Milwaukee Bucks: 3 takeaways from the 2018 offseason

2. A more conservative defense is coming

Perhaps the most prominent feature of the Jason Kidd era — other than his laughable postgame justifications — was his hyper-aggressive defensive scheme. Kidd believed that by doubling the ball-handler and aggressively rotating towards the strong side, the offense would make mistakes, leading to turnovers and easy offense at the other end.

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Instead, Kidd’s defense left wide open spaces on the court where smart offenses positioned their players for corner 3s and layups. Kidd never adjusted, only doubling down, and even interim coach Joe Prunty only made small tweaks to the system.

Mike Budenholzer was always going to change things up, but the moves this offseason are a confirmation of a more conservative scheme on its way. Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova and Brook Lopez are not defensive superstars, or the kind of quick-twitch lengthy athletes that can potentially cover huge amounts of space in recovery. What they should be are solid team defenders that can execute the scheme and prevent shots from going into the basket.

A conservative defense is not a soft defense, and it also doesn’t mean Budenholzer will ignore the strengths of his best players. In Atlanta, the Hawks ranked sixth — on average — in the four years the Hawks were trying to win games, and Budenholzer did this with a mixture of scheme and unleashing the talented Al Horford and Paul Millsap. He can do the same with Khris Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The defense will be different, but almost certainly better.