To Great Lengths - Milwaukee Bucks 2K17 Franchise

[JeriousNorwood]

Draft Recap:

NBA Draft - Round 1 Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1	Heat	Francis Jenkins	SF	6'8"	241
2	Celtics	Kris Paxson	PG	6'3"	167
3	Magic	Jalen Blackman	SF	6'10"	262
4	Clippers	Kelvin Rice	SG	6'4"	208
5	Grizzlies	Dean Brooks	SF	6'8"	225
6	Magic	Ramon Cruz	SG	6'4"	202
7	Jazz	Rickey Bell	SG	6'6"	219
8	Pistons	Douglas Murphy	SG	6'4"	193
9	Bulls	Malik Craig	PF	6'10"	227
10	Trail Blazers	Alberto Cruz	PG	6'3"	169
11	Hornets	Gordon Walton	PG	6'2"	170
12	Hawks	Andrew Pierce	C	6'10"	246
13	Lakers	J.J. Webster	SF	6'7"	211
14	Raptors	Stephon Butler	PG	6'3"	200
15	Hawks	Jess Bridgeman	SG	6'6"	214
16	Hawks	Douglas Kirk	SF	6'9"	230
17	Knicks	Garrett Price	PG	6'2"	178
18	Bulls	Jeff Norman	SF	6'8"	245
19	Bucks	Chucky Hughes	C	7'0"	261
20	Pelicans	Okan Izzet	SF	6'9"	232
21	Rockets	Tom Flores	PG	6'2"	187
22	Grizzlies	Darrel Cassell	PF	6'9"	245
23	Nets	Rex Swanson	C	7'1"	249
24	Pacers	Lionel Lawson	PF	6'8"	256
25	Wizards	Doyle Blackman	C	6'11"	233
26	76ers	Chase Bryan	PG	6'0"	169
27	Warriors	Rubens Viana	SG	6'5"	236
28	Nuggets	Artem Gornev	PG	6'0"	185
29	Spurs	Isaac Conner	C	6'11"	249
30	76ers	Bruce Hayes	PG	6'1"	168

Breakdown of the Buck's Pick:

Chucky Hughes, C - 7'0", 261 lbs: With plenty of talent on this team, it made sense to take Chucky Hughes who is more of a project and he fits the team's mold of athletic freak. He's quite the bruiser and always hustles, using his height, strength and speed to make up for his lack of his fundamentals. Not only did he post the highest bench press at the combine at 27, but he was also the second fastest at the combine. If he can develop any sort of shot he could be extremely good. The downside is that he's already 23 so he may have already hit is ceiling. The Bucks are betting against that.

[JeriousNorwood]

Bucks FA Signings:

Langston Galloway, PG: 1/$1.05M
Matthew Dellavedova, PG: 1/$1.05M
Nick Young, SF: 1/$1.05M

Thoughts: With $80.97M of the allotted $96M salary cap already spent this year between four players, Antetokounmpo, Gobert, Parker and Middleton, it's no surprise that the Bucks went into free agency with negative cap space. They attempted to lure free agents with the veteran minimum while still improving their team. With Rajon Rondo leaving in free agency, the Bucks needed some depth at the point guard position. Luckily for them, one of the players they had on their title run, Dellavedova, was available. He should help provide the defense and three point shooting they need. It's always good to get a champion back and maybe he will be what they need to defeat the pesky Cavaliers. After their conference championship loss, they also realized they needed more shooters, and that's where Nick Young comes in. He agreed to a vet minimum contract and should help give the bench some shooters. Finally Langston Galloway should be a good pass first point guard for depth. Nothing flashy for the Bucks this off-season, but solid pick ups none the less.

Major FA Signings

Greg Monroe, C - Spurs: 3/$39.14M
Austin Rivers, PG - Jazz: 3/$39.33M
Brook Lopez, C - Jazz: 3/$45.93M
Joel Embiid, C - 76ers: 4/$96.41M
Dante Exum, PG - Nets: 2/$26.82M
Noah Vonleh, PF - Blazers: 3/$39.70M
Carmelo Anthony, SF - Knicks: 4/$129.81M
Aaron Gordon, PF - Magic: 4/$91.22M
Gary Harris, SG - Nuggets: 4/$71.04M
Elfrid Payton, PG - Magic: 5/$49.51M
T.J. Warren, SF - Suns: 3/$50.32M
Julius Randle, PF - Lakers: 3/$58.63M
Avery Bradley, SG - Celtics: 4/$115.69M
LaMarcus Aldridge, PF - Spurs: 4/104.71M
Marcus Smart, PG - Pacers: 3/$15.08M
DeAndre Jordan, C - Suns: 5/$172.27M
Seth Curry, SG - Cavaliers: 2/$7.58M
Zach LaVine, SG - Timberwolves: 4/$96.41M
Paul George, SF - Pacers: 4/$115.60M

