The Milwaukee Bucks went into NBA Summer League with hopes of winning, which they did not do. What takeaways from the players can Milwaukee hang its hat on?
The Milwaukee Bucks didn’t have the team success fans were hoping for at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas this year. Teams get a minimum of five games, but to play more you have to win in the double elimination round, and they were wholly unable to do that.
The Bucks, under the direction of Summer League coach Josh Broghamer, went 1-4 in their five games, including a three-game losing streak to close out their time in Vegas. Three times they failed to score as many as 80 points, and their average margin of defeat was 15 points.
Although it’s always the public goal of an organization to win games in Vegas, the event is not about winning and losing so much as player evaluation and development. With no organized basketball events until training camp in September, this is the time for teams to check in on player development and try out potential diamonds in the rough.
With that angle in mind, the Bucks had a number of players they were watching closely during the summer action. From previous draft picks in Rashad Vaughn and Thon Maker, to rookies D.J. Wilson and Sterling Brown, Milwaukee had a number of young players to watch. Beyond the ring of team control, players such as Travis Trice and Tim Kempton fight for a chance at a training camp invitation.
What players stood out for the Bucks in Vegas, and which ones failed to impress? Looking at the event as a whole, what takeaways can the team gain from the summer competition?
5. Battle for the third point guard remains unresolved
Late last season, the Bucks signed Gary Payton II to a two-year contract, with the second year being non-guaranteed. That signaled their latest attempt to find a third point guard, a goal that would give them freedom to move the now unwieldy contract of Matthew Dellavedova.
Having used one of their 15 roster spots on Payton, they leveraged one of the two-way contracts added in the new collective bargaining agreement on Bronson Koenig. A local star at Wisconsin, Koenig added another option at PG.
If the Bucks think Koenig is as good or better than Payton, they can cut the former Oregon State star and allocate that roster spot elsewhere. If he’s not ready for the big leagues, he can draw fans to the new Wisconsin Herd as a familiar face.
In Las Vegas that decision didn’t become easier – not because both players stood out, but instead because neither did. Koenig’s best skill is his ability to pull up off the dribble, a skill unique to the Milwaukee backcourt. But he shot terribly during his time in Vegas, providing no evidence he can hit reliably from NBA three-point range against faster and longer closeouts.
Payton’s best time in Vegas came when he was playing off the ball, either alongside another point guard such as Travis Trice or when Sterling Brown initiated the offense. While Milwaukee has one of the league’s best wing playmakers in Giannis Antetokounmpo, they need a point guard who can handle the ball and set up the offense.
The ripple effects of a double disappointment in Las Vegas is that the Bucks may continue their search elsewhere. Rumors of Derrick Rose signing with Milwaukee have persisted, flamed on recently by head coach Jason Kidd saying the two sides had “mutual interest.” While the fit with Rose would seem to make little sense, the team feels a need to have another option at the 1.
Gary Payton II and Bronson Koenig had the chance to prove it should be them. And while players such as Rashad Vaughn, D.J. Wilson and Sterling Brown all showed flashes of why they could be a part of Milwaukee’s future, the point guards did not. What happens in Vegas is supposed to stay in Vegas, and Payton and Koenig will hope their poor play does just that.
4. Sterling Brown is a versatile role player
When teams make their second round selections in the draft, they are simply trying to find a player who will stick on the roster. While Draymond Green and Isaiah Thomas represent the best-case scenarios, the sheer odds suggest a rotation player is the greatest reasonable hope.
The Milwaukee Bucks took SMU guard Sterling Brown with the 48th pick in the draft, and analysts immediately began praising Milwaukee for finding a classic 3-and-D prospect. While there is certainly hope and expectation for Brown to fill that role, he showed that there is more to his game than catch-and-shoot.
Brown was part of a system at SMU where every player handled the ball, and it showed at times when he was allowed to run the offense for the Bucks in Las Vegas. He can do a little bit of everything, from dribbling to passing to scoring. While his upside is limited, his skill-set is broad.
This year Milwaukee would be satisfied to have a rotation piece, a bench player able to continue the team’s scheme of switching long defenders and aggressively trapping. But offensively, the Bucks have reason to hope Brown can be something more and help give their bench more strength than it has had in recent years.
