The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly interested in acquiring Victor Oladipo via trade. Let’s take a look at why that is a bad idea.
There is a perception around the league that the Milwaukee Bucks are interested in acquiring Victor Oladipo via trade this offseason. ESPN’s Zach Lowe stated last week that the team is currently monitoring the trade market for Oladipo.
But will Oladipo and Milwaukee be able to create a partnership beneficial for both parties? No, as the Bucks are likely to accentuate his biggest weakness. Milwaukee runs an offensive system that features Giannis Antetokounmpo as the primary ball-handler and playmaker.
The Milwaukee Bucks installed Antetokounmpo as the primary ball-handler in March of 2016. Former head coach Jason Kidd believed Antetokounmpo would put an extreme amount of pressure on opposing defenses, forcing them to make a mistake. Kidd also thought he had the court vision to find the open teammate consistently.
Kidd’s decision was the launching pad for Antetokounmpo’s career as he has averaged a career-high 84.4 touches per game over the past four-plus seasons, a 58.3 percent increase from his first two-plus seasons. The touches have enabled him to attack the basket 11.7 times per game, a 91.8 percent increase from his first two-plus seasons.
It resulted in 6.8 points and 1.2 assists, at least a 126 percent increase from his first two-plus seasons in both categories. More importantly, his statistics on drives equated to 29.7 percent of his points and 22.2 of his assists.
Milwaukee’s offensive system has pushed Antetokounmpo’s teammates to spend a significant amount of time in the floor spacer role. For example, Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton have averaged 4.3 and 6 threes per game, respectively, over the last two seasons, more than 30 percent of their field goal attempts. At least 45.3 percent of those 3-point attempts are via the catch and shoot variety.
The Milwaukee Bucks accentuate Victor Oladipo’s weaknesses
Unfortunately, catch and shoot isn’t Oladipo’s strong suit as he has converted 35.6 percent of his field goals over the past 7 seasons on 2.8 attempts per game. Consequently, Oladipo will be in a similar position that Bledsoe has been in over the past two years. Bledsoe has converted 28.2 percent of his catch and shoot threes. Therefore, Bledsoe’s defender would leave him open to become a help defender.
The help defender could cover for a teammate who rotated over to double team Antetokounmpo or decided to rotate over himself to be a part of an Antetokounmpo double team. For example, Goran Dragic left Bledsoe wide open on the right-wing early in the second quarter of Game 4 as he attempted to collapse on Antetokounmpo near the basket. Unfortunately, Dragic decided to rotate a second late as Antetokounmpo made a wide-open layup.
Bledsoe’s subpar shooting played a vital role in the quality of shots Antetokounmpo took over the last two regular seasons. Antetokounmpo has averaged 10.4 contested shots per game during this span, 56.2 percent of his total field goal attempts.
If Milwaukee wants to avoid the same problem with Oladipo on the roster, they need to accentuate his strengths. Oladipo has been the most successful when he is allowed to run the pick and roll.
Oladipo had his best offensive season during the 2017-18 season when he averaged 8.6 pick and rolls per game. He shot 46 percent from the field on 6.8 attempts per game. The field goal percentage helped him generate 8 points per game, 34.6 percent of his scoring output.
Unfortunately, Milwaukee has been unwilling to make significant changes to their offense. Eric Bledsoe is a player who thrives as a pick and roll ball handler. Bledsoe averaged 10 pick and rolls per game during the 2016-17 season, the highest in the past 5 seasons. He shot 44.7 percent from the field on 7.1 attempts per game. The field goal percentage helped him generate 9.8 points per game, the highest in the past 5 seasons.
However, Bledsoe has averaged 4.25 pick and roll possessions over the past two seasons. He shot 47.4 percent from the field on 3.3 attempts per game on these possessions. The field goal percentage helped him generate 4.2 points per game, 27.1 percent of his scoring output.
In conclusion, unless the Milwaukee Bucks make significant changes to the offense to accentuate Oladipo’s strengths, he should experience Bledsoe’s same issues.