MILWAUKEE BUCKS
| Player | Season | Position | Height | Points | Rebounds | Assists | Blocks | Steals | eFG% | TS% | Awards |
| Giannis | 2019-20 | Forward | 6'11" | 29.6 | 13.7 | 5.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .583 | .608 | Presumptive MVP |
| Alonzo Mourning | 1999-00 | Center | 6'10" | 21.7 | 9.5 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 1.0 | .551 | .596 | DPOY |
| Karl Malone | 1999-00 | PF | 6'10" | 25.5 | 9.5 | 3.7 | 0.9 | 1.0 | .510 | .582 | Reigning MVP |
| Manu Ginobili | 2007-08 | SG / SF | 6'7" | 19.5 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 0.4 | 1.5 | .540 | .609 | All-NBA |
| Derrick Rose | 2010-11 | PG | 6'4" | 25.5 | 4.1 | 7.7 | 0.6 | 1.0 | .473 | .550 | MVP |
| Mike Conley | 2016-17 | PG | 6'1" | 20.5 | 3.5 | 6.3 | 0.3 | 1.3 | .545 | .604 | --- |
| Jayson Tatum | 2019-20 | SF / PF | 6'9" | 23.6 | 7.1 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 1.4 | .523 | .562 | All-Star; All-Defense |
| Serge Ibaka | 2013-14 | PF / C | 6'11" | 15.1 | 8.8 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 0.5 | .548 | .576 | All-Defense 1st Team |
| J.J. Redick | 2015-16 | SG | 6'4" | 16.3 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 0.1 | 0.6 | .593 | .632 | 3PT% leader |
| Andrew Bogut | 2009-10 | Center | 6'10" | 15.9 | 10.2 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.6 | .520 | .610 | All-NBA |
| Caron Butler | 2007-08 | SF | 6'8" | 20.3 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 0.3 | 2.2 | .501 | .558 | All-Star |
| Brad Miller | 2003-04 | C / PF | 6'11" | 14.1 | 10.3 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 0.9 | .518 | .579 | All-Star |
| Eric Gordon | 2017-18 | G / SF | 6'5" | 18.0 | 2.5 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 0.6 | .540 | .578 | 6MOY |
| Terrell Brandon | 1999-00 | PG | 6'1" | 17.5 | 3.4 | 8.9 | 0.4 | 1.9 | .492 | .535 | --- |
The Rotation:Base Lineup:Alonzo Mourning / Andrew Bogut / Brad Miller
Karl Malone / Serge Ibaka
Giannis / Jayson Tatum / Caron Butler
Manu Ginobili / J.J. Redick / Eric Gordon
Mike Conley / Derrick Rose / Terrell Brandon
One of the things that Who mentioned in this league is that he thought it would trend more toward a European style, with lineups varying game to game. That's certainly how I envision my team, with one core principle: never be reactive. The Bucks were built to have as few weaknesses as possible, allowing them to dictate matchups against almost any lineup they encounter.
The "bully ball" lineup is huge and muscular up front, while still maintaining mobility. Giannis plays his natural position of ball-handling wing -- similar to the Lebron / Durant mode -- while surrounded by Karl Malone and Alonzo Mourning. It's not a conventional 2020 lineup, but that's only because there are very few guys who have the size and athleticism of these three. Karl Malone is the best pure power forward of all-time, one year removed from winning league MVP. Alonzo Mourning had one of the most dominant DPOY campaigns ever. All three are All-NBA first team defenders. I don't think a team in our league can match up with these three. On the outside, we have an ultra-efficient floor general (as well as an All-NBA defender) in Mike Conley and a superstar in Manu Ginobili. All five players are excellent defenders; all five are extremely efficient, dominant offensive players.
But, the team has a ton of versatility. It's easy to go "small", with Serge Ibaka and Giannis up front, flanked by Tatum and any combination of guards. We can go bigger by slotting Derrick Rose in at PG. We can go with an all shooting lineup with Ibaka / Tatum / Manu / Reddick / Conley. No matter what lineup we choose, we're going to defend the hell out of the ball: there's only one weak defender on the team in J.J. Redick, and in 2016 he was closer to league average than poor. Every one of the remainder of the defenders ranges from good to elite, with seven members of the team having All-NBA Defense credentials.
I've never been somebody who projects minutes for my team. That's the coach's job. The way the team was constructed, though, I'm hopeful that we can keep Giannis and/or Rose on the floor at all times. These two will be the primary offensive engines that allow us to run an attacking style for all 48 minutes. No matter who is on the floor, they will have another high-level creator and elite finisher beside them, whether that be Conley / Malone, Manu / Tatum, or some other combination.
The Bigs:We've got four potential centers (Mourning / Bogut / Miller / Ibaka) and four potential power forwards (Malone / Giannis / Tatum / Ibaka). All of those guys can play together, although obviously some combos work well together.
