Will The Milwaukee Bucks Enter The Season Without A Backup Point Guard?
Amidst the myriad uncertainties that swirled around the Milwaukee Bucks entering the offseason, they have opted to maintain a sense of continuity by largely retaining the core that propelled them to the NBA’s top regular-season record, even though it concluded with a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Miami Heat.
Noteworthy returns include Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, and Jae Crowder, while the departures of Jevon Carter, Joe Ingles, and Wes Matthews stand as the most conspicuous changes. As a result, the Bucks now boast a complete 15-player roster, with a solid contingent of 11 players reprising their roles from the previous season. Fresh faces on the team include veterans Malik Beasley and Robin Lopez alongside rookies Andre Jackson Jr and Chris Livingston.
With the roster now assembled, Milwaukee has seemingly rounded out their lineup for the upcoming offseason. Not including unforeseen trades, the roster presents a conspicuous gap, notably the absence of a backup point guard.
Adopting the positional designations from Cleaning the Glass—utilizing point guard, combo guard, wing, forward, and big—the composition of the Bucks’ 15-player roster is as follows:
- Point Guards: 1 (Jrue Holiday)
- Combo Guards: 1 (AJ Green)
- Wings: 4 (Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, MarJon Beauchamp, and Malik Beasley)
- Forwards: 4 (Middleton, Crowder, Livingston, and Jackson)
- Bigs: 5 (Lopez, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, Robin Lopez, and Thanasis Antetokounmpo
The sole presence of Holiday at the point guard position raises significant questions about the strategic choices made by General Manager Jon Horst during this offseason. As evident from the breakdown above, the Bucks have only two individuals categorized as point guards or combo guards, with a noteworthy caveat that, in my view, Green should be classified as a wing player. On the flip side, an astonishing nine players are designated as forwards or bigs.
