Milwaukee Bucks: 5 goals following 2019 NBA All-Star break
4. Integrate Mirotic into frontcourt rotation
The Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers made significant moves at the deadline, adding Marc Gasol and Tobias Harris respectively. Those are both players with star-level pasts (Gasol) and presents (Harris) and made the race to win the Eastern Conference that much more difficult.
Milwaukee made a move of its own, trading a pair of players this team didn’t need and four second-round picks for stretch-big Nikola Mirotic. Similarly traded near the deadline last season, Mirotic helped jumpstart a Pelicans team that had just lost DeMarcus Cousins, playing a key role in their race into the postseason and their sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Mirotic is a bomber, having never met a 3-point look he didn’t like. That looks to be a perfect fit in head coach Mike Budenholzer’s offense, which has emphasized the 3-pointer as a means to both score and give Giannis Antetokounmpo room to operate. The problem is that Mirotic plays the same position as Antetokounmpo.
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If the Bucks made the move simply to upgrade their backup power forward minutes — replacing Ersan Iylasova, in essence — that’s fine, but Antetokounmpo should be playing 38 minutes or more in the playoffs.
This move was almost certainly made to play alongside Antetokounmpo at times, and that means more work will need to be done integrating Mirotic into the rotation.
Brook Lopez has been a fringe All-Star player for the Bucks this season but lacks the foot speed to guard nimbly on the perimeter. If a team such as the Boston Celtics play Lopez off the court this postseason, the Bucks now have a counter: Antetokounmpo at the 5, Mirotic at the 4. Or perhaps they go the other way, going jumbo without sacrificing shooting with Antetokounmpo at the 3 alongside Mirotic and Lopez.
Mirotic makes the Bucks more versatile, without question. Yet suddenly playing Mirotic heavy minutes in the playoffs without giving him minutes in March and April with the other players would be expecting instant chemistry. While Budenholzer wants to keep his best tricks in the bag to unleash in May, Mirotic will need some time playing now. How Budenholzer uses him now will set the table for what comes later on.
The Bucks need Mirotic to be healthy, and will understandably take things slow and give him plenty of maintenance rest.
The ceiling of this team — the analytically dominant league-leading squad of the past four months plus Nikola Mirotic — is ferocious. The Bucks will have to be wise in adding in this valuable piece.