How things change so quickly. We should have known that it was only a matter of time before the once irrelevant Milwaukee Bucks fell back into the embrace of relevancy in the NBA. The future is truly bright for the young Bucks who are possibly going to look like a bunch of long armed freaks once their starting lineup hits the floor on a nightly basis. With more growth from guys like Carter-Williams, Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Middleton (all under 25), this lineup could become something long and fierce for years to come.
For the first time in quite a few years the Bucks franchise is creating a strong core that is primed to be sustainable for quite a few years. The one thing I’m sure all Bucks fans will want to forget however is how they ended their season with a 54-point loss that will go down as the most lopsided series-clinching win the NBA has ever seen.
Losing in the first round has been a familiar check point for Bucks fans. Nine of Milwaukee’s last 10 playoff appearances have ended in round one. And in 26 years, Milwaukee has a grand total of two series wins, both coming in 2001 when they made the Eastern Conference Finals. But it seems they are primed for a turnaround because after eons (exaggeration) of chasing mediocrity, the Bucks are actually building something that is undeniably exciting.
How did this change happen you ask? Well, the Milwaukee Bucks were the most improved team in the NBA this past season, going from an uninspiring 15-67 record during the 2013-14 season to a 41-41 record this past year. And that success was achieved under Jason Kidd’s leadership, in a season where he probably should have been coach of the year. Keep in mind they’ve done all of this without their former No. 2 overall pick Jabari Parker since mid-December. More than any other player that the Bucks have, Parker could bring back all kinds of new life into this team in order push them into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference.
“It’s tough as a rookie to have that type of injury,” Kidd told reporters in February. “But one, I think he’s in good spirits. And two, he’s done everything for rehabbing and he’s excited to get back. He’s around the team. He comes to shootarounds still, being able to learn the game from a different seat. When he comes back on the court, the game becomes a little easier for him because he’s seen it all.”
Through his first 25 appearances this season, Parker averaged a solid 12.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest, and as he grows more comfortable in his NBA skin, those numbers are going to continue to increase.
At long last the Bucks young players have regained an identity for their team; an identity that is based on defense, and taking advantage of their length to instill intimidation on the defense end of the floor. Much like Golden State, Milwaukee’s best defensive asset is its length and with Kidd at the helm this defense is primed to dazzle, but why they’re so dangerous is because with a team this young, every game is an opportunity to learn and get better faster.
With or without moves, this club will be better. It’s poised for plenty of internal growth, and it may be wise to see that through before undergoing any radical reconstruction. That’s how John Hammond, General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks also sees it;
“The important thing for us is not to try and expedite the process and let the process happen organically and build toward a championship team,” Hammond recently told reporters, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. “I’ve heard people say it’s not that hard to go from bad to good, but the real difficult step is to go from good to great. Our goal is to become a great team and stay there.”
Good franchises don’t grow on trees, however this franchise clearly has the sturdy makeup to be a “money tree” (metaphorically speaking) for quite a while. On a similar note, every good tree needs strong roots, and the presence of a veteran like Dudley would have been ideal to complement the stable of young players. Unfortunately for both parties the feelings were not mutual. In an interview with Zach Lowe a few days ago, Dudley goes on to say that he embraced the role of a veteran in Milwaukee even though he is still fairly young himself, in spite of that that Bucks still went ahead and traded Dudley to the Wizards literally for nothing. This should have been a slap in the face to any player, but Dudley took it with stride noting that the team’s young core and desire for cap flexibility were higher priorities.
To be honest with you, it came as a surprise, because basically Milwaukee didn’t offer [a long-term deal]. And the reason they didn’t offer was because they liked where they stood, they just gave Khris the max, this was before Monroe was there…
The indication was hey, we want you back, but under that salary, under that deal for that one year because they wanted to go into possibly next year having cap space, they didn’t know what was going on…and I have a great relationship with Milwaukee, did everything…we had a great season, love JKidd, John Hammond. But they’re up-and-coming, with Jabari possibly coming back — which not possibly, he will be back — Giannis will play a little stretch-four, Greg Monroe can play five and four, we just at that time when they knew they didn’t see me for the long run, it was more helping the young guys out which is understandable and which I love that role, we just knew it was time to move on.
I gotta tip my hat to the Bucks, they gotta be the final say-so and obviously they were. And I could play for the Bucks anytime, and it’s crazy because earlier in my career I wouldn’t have said that. But that organization has changed…[laughs] yeah, I’ll be the first one, no one wanted to go to Milwaukee early on, but you see things have changed there and I have so much respect for them.
It’s never a bad thing when a player you traded still can speak highly of your organization. While he sees big potential once the Bucks’ youngsters turn the corner, he’s not sure that translates into an improved record this season, which is a view that I disagree with. It really will all depend on how Greg Monroe fits into the larger scheme of things and the amount of reliable shooters you can manage to surround around Michael Carter Williams.
This is truly the beginning of a very successful chapter in Milwaukee and I am sure that we’re all really glad to be able to watch the process unfold, as we root for a good outcome in this team’s long term design.
