Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks are a young team with an eye on opportunity to elevate the team’s talent level. This is a young and promising team, but they have struggled between good enough for playoffs and failing to make playoffs.
This year, the team eeked into post season on a 42-40 season. That’s just two years after landing in the playoffs on a 41-41 record. Last season? They fell to 33-49.
Sir Charles In Charge
Now the team must find a way to remain relevant in the NBA in the 2017-2018 season. The team has draft picks at both 17 and 48, and will likely be rather possessive of both picks, as the team risks losing shooting guards Tony Snell, Jason Terry, and small forward Michael Beasley in free agency. All losses can be addressed and perhaps upgraded in the draft. But the team is loaded with power forwards too.
Greek Freak Sidekick
As long as the team has Giannis Antetokounmpo on the roster, they will be fun to watch. And in the matching of “fits”, do the Bucks need a similarly freakishly athletic teammate? Not exactly. The team has a solid front five. But as soon as the team goes to the bench, there is a huge drop off.
That’s the risk of “Fan Based Management” in the NBA. Starters last 30 plus minutes. Who comes in for the other minutes isn’t critical in the regular season. In post season, it’s the difference between advancing or going home.
Jahlil Okafor is that upgrade. In fact, he would be an excellent piece to the Bucks roster. Right now, the Bucks have plenty of versatility on the roster. So much in fact, that it makes sense to surrender the upside of a Thon Maker and a second round pick for a center who can score enough to impact the game’s outcome. The Bucks may opt not to pursue this opportunity. And if history repeats itself, they will submerge out of the playoff picture once more.