Milwaukee Bucks: Finding Sterling Brown

The Milwaukee Bucks have spent much of this season searching for help on the wing. Mercifully, they seem to have found that help in Sterling Brown.

For the Milwaukee Bucks, this has been a season of searches. The search for a franchise point guard ended in a trade for Eric Bledsoe. The search for a new head coach looms. Underappreciated has been Milwaukee’s search for wing help, though mercifully, that too appears over.

After months of misappropriating minutes to fringe NBA players like DeAndre Liggins, the Bucks seem to have found their wing depth in rookie Sterling Brown. Brown, a seasoned four-year rotation player out of Southern Methodist University, boasts a developed and mature skill-set. He is, in many ways, the perfect role player.

Brown made his name in college as a marksman. During his four years at SMU, Brown shot an astounding 45.1 percent from 3 on 284 total attempts. His overall efficiency was exceptional, as he posted a 61.6 percent true shooting percentage across his four years.

His shot has translated seamlessly. On 4.0 attempts per 36 minutes, Brown is shooting 42.4 percent from 3. His shot is smooth and compact, and his is release high.

With the ball, Brown is decisive, averaging just 1.89 seconds per touch. He shoots. He drives. He passes. He does not waste time or movement. Brown is beautifully self-aware, cognizant of his role, rarely trying to do more than he should.

As a defender, Brown is slightly prone to lapses, but highly capable in the aggregate. He has a sturdy 6’6” frame and a plus wingspan — seemingly a prerequisite for joining Milwaukee’s roster — at 6’9”. He is eminently energetic, eager to fight through screens, desperate to chase loose balls. His feet are far quicker than they should be for a man his size, allowing him to stay in front of smaller guards with ease:

Milwaukee’s defense is massively better with Brown on the floor, some 8.4 points per 100 possessions better than with him off. By ESPN’s defensive real plus minus, Brown is the NBA’s 15th-best defensive shooting guard.

Brown is also a surprisingly good rebounder, sporting an 11.1 percent rebound percentage. He uses his length and strength well on the glass, hauling in boards even in the presence of larger men:

Every single team in the NBA needs wings, to varying degrees. There are extremes, like the New Orleans Pelicans, who do not have a single NBA-caliber wing, depending on how you classify the perennially underappreciated E’Twaun Moore. There are better situated teams, like the Boston Celtics, who only seem interested in acquiring guys in that coveted 6’6” to 6’9” range. No team, however, ever has enough wings.

So, finding one is huge. The Milwaukee Bucks selected Brown with the 46th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. For the first two and a half months of the season, he sat on the bench. He watched DeAndre Liggins, Sean Kilpatrick and Rashad Vaughn get minutes over him.

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On the bench, all along, sat the answer to Milwaukee’s most pressing problem. A shooter, a defender, a ball of unrelenting energy, all rolled into one: the perfect role player. Finally, the Bucks have found Sterling Brown.