3. Thon Maker didn’t make another leap
If the rise of Giannis Antetokounmpo into an All-NBA player was the cake of last season, and the team finding a starting PG in the second round was the icing, the play of Thon Maker was the cherry on top. The young center was drafted outrageously high in last year’s draft when the Bucks took him at No. 10 overall, but he proved his value down the stretch.
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Head coach Jason Kidd started Thon Maker for the end of the regular season and throughout the entirety of their postseason run. The big man, born in Sudan but raised in Australia, played short stints in each half and showed the outlines of a center who could defend in space, switch, protect the rim, move the ball and hit outside shots. In other words, the next unicorn.
Excited fans may have gotten ahead of themselves, as Thon Maker’s two games in Las Vegas were less than impressive. In the summer opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Maker shot just 1-for-8 from the field, and failed to block a single shot. In a win over the Brooklyn Nets, the second-year player was more active defensively, blocking three shots and pulling in eight rebounds, but shot just 3-for-10 from the field.
There is still plenty of optimism to go around with Thon Maker, and the Bucks are one of the league’s best at managing the development of players, especially those with athletic gifts and raw potential. But those hoping for Maker to be an impact center as early as this season may need to be a little more patient.
2. Rashad Vaughn may have extended his career
NBA first round picks are entitled to at least two years of guaranteed money; each fall a team must decide if they wish to exercise a player’s option for the following summer, first for a third season and again for a fourth.
October brings the deadline for whether the Milwaukee Bucks would exercise the fourth-year option for Rashad Vaughn, the 17th overall pick in 2015. Vaughn has been unable to crack the rotation with Milwaukee, spending time in the D-League trying to develop into the player the Bucks drafted him to be.
Teams risk losing out on a cost-controlled asset if they decline a player’s option, so most players are kept around for the full four years and then face restricted free agency. That does come with a cost, and NBA teams would be foolish to pay a player to stick around who clearly isn’t cut out for the big league.
With Vaughn’s performance through two seasons, it was at least a possibility that Milwaukee would decline his fourth year option. He needed to show up at Summer League in Las Vegas and make it clear that he was a player worth keeping around. It seems that he may have done just that.
Vaughn averaged 16 points per game in Las Vegas Summer League, including a 31-point explosion in the Bucks’ only win. He was active on both ends of the court, attacking the rim on offense and pulling up from long range. Defensively he showed instinct to block shots, a new skill for him, and generated a number of steals and deflected passes.
The question of whether Vaughn will become a rotation player for Milwaukee or another team is yet to be determined. The Bucks have invested in other players around him so that they are not dependent on his development to compete. But Vaughn may have showed just enough to make it worth keeping him around through the remainder of his rookie scale contract.
1. D.J. Wilson belongs in the NBA
When Milwaukee pulled the trigger on the late blooming forward from Michigan, many draft pundits and fans were surprised to see D.J. Wilson selected so high in the first round. Expected to go in the late first round or early second, the Bucks used the 17th overall pick to bring him aboard.
With Las Vegas Summer League the first chance for most to see him play after the draft, the pressure was on for Wilson to prove himself worthy of the selection. While he was far from the most exciting part of Summer League, Wilson showed up and flashed potential for a talented rotation player down the road.
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The place where Wilson was most impressive was defensively, where he provided plenty of energy when he was on the court. He stayed active whether his man had the ball or not, moving his feet to cut off driving lanes and his hands to deflect passes. He totaled 11 combined steals and blocks over five games.
Wilson also showed off his passing vision, moving the ball and finding open shooters and cutters. On one play against the Los Angeles Clippers he attacked a closeout, drove into the paint and then whipped a pass out to an open corner shooter, who drained the bucket.
What didn’t show off so well was his shooting, which came and went throughout the contest. It’s obviously a small sample size, and Wilson has yet to fully immerse himself in the shooting development the team will provide. But for now that skill didn’t come ready made.
The stretch-4 also needs to add strength, as he continually found himself knocked around. Defensively he was long but unable to push offensive players off the block, and he fell back against drivers. Offensively he was even moved off his point when setting picks due to his lack of size and strength.
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Overall D.J. Wilson is a talented player with skills that fit perfectly in the modern NBA. He is also a 20-year-old kid who picked up basketball late and has work to do to become the player Milwaukee drafted him to be. But after his first professional play it’s clear he belongs in the NBA.