtics in 1974. The 1980s saw a lot of good basketball in Milwaukee—the team won 50 or more games for seven straight seasons from 1980-81 through 1986-87, but never advanced beyond the conference finals, as they had the misfortune of being up against the Philadelphia 76ers of Julius Erving and the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics.
The Bucks briefly returned to prominence in the early 21st century, fueled by coach George Karl and a big three of Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell, reaching the conference finals in 2001—the last time Milwaukee has advanced beyond the first round.
In 45 seasons, the Bucks have made 27 playoff appearances. The best regular season in team history was a 66-16 mark in 1970-71, the title season, one of four times Milwaukee has won at least 60 games. The low-water mark came in 1993-94, when the Bucks were 20-62 for the only 60-loss season in franchise history.
So who are the best players by position in the history of the Milwaukee Bucks?
NOTE: Players must have appeared in 250 regular-season games with the franchise to be considered for this list.
Small Forward: Marques Johnson (1977-84)
Marques Johnson was a first-team All-NBA selection for the Milwaukee Bucks in the late 1970s.
The Bucks took UCLA All-American Marques Johnson, a member of legendary John Wooden’s final title team, with the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft and landed a perennial All-Star.
Johnson was a four-time All-Star with the Bucks and was named to three All-NBA teams, including first-team honors in 1978-79.
In seven seasons in Milwaukee, Johnson averaged 21 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game and shot 53 percent from the field.
He ranks third in franchise history with 3,923 rebounds and is also sixth with 10,980 points and 697 steals, seventh with 439 blocked shots and ninth with 1,934 assists and 524 games played. His 53 percent shooting ranks him third in franchise history. At 21 points per game, his scoring average ranks fourth in Bucks’ annals and he ranks 10th with 1.3 steals per game.
In September 1984, Johnson was traded with Junior Bridgeman, Harvey Catchings and cash to the Los Angeles Clippers for Terry Cummings, Craig Hodges and Ricky Pierce. He played three seasons with the Clippers before suffering a serious neck injury that forced him to retire at age 30. He attempted a comeback with the Golden State Warriors in 1989 that lasted just 10 games. He currently works as a basketball analyst for Fox Sports Net and has also appeared in several films, most notably “White Men Can’t Jump.”
Apologies to: Glenn Robinson, Bob Dandridge, Tim Thomas, Junior Bridgeman.
Power Forward: Terry Cummings (1984-89, 1995-96)
Terry Cummings was a two-time All-Star after coming to the Milwaukee Bucks from the Los Angeles Clippers.
Terry Cummings had been Rookie of the Year with the San Diego Clippers in 1982-83 and shortly after the team moved north to Los Angeles, they packaged Cummings with Craig Hodges and Ricky Pierce and shipped him to the Bucks for Marques Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, Harvey Catchings and cash.
It was a heckuva deal for Milwaukee, who traded away an All-Star in his late 20s for a rising star in his early 20s. Cummings went on two become a two-time All-Star for the Bucks and was named to two All-NBA teams.
In all, Cummings played six seasons with the Bucks, signing as a free agent for a single season in 1995-96 after being traded away several years earlier. He averaged 19.4 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in Milwaukee.
Cummings ranks fifth in Bucks history with 3,758 rebounds and is also tied for ninth with 607 steals and is 10th with 9,920 points. His 19.4 points per game ranks seventh in team history and his 7.8 rebounds per game is 10th.
Cummings got his first taste of playoff basketball in Milwaukee and took advantage, scoring 37 points and grabbing nine rebounds in this 1985 playoff contest against the Chicago Bulls:
In May 1989, Cummings was traded with a 1990 second-round draft pick to the San Antonio Spurs for Alvin Robertson, Greg Anderson and a 1989 second-rounder. He returned to the Bucks as a free agent in November 1995, but was not brought back for 1996. He later played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors before retiring in October 2000. Cummings has been an ordained minister since 1977 and released an R&B album entitled “T.C. Finally” in 2007.
Apologies to: Vin Baker, Greg Smith, Ersan Ilyasova, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.
Center: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969-75)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a three-time NBA MVP as a Milwaukee Buck and led the team to its only title in 1971.
When the Bucks took then-Lew Alcindor of UCLA with the first overall pick in the 1969 NBA Draft, it turned around the franchise, as they improved from 27 wins in 1968-69 to 56 victories and a trip to the division finals in his rookie year.
Abdul-Jabbar was an All-Star in each of his six years with Milwaukee, was Rookie of the Year in 1969-70 and won three MVP awards (1970-71, 1971-72 and 1973-74), as well as being named Finals MVP in 1971. He was named to five All-NBA teams, four times to the first team, and was a three-time All-Defensive team selection. He was a two-time scoring champion, led the league in blocked shots n 1974-75 and posted the best player efficiency rating in the NBA four times as a Buck.