Thoughts: This off-season didn't have the star power of last year's pursuit of Kevin Durant, but there were still some major signings. The oddest one was even though Paul George was the "belle of the ball" and ended up re-signing with the Pacers, the biggest contract was given to DeAndre Jordan by the Pheonix Suns, the same team that gave the biggest contract out last year to Durant. They are making sure the core of Durant, Jordan and Booker stay together for awhile and should be an intriguing team. This year seemed to be highlighted more by the re-signings than players switching teams. This includes the incredibly surprising re-signing of Carmelo Anthony to a huge contract. Most saw both parties parting ways this year. The biggest team making a change seemed to be the Jazz. They signed Austin Rivers and Brook Lopez. We're not sure that will help them compete any more in the west, it just looks more like a lateral move after losing Dante Exum and Greg Monroe. The oddest, most "meme worthy" signing was the champion Cavaliers signing Seth Curry to a contract. Who else is looking to a Curry vs. Curry match up in the finals?

[JeriousNorwood]

Opening Day Depth Chart:

Milwaukee Bucks Depth Chart - 2019
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	K. Dunn	M. Dellavedova	L. Galloway
SG	G. Antetokounmpo	M. Brogdon
SF	J. Parker	K. Middleton	N. Young	R. Covington
PF	T. Maker	D. McDermott
C	R. Gobert	W. Pederson	C. Hughes

Kris Dunn, PG - Acquired in a trade deadline deal last year, Kris Dunn comes to the Bucks with two goals, to play defense and pass the ball. That's all they expect. Dunn is an exceptional athlete who is going to attempt to shore up the Bucks' one weakness: defending point guards. If Dunn can develop a shot, that would be incredible but thus far in his career he's been a very inefficient shooter unless he can get to the rim.

Matthew Dellavedova, PG - Acquired in free agency this off-season, Dellavedova looks to get back to his championship ways. His size was incredibly important to the Bucks' last championship run. While not the athlete that Dunn is, he does have the experience and a corner 3pt shot that Dunn does not. Beyond that, they should fill approximately the same role. Play defense and get the ball to the shooters.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SG - A bit of a position switch this year for Antetokounmpo, but it's nothing he can't handle. As one of the most athletic players in the league, he should have no problem keeping up with opposing shooting guards and he will be a nightmare for them to guard on the other side of the court. He evolved last year into the second scoring option and continues to try and develop a shot to be able to provide more spacing on the floor. Beyond that, he nearly has no weaknesses in his game. While he's been a 1b to Jabari Parker, this may be the year he takes the reigns of this team.

Malcom Brogdon, SG - While he did improve from his first to second year in the league, it was not the big step everyone was expecting. Everyone knows the talent is there, but it hasn't translated into his game yet. Now that he's on the last year of his contract, it's time to step up or get out of the way. He projects to be a sniper from down town but his 3P% in the past has been abysmal. If he can step up show the talent he has, the Bucks will have a tough decision this year deciding whether or not they can afford to pay the man.

Jabari Parker, SF - The position switch with Antetokounmpo and Middleton was predicated on how this could help out Parker's game. His lack of height would on occasion create rebounding issues when matched up with other team's power forwards. Now that he's been moved to the three, he should be able to use his strength to push smaller defenders around and his height will no longer be an issue. He's been the main offensive weapon on this team for the last two years and we don't see any signs of that slowing down. Maybe this position switch will make the scoring even easier.

Khris Middleton, SF - Talk about selfless. This man would start for nearly every team in the NBA, but he accepted a 6th man role much like that of a James Harden. His accepting a bench role allowed the team to make some position changes and now he will create much needed offense when he comes off the bench. Plus he should have enough minutes that you shouldn't even be able to tell he's not a starter. He will have the green light every time he steps on the floor. He is without a doubt one of the best three point shooters in the NBA. Maybe a sixth man of the year award is on the horizon?

Nick Young, SF - A fun signing for the Bucks, Nick Young knows how to do one thing well, and that's shoot. Last year they realized they needed to bring in some shooting talent and that's what they'll get out of Nick. We should expect him to be able to take Kyle Korver's role of last year but be more productive in that role.

Robert Covington, SF - The ultimate role player. Covington will do it all. He will be scrappy, hit a corner three and then lock down his defender. Unfortunately all of these position changes seem to have effected him the most. He has been buried on the depth chart and may need to play his way back to more minutes. He's a glue guy that the team will try to keep happy.

Thon Maker, PF - Another reason for these position switches was to give Maker a chance at starting. He's shown time and time again that he has the talent to start in this league. His height makes him nearly unguardable and helps provide spacing while pulling the defending big men out to the perimeter. He has nearly limitless potential and we have no idea what his ceiling is, but we can't wait to see defenders try to score down low with him and Gobert in the post.

