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Last Season’s Rank
16
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Projected 2013/2014
Finish
27
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Last
season’s Team Statistics and League Rank
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Returning
Individual Statistical Leaders
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Projected
Starters Based on Talent, Tenure, and Potential Impact:
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Second Unit Roster Order Ranked on Talent, Tenure, and Potential Impact:
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Analysis:
Some teams are just simply doomed for mediocrity and that simply is the case for the Milwaukee Bucks, who after a less than stellar finish of grabbing the last playoff spot in the East only to get quickly swept in the first round, have to start all over from scratch one again. Gone are the team's two best players from last season, +Monta Ellis and Brandon Jennings, who led the team in not only scoring, but assists, minutes and shot attempts per game as they have both left for greener pastures. Ellis was so desperate to leave Milwaukee chose to leave 10$ million on the table and not pick up his player option for a final year deciding instead to test the market as an unrestricted free agent. He was then quickly picked up by an equally struggling team that possibly will not make the playoffs anytime soon in the +Dallas Mavericks, but even he thought that being on a sinking ship such as the Mavericks was better than being in Milwaukee. At the same time the Bucks parted ways with their starting point guard of the past five years in Jennings, who had basically worn out his welcome, sending him to the +Detroit Pistons in a sign and trade deal. Now the best returning player from last season's playoff team is a 6'10" perimeter shooting power forward who has no post game to speak of while the rest of the returning players wouldn't not even make a D-League roster, let alone an +NBA club. New head coach Larry Drew will certainly have his work cut out for him as he will be working with a team that has far less talent than the previous team he coached, the +Atlanta Hawks and that was a roster which was nothing to write home about, either. The Bucks have virtually no real reliable players that can create their own offense or be counted on to score the basketball on a consistent basis as most of the players are either inept in doing son or sadly way past their prime to really be a true factor. The roster is virtually made up of the who's who of who cares showing the sheer inability for the Bucks' front office to attract any real players of consequence in the free agent market. The best the Bucks were able to do in the off season was acquire shooting guard +OJ Mayo --a player who many had high expectations for being picked third overall in the 2008 NBA Draft, but never lived up to them. After posting impressive numbers in his first two years in the +Memphis Grizzlies, Mayo soon fell out of favor with the team spending the rest of his tenure in Memphis coming off the bench. Finally after a lackluster 2012 season where he posted just 12.6 points per off of .408, Memphis decided to finally move on and give up on their investment letting him go as an unrestricted free agent; however that may have been the best thing to happen to him. Last season, Mayo opened some eyes and alleviated much doubt concerning his game after having a strong comeback season with the Dallas Mavericks as he posted his best number since his second year averaging 15.3 points, 4.4 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steal. Nonetheless, Mayo at best can be considered a third or fourth tier caliber player and probably would have been had for much less than the money that Milwaukee had to throw to even entice him to come over. As for the rest of the roster's new addition, they consist of a sad group of has-beens and never-weres whose time has already passed or never had a really opportunity to shine. At 33 years old Caron Butler, a former two time All Star who was acquired in a trade with the +Los Angeles Clippers, has all but reached his peak as a player and after posting rather pedestrian numbers last season, will probably not contribute much to the Milwaukee effort. #1 year old Carlos Delfino is not a player to write home about either as he has been at best a marginal player in his entire career averaging a shade over 10 per game while shooting a mediocre .405 from the field. Lets not forget table scrap bargain basement free agents such as Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour who round out the roster along with a ridiculously highly paid Zaza Pachulia who's getting 5.2$ million for the season. Add them altogether with the current sad sack of holdovers, one can certainly see that this will be a very long season for these Milwaukee Bucks, and the worst thing is that it will probably never get any better. It's not as if the city Milwaukee is a dream destination for any traveler, let alone professional athletes whom are free agents so they can't really utilize their salary cap space because no one will take their money. The only way they can acquire any REAL talent is through a trade, and as it has been shown, those players will most likely fly the coop the first chance that they get. Tanking to get the top pick in the draft is also a waste because by the end of that person's rookie contract is over, he will probably be a good as gone as well forcing the Bucks to yet again do another sign and trade deal the same way they did with Jennings. All the Bucks front office can do is the best with what little they have and hope that they get lucky enough that the team will have a strong finish or manage to scrape by enough to make the playoffs. Other than that, the team will just continue spinning its tires going nowhere fast and continue to remain as the virtual armpit of the NBA. |
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Thursday, September 19, 2013
SDH's 2013/2014 NBA Worst to First Previews and Predictions: 27. Milwaukee Bucks
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