He averaged 30.4 points, 15.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.4 blocked shots (the stat was only kept for two of Abdul-Jabbar’s six seasons in Milwaukee) per game in six years, shooting 54.7 percent from the floor.
He is the leading scorer (14,211 points) and rebounder (7,161 rebounds) in franchise history and also ranks fifth with 495 blocks (in just two seasons) and seventh with 2,008 assists. His 54.7 field-goal percentage is also the best in team history, as is his 42.7 minutes per game, 30.4 points per game, 15.3 rebounds per game and 3.4 blocks per game. His 26.7 PER is a franchise record and he holds team career marks with a 90.4 defensive rating, 114.7 win shares and .276 win shares per 48 minutes.
Abdul-Jabbar also holds single-season Bucks records for minutes played and minutes per game (3,583 and 44.2 in 1971-72), free-throw attempts (743 in 1969-70), defensive rebounds (891 in 1973-74), total rebounds and rebounds per game (1,346 and 16.6 in 1971-72), blocked shots and blocks per game (283 and 3.5 in 1973-74), points and points per game (2,822 and 34.8 in 1971-72), field goal percentage (57.7 in 1970-71), PER (29.9 in 1971-72), defensive rating (88.8 in 1973-74), offensive win shares (18.3 in 1971-72), defensive win shares (7.9 in 1973-74), total win shares (25.4 in 1971-72) and win shares/48 minutes (.340 in 1971-72).
His signature was always the sky hook and one of the biggest he ever made was in Game 6 of the 1974 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, when this one won it in double overtime for Milwaukee:
Abdul-Jabbar wanted out of Milwaukee, preferring to play in New York or Los Angeles, and in June 1975, he got his wish. He was dealt with Walt Wesley to the Los Angeles Lakers for Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith and Brian Winters. He went on to play 14 more seasons with the Lakers and is the NBA’s career leader in points and minutes played. He has worked as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Clippers and Seattle SuperSonics as well as with the Lakers and as a scout for the New York Knicks, as well as coaching the Oklahoma Storm to a U.S. Basketball League title in 2002.
Apologies to: Andrew Bogut, Jack Sikma, Bob Lanier, Ervin Johnson.
Shooting Guard: Michael Redd (2000-11)
Michael Redd was a steal for the Milwaukee Bucks as a second-round draft pick in 2000.
Michael Redd was a steal with the 43rd overall selection in the 2000 NBA Draft out of Ohio State.
He went on to become an All-Star for the Bucks in 2004 and was named All-NBA in 2003-04 as well, but was plagued by knee problems later in his career.
In 11 seasons in Milwaukee, Redd averaged 20 points and four rebounds per game while shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range, but had a stretch from 2003-04 through 2007-08 when he averaged 23.7 points per contest.
Redd is second in team history with 1,003 3-pointers and is also fourth with 11,554 points and seventh with 578 games played. His 20 points per game average is fifth-best and he holds the franchise record for turnover percentage with 8.2. For what it’s worth, he has the highest single-season scoring average in team history for any player not named “Abdul-Jabbar” with a 26.7 points per game average in 2006-07. His 6.6 turnover percentage in 2002-03 is a single-season franchise record.
Redd’s signature game was a 57-point outburst against the Utah Jazz in 2006:
Redd signed as a free agent with the Phoenix Suns in December 2011 and did not play in 2012-13, although he has not officially retired, telling “Slam” in May that he still wants back in the league.
Apologies to: Ray Allen, Sidney Moncrief, Alvin Robertson, Paul Pressey.
Point Guard: Sam Cassell (1999-2003)
Sam Cassell came over from the New Jersey Nets and helped the Milwaukee Bucks rise into the Eastern Conference’s elite around the turn of the century.
When the Bucks got Sam Cassell in March 1999 as part of a three-team deal with the New Jersey Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves, they had to send out Terrell Brandon and Elliot Perry, while getting back Chris Gatling and Paul Grant. But it was Cassell that was the piece that put the Bucks back in the playoff mix.
In parts of five seasons in Milwaukee, Cassell averaged 19 points, 7.2 assists and four rebounds per game and brought championship experience to the Bucks from his days with the Houston Rockets in the mid-1990s. He had also played for the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks before going to the Nets.
Cassell ranks fifth in Bucks history with 2,269 assists. His 86.6 free-throw percentage is fifth in franchise history, as well. His 7.2 assists per game average is second in Bucks history and his 19 points per game average ranks eighth. He also holds Milwaukee’s single-season records with 729 assists and nine assists per game in 1999-2000.
Cassell was capable of huge games, such as a 40-point, 10-assists performance against the Chicago Bulls in 2001.
In June 2003, the Bucks traded Cassell and Ervin Johnson to the Timberwolves for Anthony Peeler and Joe Smith. Cassell also played for the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics and has been an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards since 2009.
Apologies to: Oscar Robertson, Lucius Allen, Jay Humphries, Brandon Jennings.