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Milwaukee Bucks: 2016 Offseason Grades

By Gerald Bourguet

Mar 23, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) drives against Milwaukee Bucks center Miles Plumlee (18) in the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 23, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova (8) drives against Milwaukee Bucks center Miles Plumlee (18) in the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Milwaukee Bucks
Mar 13, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Miles Plumlee (18) does a reverse dunk in the second half at Barclays Center. Milwaukee defeats Brooklyn 109-100. Mandatory Credit: William Hauser-USA TODAY Sports /

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.

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    • 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

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