The point guard position has pretty much been Michael Carter-Williams’ to lose for the Milwaukee Bucks when he was sent to Milwaukee from Philadelphia last February. Unfortunately for Carter-Williams, who was sidelined for the last 23 games of the season with a torn labrum in his left hip, his starting point guard spot was given to forward Giannis Antetokounmpo by head coach Jason Kidd, who expressed last summer that he was interested in a potential Giannis-at-point experiment.
Giannis at point has become something of a phenomenon amidst this era of extreme forward versatility. The experiment went well enough that Kidd named Giannis the starting point guard for next season.
In his exit interview, Carter-Williams said he doesn’t necessarily believe he’s lost his position.
From Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
“I think this Giannis playing point guard next year got a little out of hand,” Carter-Williams said during exit interviews Thursday. “I think he is definitely going to control the ball a lot more, but he’s not going to guard a point guard. I’ll be guarding the point guard.”
“I think that whole, ‘What am I going to do now because Giannis is the point guard,’ thing is a little bit blown out of proportion,” Carter-Williams said.
“To be honest I don’t think too much is going to change. Giannis is a talented guy, he’s a potential star in this league. I think if it helps the team with him getting the ball through the offense more than that’s what we want to do.”
Carter-Williams better be careful in his assumptions, unless he has direct knowledge that the Bucks plan to re-insert him when fully healthy. If the plan is to keep Giannis at point, it would seem much more ideal to go with Giannis-Middleton-Jabari than a two guard front with Giannis and Carter-Williams.
If anything, Kidd has established Giannis as another viable option at point. He’ll probably further develop him as such this offseason. Carter-Williams is an asset for the Bucks with his combination of length and guard skills, but the fact is that he’s now in competition for his position because of what Giannis brings to the table.
