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Milwaukee Bucks: Did They Make A Mistake Trading Brandon Knight?

By Gerald Bourguet

Jan 7, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Knight (11) drives past Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams (1) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Bucks defeated the 76ers 97-87. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Brandon Knight (11) drives past Philadelphia 76ers guard Michael Carter-Williams (1) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Bucks defeated the 76ers 97-87. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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Milwaukee Bucks
Apr 13, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) dunks against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Bucks won 107-97. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Work-In-Progress Carter-Williams

It’s no secret that Michael-Carter Williams is a work-in-progress. He won the Rookie of the Year Award last season, but that was because he was basically just the best player on a D-League team. He’s only 23 years old and though his jump shot is more “broke” than Mike Tyson circa 2003, he still has time to develop his game.

In these playoffs, however, Milwaukee’s defense — their bread and butter — has suddenly become average in the face of Derrick Rose’s Renaissance. The Bucks’ 102.0 defensive rating ranks ninth among playoff teams and in their one-on-one matchup, Rose has dominated MCW:

Rose:  24.0 PPG, 8.0 APG, 4.0 RPG, 2.0 SPG, .472/.455/.923 shooting
MCW:  13.3 PPG, 4.7 APG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 SPG, .391/.000/.500 shooting

Carter-Williams has the length to be a good defender, but Rose has made him look foolish. Even worse, Rose has been locking down Milwaukee’s patented MCW post-ups, lending another hand in the Bucks’ demise.

It’s not just about the playoffs, however. MCW is hard to figure out because he shows flashes of real potential while simultaneously looking like he may never amount to anything special.

A pass-first point guard is what this team needs down the line when players like Middleton and the Greek Freak are fully developed, but it’s not exactly what they need right now. Adjusting to Kidd’s far more demanding defense, not to mention not being relied upon to do everything like he was with the Philadelphia 76ers, has taken its toll on his raw numbers.

With the Sixers this season, Carter-Williams averaged 15.0 points, 7.4 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. On the surface, those seem like All-Star-caliber numbers…until you remember he posted shooting splits of .380/.256/.643 and had a Player Efficiency Rating of 12.8 (the league average PER is 15.0).

Since joining the Bucks, MCW’s numbers have decreased to 14.1 points, 5.6 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, but he’s shooting just under 43 percent from the field, 78 percent from the line and his PER has shot up to 16.3. Sure, he’s shooting an atrocious 14.3 percent from downtown, but he’s no longer jacking up 3.0 threes a night like he was in Philly.

Even on a reduced number of attempts, Carter-Williams has a long way to go as a shooter. But his well-rounded play, his potential as a defender and his ability to become a nightly triple-double threat means it’s far too early to give up on MCW just yet.

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