NBA 2013-14 Season Preview: Milwaukee Bucks

2012-13 was an up-and-down season for the Milwaukee Bucks.

The ups: Larry Sanders and his fast rise to the top echelon of long, active young bigs; securing a playoff spot after finishing ninth in the East two straight years

The downs: a first-round playoff exit; that trade where they sent Tobias Harris (and others) to the Magic for J.J. Redick (and others), who then walked in free agency; that trade again.

On the face of it, the move was made to help Milwaukee push for the playoffs.
But
1) it didn’t make them better, and
2) the push never needed to be made.
After acquiring Redick, the Bucks went 12-17 and still finished four full games ahead of the ninth seed Philadelphia 76ers. The whole endeavour earned them the right to get swept by the Heat by an average score of 100–85.

Meanwhile, Harris, a second-year forward who averaged about 11 minutes per game in his time in Milwaukee, flourished in Orlando. He averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in 27 games with the Magic, becoming many a fantasy team’s second-half darling and looking every bit a worthwhile starter going forward, either at the three or the four.

The Bucks followed that move up by swapping out their head coach and pretty much the entire rest of the team (see below) in the off-season. In most cases, a changeover like that signifies a team looking to get younger and rebuild from the ground up, but no: The Bucks brought in replacement pieces of similar ages and skill levels, along with recently fired Atlanta bench boss Larry Drew, and look every bit an eighth or ninth seed in this year’s Eastern Conference.

Only time will tell if there’s method to this madness. And until then, at least Larry Sanders is crazy fun to watch.

Additions

Brandon Knight, O.J. Mayo, Caron Butler, Carlos Delfino, Zaza Pachulia, Gary Neal, Luke Ridnour, Khris Middleton, Nate Wolters, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Departures

Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, J.J. Redick, Drew Gooden, Marquis Daniels, Mike Dunleavy, Joel Przybilla, Luc Mbah a Moute, Gustavo Ayon, Ish Smith

So … they shipped off the entire team other than Larry Sanders, John Henson, Ekpe Udoh and Ersan Ilyasova — all PF/C types — and they brought back roughly half the league (give or take).

Knight likely replaces Jennings in the starting lineup, but may be even less of a natural point guard than his predecessor. Running alongside him will be Mayo, who gambled on a one-year deal with the Mavs last year and won, putting up 15.5 points with a career-high true shooting percentage, and cashed in on a three-year, $24-million deal. Butler — acquired via trade from the Clippers via the Suns — will get the starting small forward job in his 12th season, having filled that role the last two years in L.A.

Delfino and Ridnour will bring shooting and ball distribution, respectively, off the bench. And a bonus: As both are starting their second tour of duty with the team, maybe a few fans will be able to bust out some semi-vintage jerseys.