In an odd trade that sent budding star Brandon Knight to the Phoenix Suns, the Milwaukee Bucks received the often-maligned, turnover-prone, but former Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams in return.
Quickly, there were loads of people that saw the similarities between Carter-Williams and coach Jason Kidd himself, hoping that the soon-to-be Hall of Famer could transform the young guard into the NBA’s next superstar. However, for as much optimism as there is surrounding the arrival of Carter-Williams, there should be just as many worries as well.
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Carter-Williams, for all his triple-double potential, is a turnover machine and one of the league’s worst shooters among guards. At his best, Carter-Williams shot 40 percent from the field and an astoundingly poor 26 percent from three.
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In a lineup that will boast plenty of slashing and scoring potential in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Greg Monroe, and Jabari Parker, the Bucks will need a player that can take advantage of those open opportunities. In that sense, Carter-Williams is far from that player at this point in time.
Perhaps this is the type of insurance the Bucks had in mind when they traded the 46th pick and a future lottery-protected selection for Greivis Vasquez during June’s NBA Draft. Fans have forgotten that Vasquez was third in the NBA in assists per game with 9 during the 2012-13 season, just trailing Chris Paul’s 9.6 and Rajon Rondo’s 11.
Even more incredibly, Vasquez did this in Anthony Davis’ rookie year with just Ryan Anderson and 42 games worth of Eric Gordon along for the ride. If the Bucks are to soar to new heights this season, they’ll need a player that can take care of the ball, facilitate the offense, and hit the open shot.
In 2014-15, Vasquez ranked 42nd in three-point percentage with .379, which seems low, but he finished above players like James Harden, Joe Johnson, and Kevin Love. Furthermore, Vasquez attempted 351 three-pointers, good for 28th in the league. At the aforementioned 38 percent, only seven players took and made more threes at a higher clip.
Of course, this list is led by the league’s best shooters — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, J.J. Redick, Kyle Korver, Wesley Matthews, J.R. Smith, and Kyrie Irving — but nobody talks about Vasquez in such company.
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Then there’s the issue of running the offense — something that Carter-Williams has done very little of so far in his NBA career. Over Kidd’s 19-year career, he thrived in the pick-and-roll offense with Kenyon Martin, Dirk Nowitzki, and even Carmelo Anthony.
Even thus far in his brief coaching foray, Kidd often ran Brooklyn’s offense through Deron Williams, Shaun Livingston, Kevin Garnett, and Brook Lopez in order to get mismatches and open looks for their mid-range shooting big men.
So, ultimately, it would make sense that Kidd is looking for a pick-and-roll maestro to facilitate an offense with Middleton’s shooting, Parker’s mid-range brilliance, and Antetokounmpo’s crafty slashing. During Vasquez’s career year in 2012-13, this was his exact role, feeding Davis en route to a 51 percent field goal percentage over his rookie campaign.
In New Orleans, Vasquez either gave the ball up to Davis, or dished to teammates whose defenders were drawn in by Davis’ lethal roll. Now, just replace Davis with Parker, and Anderson and Gordon with Antetokounmpo and Middleton — and, all of a sudden, it’s not so difficult to see why Vasquez in Milwaukee could be a smashing success.
Obviously, this is not to say that Carter-Williams cannot learn the pick-and-roll, especially from such a historically great guard like Kidd, but Vasquez is the much smarter choice for the start of the upcoming season. Clearly, the Bucks are attempting to create one of the lengthiest defenses of all-time, but, for now, it would be wiser to go with something more reliable in the interim.
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