Bucks’ Bench Showing Promise In Preseason

As the NBA preseason rolls along and the regular season creeps closer by the day, we are figuring out more and more about each team around the league. The preseason is a great time to see how newly formed teams are coming together, how rookies are adjusting from the collegiate to pro level, and how much better, or worse, bad teams from the previous season have become.

One of those teams is the Milwaukee Bucks, who didn’t do too much in the offseason aside from drafting Jabari Parker second overall, which is a great offseason addition in itself. With Parker barging into the starting lineup–pushing someone to the bench–along with some of the small additions Milwaukee made over the summer, the bench could make drastic improvements from last season.

This, of course, is going to make the Bucks more competitive, assuming the starting unit holds up their end of the bargain.

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If you hadn’t heard, the Bucks were a bad team last season. Ranking 26th in the league in offensive efficiency and 29th on the defensive side, Milwaukee had an NBA-worst 15-67 record in 2012-13. Because of that horrific season, Milwaukee is now the home of Jabari Parker, whom they hope pans out as the franchise’s leader and superstar for years to come.

Milwaukee is also now the home to Jason Kidd, whom was traded–yes, you read that right–to the Bucks after things quickly got sticky in Brooklyn after the first-season coach wanted some more power in the organization.

It’s fair to say the Bucks are a new-look team from last season, and not just because of Parker and Kidd.

Adding Jerryd Bayless, Jared Dudley, and Kendall Marshall over the offseason should be tremendous for the bench, but the Bucks still have players from last season that will be able to produce off the bench.

With such a talented center in Larry Sanders, Kidd has no choice but to bring Zaza Pachulia off the bench, a guy who averaged 7.7 points and 6.3 rebounds in 25.0 minutes per game last season. Pachulia did start 43 games for the Bucks last season in Sanders’ absence, and there’s no doubt the numbers he put up last season weren’t up to par with that many starts under his belt.

Twenty-five minutes per game isn’t that many minutes, but it was also more than enough to average nearly double-figures with both stats.

Pachulia has never been known as a dominant center in this league, but he did average 12.2 points (.474 shooting percentage) and 6.9 rebounds per game with 47 starts in Atlanta long ago (2006-07 season). He has enough talent to match last season’s stats, but with most of his games coming off the bench this time.

After Sanders’ preseason procedure, there’s no telling if he will be able to play most of this season’s games, although he is supposed to return for Milwaukee’s regular season opener.

Kidd has played almost every lineup possible during the preseason, so it’s hard to tell who really will start come regular season play. Here’s my current starting lineup that I will be basing who comes off the bench of (this lineup has been adjusted throughout the preseason, and probably will at least a few more times):

PG Brandon Knight, SG Khris Middleton, SF Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF Parker, C Sanders

If Kidd does put this lineup on the floor opening night, Marshall will be coming off the bench, and he should do a fabulous job leading and distributing to his second unit partners. Aside from Milwaukee’s matchup with the Grizzlies, Marshall has had at least 5 assists in four preseason games.

It’s hard to tell who will win the backup shooting guard job, but O.J. Mayo has taken the lead as of late. In his first two games of the preseason, Mayo struggled. After shooting a combined 1-for-10 for just five points, Mayo scored 13 points (along with five assists) and 19 points in his next two games. Mayo combined to shoot 10-for-18 in those games.

Bayless, on the other hand, has taken a back seat to Mayo. His best game was his first of the preseason, scoring seven points. Bayless has combined for six points following that first game. He has distributed, though, with 15 assists in his last two preseason games. Milwaukee won’t need any more passing with Marshall leading the charge, however.

Jared Dudley, who could potentially come in at backup small forward, has earned that spot if it is his for the taking. These past two games especially, like Mayo, Dudley has played well, combing for 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting (8-for-9 behind the arc).

Getting to the frontcourt is where problems start to appear. With Pachulia locked in at center, the 4 spot is the only bench position still needing to be filled. For that, there are two players who deserve to play that might lose time to the other: Ersan Ilyasova and John Henson.

Solely looking at preseason, Henson deserves the minutes. Ilyasova has only participated in two of Milwaukee’s preseason games, tallying 10 points and nine rebounds in each game. The problem: Ilyasova shot 4-for-20 against Chicago, and 4-for-10 versus Cleveland.

He seemed to find his touch late in the Cavs game, but has struggled and hasn’t earned the playing time (again, looking at preseason alone) compared to Henson. Henson has looked great throughout his five preseason games, scoring in double-digits three times and recording at least five boards in every game.

Henson has also shot better than 50 percent in all but one game, where he shot 2-for-5 versus Minnesota.

Kidd could play both at the risk of Dudley not being on the floor, which might not be a major problem with him. Ilyasova has just shown to be a better player than Dudley in the past, especially in the 2012-13 season where he averaged 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. This move wouldn’t be surprising just for that fact alone: the potential big night if Ilyasova gets hot.

The Bucks will need some support from the second unit this season, and by the looks of who will be on the floor, that doesn’t seem like too much to ask for. There is a lot of talent coming off the bench, and improving upon last season’s already good seventh-ranked bench will be tough, but doable.

Milwaukee may not make the playoffs this season (don’t count anyone out in the East, though), but they’re making major strides and are heading in the right direction. If everyone produces how they should, the sky may start to clear up in Milwaukee.