Grading the Bucks 17-18 Additions

The Bucks have had some serious ups and downs throughout the 2017-2018 NBA Season. They’ve had coaching changes, player changes, and all of this coming from a front office change in the offseason. They drafted Sterling Brown and D.J. Wilson, traded for Eric Bledsoe and Tyler Zeller during the season, and signed Brandon Jennings and Shabazz Muhammad to contracts for the rest of the season. Some of these moves were somewhat surprising, but some of them turned out to work really well for the Bucks. I want to analyze and grade all of these players the Bucks acquired for the season so here it goes:

Sterling Brown: B-

Sterling has brought a lot of energy and toughness to the Bucks backcourt set, and has been quite a spark coming off the bench, especially under Jason Kidd’s reign. Joe Prunty seemed to favor the veteran leadership as help off the bench, and has been giving a lot of Sterling’s minutes to Jason Terry instead. Considering Sterling Brown was a second round pick out of a smaller school like SMU, he has filled in the cracks on both offense and defense this season. He had some exciting dunks, steals, lockdown defense, and big shots (especially from the corner three pointer). He’s not Malcom Brogdon, as far as second round picks go, but he has been a huge help off the bench for the team this year, and I’m sure he’s eager to get on the court in a playoff basketball setting.

D.J. Wilson: D-

Frankly, D.J. Wilson just does not contribute. It is not necessarily his fault that he doesn’t play, but even watching him during the preseason when he got a good amount of minutes, he was nothing to go crazy about. He has spent some time on the Wisconsin Herd’s roster throughout the season, which is really where he should reside permanently. I had high expectations for D.J., because the Bucks really needed a powerful offensive power forward with Jabari being out a good chunk of the year and Giannis having to play every position on the court. Perhaps there is still potential for D.J. Wilson to have an important role for the Bucks in the coming years, but for now, I will label him as a bust.

Eric Bledsoe: B+

With the Bucks relying heavily on Giannis and Khris Middleton to carry the offense early in the season, the trade for Eric Bledsoe in early November created one of the most threatening trios in the NBA, and possibly the most threatening in the Eastern Conference (despite currently being the 8 seed, they still pose a threat). He is one of the quickest point guards the Bucks have ever had, and I would not want to be in his way on a fast break. He’s been a fantastic finisher at the rim, and knows when to kick it out for someone else to take a drive, or hopefully someone’s open for a 3. Bledsoe has the semi-occasional “what in the world was that?” kind of turnover, and thinks he’s a better 3 point shooter than he actually is, but overall, he fits in great with the Bucks fast paced offense and defense. Be grateful we have Bledsoe and not still Greg Monroe.

Tyler Zeller: C

My main happiness with Tyler Zeller coming to the Bucks was that it meant Rashad Vaughn was finally gone. Vaughn was getting far too many minutes early in the season, and the minutes he was playing needed to go to a big man, which the Bucks desperately needed. Zeller showed a lot of hustle as soon as he was eased into the rotation. He’s a little skinny for a big man and often got bullied by the NBA’s powerhouse big men (Deandre Jordan, Hassan Whiteside, Joel Embiid, etc.). But he certainly showed more hustle on the rebounds than John Henson has at all. He’s been an average addition to the Bucks. Nothing special to write home about, but doesn’t do anything to despicable. Get’s the job done.

Brandon Jennings: B-

 

The Original Young Buck. The return of Brandon Jennings had long time Bucks fans as excited as they have been all year. Jennings first claimed his spot on the Wisconsin Herd until he was called up to the Bucks and served two 10-day contracts over the last few weeks. The team announced just a couple days ago that they signed the Original Young Buck to a multi-year contract. With Delly and Malcom Brogdon out with injuries over the past several weeks, the addition of Brandon Jennings helped keep the Bucks’ fast-paced offense moving. Jennings nearly recorded a triple double in his very first game with the Bucks, and although he hasn’t come close since then, his energy on offense has not stopped. Keep up the pace BJ!

Shabazz Muhammad: C-

Shabazz Muhammad has not had much of an effect at all since being signed in February. He’s made some good plays at the rim and is a strong finisher, but I think the Bucks would be just fine without him. When the Bucks signed him, what they really needed was some added three point shooting, but Shabazz was not that. He is primarily a driving scorer, and the Bucks already have enough players who can drive down the lane and finish strong. He does not necessarily hurt the Bucks in any way, and is fairly smart player who knows what to do and when to do it. However, he doesn’t necessarily make a difference in the overall outcome of the game. He did have a game-high 21 points in the Bucks win in Chicago on 3/23, which certainly helped in a game where Giannis did not play, but other than that, he has really not made much of a difference.

 

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