With 25 games left, can Milwaukee answer these burning questions?
It’s already been an eventful season for the Milwaukee Bucks in the first 57 games. Shipping out franchise icon Khris Middleton to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma, winning the NBA Cup title against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the consistent inconsistency of the team as a whole, and more recently the suspension of Bobby Portis, has led them to the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. As of today, they’re a 1/2 a game back of the Indiana Pacers for the fourth seed and five games back of the New York Knicks for no. 3.
With 25 games left in the regular season, there are some very important questions left for the Bucks to answer before they begin a potentiality deep playoff run.
Can Kevin Porter Jr be a reliable backup point guard?
Outside of the big move for Kuzma, the Bucks did trade former first-round pick MarJon Beauchamp to the Los Angeles Clippers for (technically) a former Bucks draftee in 2019, Kevin Porter Jr. KPJ, who didn’t play in the NBA last season due to domestic assault charges and behavioral issues, signed a two-year deal with the Clippers in July with the second year with a player option. In 45 games with the Clippers, averaged 9.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game on .423/.245/.645 shooting splits. It was a battle between him and Kris Dunn for the backup point guard role and with Dunn’s superior defense, the Clippers opted for Dunn over KPJ, later sending him to Milwaukee.
Porter has been something of a revelation in his six games in a Bucks uniform. Since arriving, he’s taken over as the new backup point guard, with Ryan Rollins barely playing the other night against Miami and playing less than 10 minutes against Golden State and Philly (he did start against Washington and Minnesota, when Dame was out). His scoring hasn’t bumped up much (up to 8.8 PPG), but he has had some big moments already in bringing an offensive spark to the Bucks. None was bigger than his performance against the Heat, with him going on a personal 7-0 scoring run to tie the game at 95 before throwing a beautiful lob pass to fellow newcomer Jericho Sims to take the lead.
The main question on my mind is whether or not he can keep this up. His three-point shooting has been non-existent this entire season after 37.5% and 36.6% on over six attempts per game in his two previous seasons, so whether he can last driving to the rim or in the midrange will be something to watch. If he can, with Portis suspended, his offense off the bench with Gary Trent Jr. will be invaluable to support the Bucks’ stars.
Can Jericho Sims hold down the fort at the backup center?
Speaking of the Portis suspension, the guy that will have to man his role (unless the Bucks sign another big after the fifth game of Portis’ suspension) will be Sims. Before that, Sims never saw the floor in the four games after the Bucks acquired him from the New York Knicks for Delon Wright and cash. Now in need of size, Sims has played in the next three games and was a combined +16 when on the floor before going -9 last night. While he’s only scored a total of two points in his Bucks tenure, he has been excellent on the glass averaging 3.3 RPG in his limited run. Yet, the box score doesn’t tell the whole story with Sims. Outside of his obvious leaping ability, his athleticism allows him to switch onto wings on the perimeter and recover much quicker in drop zone coverage. Just like on this play here against the Washington Wizards, Sims drops off of Alex Sarr to help Porter on a driving Corey Kispert, forcing a pass back to the perimeter to Jordan Poole. After the pass, Sims recovers to Sarr and plays the drop well to help AJ Green, forcing a bad shot from Poole at the end of the shot clock, leading to a bank shot floater from Porter of a Sims screen.
Granted, the Bucks haven’t played many world-beaters since the second half of the season began (Clippers, Wizards, and Heat), but these are the types of habits you want to see out of Sims. This allows him to develop with the team on the floor in big minutes, which will get him ready for the playoffs as Portis works his way back in from his suspension. Also, with him doing this against the “non-elite” teams in the league, you at least hope that it translates when the Knicks, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Will Giannis and Dame stay healthy in time for the playoffs?
This is by far the most important question for the Milwaukee Bucks for the rest of this season and the rest of the time Dame and Giannis play together. Dame is 34 years old and will be 35 by the time next season starts. Giannis, by the nature of his playstyle, will get bumps and bruises and the occasional week-to-week injury. There have only been 11 games this season in which Giannis and Dame had to play without their co-star, but as the season wears on, who knows what other injuries may pop up. Who saw the left soleus injury coming for Giannis after their win against the Boston Celtics near the end of last season? I do think they are on track by having the two of them on a minute restriction as they work themselves back after the All-Star break. It acts as almost a mini-break while still being able to play the games. Giannis nor Dame has to play 35–40 minutes against the New Orleans Pelicans in a random game in February, March, or April. The more time they can save themselves for the bigger games for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs, the better. Whether it will work is yet to be seen, all we can do is hope (and pray, if you do that) that we can finally see what these two can do in the playoffs.
Do you think the Bucks can answer any of these questions in time for the playoffs? What else are you questioning about the Bucks in the final 25 games of the regular season? Let us know in the comments below.