Doug McDermott, PF - Even though he's been primarily a small forward for this team, he's going to have to step into the power forward role off the bench due to the way this roster is constructed. He may struggle some on defense, but one thing shouldn't change, his pinpoint shooting. He should provide some great shooting talent off of the bench.

Rudy Gobert, C - Defending defensive player of the year, Rudy looks to keep that streak going. We feel bad for any big men that attempt to score down low against 7'1" Gobert and his new 7'1" partner, Maker. While he is no longer one of the main scoring threats of this team, the help he does provide on the boards and sending balls into the stands is immeasurable. This team would not be the same without him.

Wayne Pederson, C - Last year he had a few nice contributions as a rookie. If we had to compare him to someone, we'd say he's a Dirk Nowitzki 0.5. He has amazing touch on his mid-range game and a decent three point shot for a big man. His issue is that he is extremely slow, but despite that he can contribute well on offense and his height (7'1") keeps him from being a defensive liability.

Chucky Hughes, C - A project player to be sure. He doesn't have a shot yet and his fundamentals are very raw. However, if he can develop a low post game, or literally anything that resembles an NBA game, he could be incredible because he is far faster than any 7'0" man should be plus he has the strength to push anyone around. Probably won't contribute much this year as a rookie.

[JeriousNorwood]

Game 1:

Los Angeles Clippers at Milwaukee Bucks
Nov 6, 2018	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Los Angeles (0-2)	22	23	24	18	87
Milwaukee (1-0)	33	20	25	34	112

Los Angeles Clippers
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
C. Paul	31	5-13	1-4	0-0	3	7	1	1	3	11
K. Rice	30	7-17	1-5	1-2	3	3	0	0	2	16
W. Johnson	28	1-4	0-3	0-0	5	1	1	0	1	2
B. Griffin	34	6-12	0-0	3-5	8	0	2	1	0	15
T. Zeller	27	3-8	0-0	3-4	9	2	2	1	0	9
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
J.J. Redick	23	2-8	1-4	0-0	0	3	0	0	1	5
M. Muscala	20	3-7	1-2	1-1	5	2	1	1	1	8
R. Hill	20	2-2	0-0	2-2	1	0	0	0	0	6
K. Seraphin	16	4-11	0-0	1-1	4	0	2	1	0	9
M. Williams	11	2-3	0-1	2-2	1	2	0	0	1	6
L. Mbah a Moute	DNP
J. Dudley	DNP
S. Whitney	DNP
TEAM TOTALS		35-85	4-19	13-17	42	20	9	5	10	87

Milwaukee Bucks
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
K. Dunn	30	0-3	0-1	0-0	0	5	0	0	1	0
G. Antetokounmpo	27	6-8	1-3	0-0	5	5	2	1	2	13
J. Parker	28	7-13	2-6	6-6	3	4	1	1	0	22
T. Maker	30	3-11	0-4	3-4	7	5	2	3	1	9
R. Gobert	28	6-7	0-0	2-3	14	1	1	3	3	14
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PTS
K. Middleton	24	5-12	3-8	3-3	4	2	0	0	0	16
M. Brogdon	15	5-6	0-1	0-0	1	3	0	1	1	10
D. McDermott	14	0-1	0-0	4-4	3	0	0	0	2	4
M. Dellavedova	13	4-6	1-2	1-1	1	2	1	0	0	10
N. Young	9	2-4	0-2	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	4
R. Covington	9	1-2	0-0	2-2	5	0	0	0	0	4
W. Pederson	8	2-3	1-2	0-0	2	3	1	1	0	5
C. Hughes	5	0-1	0-0	1-2	2	0	1	1	0	1
TEAM TOTALS		41-77	8-29	22-25	51	31	9	11	10	112

Thoughts: Talk about starting the new season on fire and everyone clicking into their roles, this game I'm sure went better than even head coach Quinn Snyder could have ever dreamed. They came out of the gates swinging and finished the game the same way they started it. Coming into this season there was question as to whether whose team this was, Parker's or Antetokounmpo's. We now have our answer. The offense continually went through Parker while he was on the floor. That being said, this game was all about Rudy Gobert. He was extremely efficient on the offensive side of the ball, dominant on the boards and suffocating on defense. It's very easy to see the chemistry of this team and we're now expecting big things from the Bucks this year. How about Khris Middleton's effort as a sixth man? We were curious as to how he would take to coming off the bench, but he ended up taking the second most shots on the team. It's clear he has a green light and that the 2nd team offense runs through him. It's also great to see Dellavedova back where he belongs, on the Bucks. His defense and ability to hit from the corners were invaluable in this win. Finally, Kris Dunn may have looked a little disappointing on the stat sheet, but he played his role well. It's akin to being a game managing quarterback in football. He just didn't turn the ball over and let the playmakers make plays. You couldn't ask much more than that.