Milwaukee Bucks: DeAndre Liggins’ considerable struggles

Like almost every other NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks are in desperate need of depth on the wing, but DeAndre Liggins can’t continue to occupy those available minutes.

Wing is, without a doubt, the scarcest position in the NBA. Every team is looking for that guy between 6’5” and 6’9” who can defend multiple positions and knock down the occasional 3.

This unquenchable demand for wings has created a tremendous opportunity for those who could potentially perform those tasks competently, as teams are willing to take a look at just about anyone who might fit the modern demands of the position.

Milwaukee Bucks wing DeAndre Liggins has seized that opportunity…sort of.

Nearly every NBA team has minutes at the wing available for the taking, the Bucks among them. Liggins has stepped forward, logging 15.4 minutes per game in 29 appearances. But when it comes to performing the tasks of a wing competently, Liggins has been an abject failure.

Offensively, Liggins is a train wreck. His career 33.3 percent 3-point percentage vastly understates his struggles. Among qualified players this season, Liggins has the second-lowest usage percentage at 8.2 percent. Low-usage role players are useful, but Liggins has reached the status of too low-usage. He’s a complete non-threat, because not only is he a bad shooter, he might be the NBA’s most timid.

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Liggins’ overall struggles to score the ball when he does use possessions cannot be glossed over; his 42.4 percent true shooting percentage ranks second-worst among all qualified players.

Liggins is too destructive of an offensive player to have a prayer of being an overall positive force, but theoretically, his defensive ability should help to mitigate the damage he does. He was, after all, a two-time NBA D-League Defensive Player of the Year.

Unfortunately, Liggins’ defensive contributions have been insignificant at best. By the eye test, Liggins is decent. He gives good effort and is capable of guarding multiple positions. But the Bucks get smoked with him on the floor.

With Liggins on the floor, the Bucks allow 112.5 points per 100 possessions, 3.7 points more than with him off the floor. ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus-Minus is slightly more charitable toward Liggins, but still grades him out as a negative.

Liggins’ extensive struggles on both ends translate to the Bucks being a mind-boggling 17.9 points per 100 possessions worse with Liggins on the floor than off.

Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft: End of 2017 edition

I hate to be harsh, but quite simply, DeAndre Liggins probably isn’t an NBA-caliber player. He is, rather, emblematic of the NBA’s unlimited demand for wings in a market with severely constrained supply, and the Bucks can’t afford to keep funneling him minutes.