Milwaukee Bucks 2022 Offseason Preview: Point Guard

The 2022 NBA offseason wasted little time and is already underway with the draft taking place late last week. That means we’re a little behind and the Milwaukee Bucks are already in the process of implementing their offseason plan.

In order to prepare us for what lies ahead, let’s take an unconventional position-by-position look at where the Bucks are at.

First, we won’t use the traditional positions of point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Instead, we’ll let Cleaning the Glass shepherd us by using their designations of point guard, combo guard, wing, forward and big.

Secondly, the method we’ll be using isn’t one that’s always applied to NBA franchises and is more likely to be used when assessing business before deciding on a new strategy. We’ll use what’s called a SWOT analysis that walks us through a positional look at the Bucks’ Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

There are a series of questions that will guide us in each category, but first, let’s take a look at the current depth chart.

Current Depth Chart

1. Jrue Holiday
2. Luca Vildoza (non-guaranteed)
3. Rayjon Tucker (non-guaranteed)

Strengths

The defensive ability of the Bucks’ point guards was one of their best assets all year long. Everybody knows about Holiday’s ability to lock a man up, as he can guard points, combos, wings and even some forwards. His strength and basketball I.Q. are one of the elite combinations in the NBA. Don’t sleep on the work George Hill did either. He’s unspectacular, but still a solid defender.

Scoring efficiency was another strength of this position, even if it faltered in the postseason. Holiday, who played 90 percent of the true point guard minutes according to Cleaning the Glass (to be clear, a lot of the combo minutes accrued by players came at the traditional point guard position as well), ranked in the 90th percentile for points per shot attempt. He had a tremendous scoring season from all three levels.

Weaknesses

The Bucks lacked a true backup point guard last season (George Hill is considered a combo guard) and that depth was evident at various times throughout the regular season and the playoffs. Since Milwaukee relies on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton to both handle the ball and create shots, it’s less important than on most other teams. Still, they could benefit from adding another shot creator to this lineup.

It would be great if they could even add a true point guard who can handle the rock while Holiday moves off-ball. He’s probably best in more of a combo guard role where he isn’t asked to create as much offense for himself or others and can focus more on defending bigger plays on the other end of the court.

Opportunities

Jevon Carter is a quick and easy way for the Bucks to begin addressing their depth issues at this position. He played well during his limited minutes in Milwaukee and was rewarded by being buried on the bench when Hill returned in the middle of the second round. Mike Budenholzer should learn from that mistake and give Carter a real opportunity to earn a spot as the primary backup at point guard.

Milwaukee will have veteran minimum deals to hand out (what they should use on Carter) and the taxpayer mid-level exception valued at $6.4 million. Guys they could target with that money include Goran Dragic (who may also fall in the combo category), Dennis Schröder, Aaron Holiday (restricted free agent) and Rajon Rondo. They’re probably best signing another guy to a vet minimum deal and saving their taxpayer mid-level exception for a bigger need.

Threats

An internal threat presents itself in the form of Hill’s future. He’s owed $4 million this season as the last year on his deal and might be seen as a trade candidate. However, his injury status may prevent any deal from being made. Hill had an issue with his spine that he needed to address to begin the offseason and it’s unclear how serious it is or what type of attention was needed to repair it. All Jon Horst would say was that it needed to be addressed.

As far as what other teams are doing at the point guard position, it’s necessary to keep your eye on the Kyrie Irving situation this offseason. His departure from the Brooklyn Nets would be the biggest player movement at that spot across the Eastern Conference. It’s worth monitoring Kyle Lowry’s situation in Miami, as well, as he could provide the Heat with a boost if he’s able to get back into shape and healthy. Trae Young is also still looming, but it sounds as if the Atlanta Hawks are going to be making some major changes to their roster so we’ll see how that turns out.

The other projected top teams (Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers) don’t really have true point guards and their situations will be addressed in the combo guard article.

Overall, the biggest threat the Bucks weakness exposes them to is the inability to defend a quick point guard. Holiday is a great matchup for bigger wings, but doesn’t always have the skills to stick with smaller, faster points. There also isn’t a guy currently on the roster who can fill that void (again, I’m pleading with the Bucks to re-sign Carter). If that hole isn’t addressed, it could become an even bigger issue next season.