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    • Is the title window closed? What about Giannis' free throws? Answering readers' Bucks questions
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    Is the title window closed? What about Giannis' free throws? Answering readers' Bucks questions

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    MEMPHIS – The Milwaukee Bucks have had an inconsistent start to the season and we asked for your questions and your thoughts on what you saw. Dozens of questions were received, and below we've selected some of the most pressing ones to answer.

    Thank you for reading and sending in your submissions!

    Let's get straight to the point:

    Can the Bucks make a trade?

    Q: Can the Bucks make a trade for another All-Star, or will they be outspent based on salary and draft picks? – Steve A.

    Jim Owczarski: Technically, the Bucks can trade any player on the roster. But because of the limitations imposed by being in the “second front” of the payroll, they can only trade one player at a time and cannot bring in more salary than they give up. Considering the team already has three All-Stars in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Damian Lillard, to acquire another one would require moving on from one of those three players. That seems unlikely as the team has already gone through a season of roster upheaval and is still trying to find continuity.

    Questions about Giannis' free throw

    Q: What do you make of his continued inability to shoot free throws and why is it taking Giannis so long to shoot free throws? – Marshall and Paul K.

    Jim Owczarski: Antetokounmpo shot 66.7% from the free throw line in the Olympics, but in his first four NBA games he shot just 55% (27 of 49), by far a career low. His career free throw shooter is 70.1% but has only hit 66.7% since 2020.

    Antetokounmpo has maintained his form for some time now, but still regularly flirts with 10-second violations. He's talked about it over the years and I don't think he does it on purpose. He constantly practices free throws — which always last less than 10 seconds — and there are times when he finds a groove and makes a bunch. But obviously the process slows down in the game, for whatever reason. This is the sixth season that this make percentage has been below 70%, and at this point in his career it could be right there.

    Does the Damian Lillard experiment work?

    • Q: Why don't the Bucks do more pick-and-roll with Dame and Giannis? – Zach
    • Does Giannis function as a top striker and can that work with Lillard? – Tim
    • In hindsight, are the Bucks still trading for Lillard? – Pauly

    Jim Owczarski: Offensively, the duo wasn't a problem for the Bucks in the early going, as Antetokounmpo averaged 28 points on 60% shooting, while Lillard averaged 28 points on 47% shooting (though he hasn't found his three-point shot yet). . Beyond just the numbers, the offense is still stodgy so far, but their two-man games look better than they did a year ago.

    It's fair to question whether taking the ball out of Antetokounmpo's hands as the team's primary ballplayer is a net positive, but I think so may be effective as long as the team uses both players in offensive actions.

    So at first I didn't think it was a big deal that the two of them didn't meet in the summer to train for a few days, but it would have been a good idea. However, Khris Middleton's absence so far has forced head coach Doc Rivers to move the two stars, so they may have spent too much time apart. Once Middleton returns, it would be nice to see Antetokounmpo and Lillard take action together more often.

    Honestly, I don't think the trade can be decided until Lillard's time in Milwaukee ends. But yes, I believe they will make this trade again because the opportunity to acquire an all-time top 75 player to pair him with another is too rare an opportunity to pass up.

    More: Bucks guard Damian Lillard looks back on a transitional year in Milwaukee and is looking forward to a big season

    Is the Bucks’ championship window closed?

    • Q: Are the Bucks too old to compete for a championship? – Jim S.
    • Have we already witnessed the closing of the championship window? –John
    • Are their best days behind them with Giannis? –Ken
    • Why shouldn't the Bucks just blow it up now instead of waiting? – Super G

    Jim Owczarski: In fact, the Bucks have gotten younger over the course of the offseason. They are 7Th oldest team in the league with an average age of 27.87 years. Last year they were the oldest at 28.21 years old.

    Well, the players who helped lower that average were teenage draft picks AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith, and they won't help this team win a title this year. So the core is older, yes. However, it is important to note that in 2023, Denver was the youngest team to win a title in the last seven years, with an average age of 27.5 years.

    To be honest, it's usually older, more experienced teams that win.

    So no, the championship window is not closed. However, I would say that the NBA has made it more difficult for a team to win a championship because of the new roster construction rules.

    Plus, the last time the Bucks' top three players played in the playoffs was in 2020 – and we know how that ended. We don't know what this team could accomplish in the postseason if they were together.

    As for “blowing it up”: The NBA is not the NFL. There are no quick turnarounds or conversions. Why would they blow it up? A mediocre team for the next 5-10 years or longer? According to league history, once teams have cross-generational talent, an organization should hold out until the contracts expire.

    More: The Bucks are in win-now mode, but financial flexibility around Giannis and Lillard is coming

    Do the Bucks have a good enough squad?

    Q: Mark and Don G. wonder where the bench scoring will come from and whether there are quality players on the team after Antetokounmpo and Lillard.

    Jim Owczarski: This is invariably the problem with high-profile squads – these players take up most of the money, leaving less to spread across the board. It also impacts the “bench rating” when replacements have to fill in for injured starters.

    The simple answer is: Bobby Portis Jr. is the team's primary bench scorer and remains one of the sixth-best players in the league, and Taurean Prince can make solid three-point shots. But Prince is currently starting and playing 30 minutes per game without Middleton. As far as “high-level” players go, Brook Lopez is still one of the league’s best fullbacks, and when Middleton plays, he’s clearly still a high-level offensive player.

    More: Khris Middleton opens up about his recovery from double ankle surgery

    More: What a strong free agent summer means for the Bucks heading into next season

    Questions about Bucks strategy

    Q: Fans were curious about the Bucks' perimeter defense (Tosafish and Deann), Giannis shooting and defending three-pointers (Chuck and Malcolm), Brook Lopez's three-pointers, and Giannis and Khris' turnovers (CRod).

    Jim Owczarski: First, let’s start with Lopez as a three-point shooter. The big man has helped revolutionize what centers can do from deep, but he hasn't been accurate this season. His spacing still matters when playing next to Antetokounmpo, but less so when playing with Lillard. So maybe he needs to be more of a “traditional” big when Antetokounmpo isn’t on the court, but almost every team is looking for a big who can block shots and shoot threes. Teams still respect Lopez's shot and fear his presence inside.

    As for Antetokounmpo and Middleton's turnovers, all that matters is that they are the primary ballplayers. Players who touch the ball as often as Lillard does tend to lose the ball. But asking Antetokounmpo not to be aggressive downhill – which leads to some drives and stops – or for Middleton to initiate the offense from the elbows is just a recipe for a bad offense and takes away their strengths.

    Mike Budenholzer has only been gone for two seasons, so it's hard to believe that Bucks fans have already forgotten how the team built a top-five defense when Lopez played for him – and that was by protecting the paint at all costs and livelihood degrees, with three-point variance.

    No, the Bucks don't have the fastest guards – and the team can be more disciplined in fighting screens and in their rotations – but they are leaning back into their size and playing from the inside out again. That means they'll try to limit easy two-point shots, and there will be nights where a team makes 20 three-pointers against them.

    More: Bucks made a decision about MarJon Beauchamp's future

    More: The Bucks will offer five over-the-air game broadcasts on WMLW

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    Kathleen William
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