Hey everyone my name is Jake but everyone calls me by my last name, O’Kane. This will be the first Bucks article of many for the site wand I wanted to put something together that could get a discussion going. I get it’s just twelve games into the young season but the Milwaukee Bucks hav looked like they’ve found their rotation for at least the near future. They’ve stayed with a ten-man rotation but have also blessed DJ Wilson and Rookie Jordan Nwora with constant garbage minutes. I’ll give DJ and the rook a grade but I haven’t seen enough Torrey Craig, Sam Merrill or Jeylen Adams to form a fair opinion. Let’s dive into the newest faces of the Milwaukee Bucks
Jordan Nwora
We may as well start with the young man from Louisville for our breakdown. Nwora this season has showed that he has potential but is definitely still a work in progress. One large bright spot has to be his ability to hit from deep where he’s seven of fourteen. The youth however does show through at times as he does lead the Bucks in turnovers per 36.
As far as the defensive side of the ball is concerned, it’s hard to judge. Jordan has really only found himself in the middle of blowouts late in the game and hasn’t provided much defensive tape. For now, he’ll get an average grade.
Offense – B-
Defense/Rebounding – C
Overall – C+
Strength – Great Length for a Shooter
Needs Work – Ball Security
Bobby Portis
Bobby has to be rivaling Holiday for the top acquisition this offseason. He’s been Milwaukee’s true sixth man and has actually averaged as many minutes as DiVincenzo (also one minute behind Lopez). Bud has used Portis as his first off the bench to replace either Giannis or Lopez, usually depending on the foul situation. Besides Thanasis, Bobby has been the top shooter on the team and slashes 56/41/80. For the Bucks’ top frontcourt guy off then bench you truly couldn’t ask for anything more offensively.
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On the other end he almost always will be the smaller guy in his matchup but you’ll never see him back down. It’s led Portis to becoming the Bucks top rebounder per 36 minutes and his team leading 2.1 offensive boards per game just shows the effort being put forth. There’s a real opportunity if this play continues that Bobby Portis could crash the 6th Man of the Year Award and I’m not joking. If you compare his numbers to Montrezl Harrell’s in 2019/20 you’ll see a lot of correlation. If there’s going to be an X-Factor come playoff time, Bobby Portis may be it.
Offense – A-
Defense/Rebounding – A
Overall – A
Strength – Leader of the Second Group
Needs Work – Nothing to Note
Jrue Holiday
Easily our most notable addition in the offseason, Jrue Holiday has shown that he fits perfectly into the Bledsoe role. At times, he’s even looked like an upgrade over the ex-Bucks guard. Holiday’s taken the role of our third most volume shooter and has nearly mimicked the scoring production we saw from Bledsoe a year ago.
Where he’s looked like an upgrade is on the defensive end. Who ever would have thought that we could get better than a 2nd Team All-Defensive guard? Well, Jrue is currently second in the NBA in steals per game with over two per contest and leads the Bucks in defensive win shares so yea, he’s looked better so far.
He pairs the defensive efficiency with his offensive ball security where he only averages a turnover and a half per game. If I had to give any critique, I would like to see Holiday get more vocal as the season goes on and become the court leader that Bledsoe was.
Offense – B
Defense/Rebounding – A+
Overall – A-
Strength – On Ball Defense
Needs Work – Vocal Leadership
Brynn Forbes
One of the more under-the-radar moves this fall was the Bucks going after ex-Spur guard Brynn Forbes. So far in Milwaukee, he’s played mid to low minutes night in and night out but has blossomed into a quick-release sharpshooting option for the second squad. Out of the twelve games this season, Forbes has shot multiple threes in eight of them while clipping 44%. In the past two outings, he’s gone three of four from distance in both games en route to 14 and 13 point performances.
Defensively, his small stature can be an advantage for his matchup but Bud has done a great job with setting up his lineups where Forbes has not been exposed in important minutes. He’ll be near the bottom of the rotation come playoff time but if he can constantly hit shots, he could be our Kyle Korver roll from a year ago.
Offense – B+
Defense/Rebounding – C
Overall – B-
Strength – Quickest Release on the Floor
Needs Work – On-Ball Defense
DJ Augustin
With the departure of George Hill, Milwaukee desperately needed a veteran presence to be the leader of the second group and pace the offense while Holiday and DiVincenzo rest. Unfortunately we’ve yet to see such a roll get filled by Augustin as he’s struggled early on. Currently, he’s the worst shooter on the roster and is six percent under his normal average. Along with the shooting woes, we’ve seen a decrease in his career numbers for points, rebounds and assists. This has been his slowest start in the past five to seven years for DJ. Considering we signed him to a 3 Year $21 Million contract ($14m guaranteed), I sure hope he rights the ship.
Offense – C-
Defense/Rebounding – C
Overall – C-
Strength – Has the Skills to be PG2
Needs Work – Just About Everything Minus 3pt %
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