The Wings:There's some overlap here, as Giannis and Tatum can play both big and on the wing. They're joined by Caron Butler, Manu, Redick and Gordon. Outside of Redick, these guys are all multi-faceted: they could be primary offensive engines, but they also could catch-and-shoot. Redick is more of a finisher than a creator; he'll tire out opponents by always being in motion, going around screens for open shots.
The Ball-Handlers:We're blessed with several guys who can run an offense. Mike Conley and Terrell Brandon are "traditional" point guards who are classic floor generals who can bomb from outside. Derrick Rose is the insane athlete who looks for his own shot but can also distribute. You'll see Manu and Eric Gordon creating, but more than anybody else, this is going to be Giannis' team.
Overall draft strategy and impressions:This isn't the team I thought I would end up with. First, I didn't think Giannis would make it to the eighth pick. This is a sports draft cliche, of course, but I was surprised. Giannis is the ideal modern player: a 6'11" guy who has played seasons at PG, SG, SF and PF. He's the best player in the NBA, the closest thing we've seen to Lebron since LBJ came into the league. Even more scary: he's a better defender, rebounder and finisher than Lebron has ever been. He doesn't have the outside stroke or the passing ability, but Giannis is ever-improving. When I projected the first round, I had Giannis in a virtual tie for 4th, with Lebron, Duncan and Shaq being the top-3, and Durant essentially tied with Giannis at fourth.
So, how do you build around a top-5 positionless player? I initially wanted to build an elite defensive team, so I picked the best defender available in Zo. I liked that he was a two-way player, the best center in the draft outside of Shaq. Not only did he win back-to-back DPOY awards, but he was a 20 ppg scorer and a team leader.
From there, the plan was to take a strong two-way wing in the third round. That's exactly why I picked... Karl Malone. I actually PM'd a couple of other GMs as my pick got closer, asking if there was something about 2000 Malone that I was missing. Reigning MVP, led his team to the best record in the Western Conference, huge numbers. Nobody could really explain why he was dropping. I looked his season up on the internet, and people are comparing Malone's 2000 season to Dirk's best. I knew there would be some flack since there's a perception that Giannis is a natural PF (which I disagree with), but I pulled the trigger, totally disrupting my plan in the process.
After that, the strategy was pretty basic: grab the best player available that wasn't completely redundant with the guys I already had. Each round, I'd usually target three or four players that I hoped would be there at my pick. Shockingly, from rounds four to fourteen, I only had one guy drafted ahead of me that I had targeted as my #1 choice. I had really hoped that Deron Williams would be available with my fifth round pick, and Goukki snatched him out from under me. Derrick Rose was a nice consolation prize, though, and ultimately ended up being a better fit for my team, as I was able to get Mike Conley as a starter. A ball-dominant PG probably wouldn't be a great fit. The other guy who I wanted that was picked a round ahead of where I projected him was Arvydis Sabonis. I wanted him as a binkie pick, and with him gone, I took Brad Miller, a guy who was actually higher on my list. What's that tell me? Probably that I overrate certain players that nobody else wanted as much as I did, haha.
The other thing I always look at in these drafts is chemistry. It's never possible to know how guys would mix, but I targeted unselfish players. I love Manu and Mike Conley in the back court; both have subjugated their own statistics for the good of the team. Off the bench, there are a lot of guys who have thrived without being starters. Derrick Rose has been a revelation as a 6th Man on Detroit this season, perhaps the front runner for 6MOY this season. J.J. Redick has come off the bench more than 400 times in his career; Eric Gordon has transitioned seemlessly to the bench, winning his own 6MOY award. And not only are these guys unselfish, but they're good citizens. Mike Conley won the Teammate Of The Year Award and the NBA Sportsmanship Award while with Memphis, Alonzo Mourning is the recipient of the NBA Citizenship Award, and Terrell Brandon won the NBA Sportsmanship Award. Karl Malone, Alonzo Mourning, Caron Butler, Serge Ibaka and Mike Conley have all won NBA awards related to community involvement (NBA Cares). Does this matter? I think it probably does.
Why I love this team, and why you should tooWe all love our teams, right? Everyone who participated deserves a huge compliment, because all of these teams make sense, rather than just serving as collections of talent thrown together. It's clear that people put a lot of thought into their teams.
I like mine for two reasons:
First, everybody on the roster is a two-way player who was elite / borderline elite on defense. Mourning (2x DPOY), Malone, Giannis (presumptive DPOY runnerup), Conley, Ibaka, and Tatum (presumptive) have all made All-Defense teams, and everybody else outside of Reddick is well above-average.
Second, the Bucks are extraordinarily efficient. Even without playing alongside all-time greats, my players have shown the ability to shoot and get to the line at an elite level. The lowest player in my rotation in terms of efficiency is Derrick Rose, at .550; that was well above-average in his NBA season. The least efficient starter is Karl Malone, at a ridiculous .582 TS%. To maintain efficiency that high at high volume is remarkable, and every player on our team can do it.
Topic: 2020 Historic Draft: How’s My Team Look: Conference Finals winners announced!! (Read 90474 times)