X-factors, starters, closers, and Gyro Step guests - Milwaukee Bucks Mailbag

The Bucks season is around the corner, so lets answer some burning questions.

The Milwaukee Bucks play basketball tonight. It’s preseason basketball, sure, but the Bucks are BACK. And not a moment too soon, given the state of the Milwaukee Brewers and Green Bay Packers this month…

While we have yet to see the Freaky Time duo of Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo debut (look for a reaction pod following that game, whenever it ends up being) there’s still been plenty of intrigue around this Milwaukee team. To that end, I opened up the mailbag in the GSPN Discord (Discord members get priority on mailbag questions — join today!) and on X dot com to try and answer some of the biggest questions Bucks fans have at the moment.

Who will be this season’s most productive GSPN guest between A.J. Green, TyTy Washington Jr., and Jevon Carter? (Bobby Portis is next level so far, he can chill on this question) - Parker

I would love to answer with one of the two players on the Bucks roster this season, but given Jevon Carter has a legit pathway to starting games for the Chicago Bulls this season it’s got to be him.

After Jevon, the choice between A.J. Green and TyTy Washington Jr. is pretty interesting: Green has a real roster spot so that’s a leg up, but the Bucks are deeper at wing than they are at point guard on the NBA roster, and the addition of Malik Beasley and swap of Jrue Holiday for Damian Lillard seems to make Green’s particular set of strengths and weaknesses (great at shooting, not great at wing defense) harder to incorporate into the rotation. I’m still going to put Green second and Washington Jr. third though, given there’s two other point guards on two-way contracts and the PG rotation is rock solid on the NBA club with Dame and Cam Payne ahead of TyTy.

Bigger question mark on our season defensively: Jrue Holiday being gone or if Giannis Antetokounmpo will be used to lock down top players more consistently? - Parker

Giannis being used as a defensive stopper may be more interesting/exciting, but I think the loss of Jrue Holiday is the bigger question mark. The Bucks wing defense options even outside of Giannis are at least solid with Jae Crowder and Khris Middleton in tow — it’s the guards Jrue did such a good job defending that seem to pose the biggest threat to Milwaukee’s defense as it currently stands, with Dame and one of Beasley/MarJon Beauchamp/Pat Connaughton likely forming the starting backcourt. Giannis taking on more assignments can help, but I don’t think he’ll be guarding opposing guards regularly. Until we see somebody on the Bucks who can do so effectively, that’s the team’s biggest question mark outside of health.

Who's the biggest question mark, that if they play up to their potential, could make the Bucks unstoppable? - morecowbell520

It’s got to be MarJon Beauchamp, right? The theoretical best case Beauchamp, an ascending two-way wing player who can defend guards and knock down threes while getting out in transition and cutting behind defenses while they’re distracted with Dame and Giannis, is a perfect fit at the two-guard for this Bucks team.

That said, I think you could make a case for healthy/rejuvenated Khris Middleton as the answer here — Khris was able to defend shifty perimeter players like Duncan Robinson extremely well as recently as 2021, and just averaged an efficient 20/6/6 with everything crumbling around him while needing knee surgery in the first round disaster against Miami. If Khris is able to a) log 70-ish games played, b) be an above average wing defender, and c) post an efficient 20/6/6 type line offensively, that could make Milwaukee’s Big Three potent enough to overcome question marks here and there in the rotation.

Finally, I’d entertain Andre Jackson Jr. here too. I’m fearful to put too much on any NBA rookie, so I won’t imagine too high of a ceiling in year 1, but if AJax can truly enter the NBA as a hyper-athletic near-elite defender who’s smart and savvy enough to not tank the offense despite not having a jumper he could have a huge impact on this Bucks season. Bucks coach Adrian Griffin has already said it’s rare to find a player who loves defense as much as Jackson Jr. — given the lack of proven defenders on this roster that is his best pathway to having a real role in year 1.

Who will be the fifth starter? What lineup will usually close games? - Offseason A

Two significantly different questions, so I’m glad Offseason Andy asked both of them. I don’t think the fifth starter decision is chiseled in stone or anything, but I do buy into the buzz from Sunday about Malik Beasley slotting in there to start the season (notably chronicled by Eric Nehm of The Athletic) despite leaning toward MarJon last week personally. By no means is this concrete proof given how many core players sat out, but Beasley did get the start on Sunday alongside Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis (a regular spot starter when Giannis is out), Jae Crowder, and Lindell Wigginton.

Beasley took on premier defensive assignments as Griffin said he’d have to and played pretty well on that end, and gave the Bucks real juice offensively with his shooting in the first half. Given how quickly this group has to pull together post-Dame trade, Griffin getting his projected starters as many minutes together as possible in the preseason does make sense. If Beasley gets the start when/if Dame and Giannis debut in the preseason, then I think he’s locked in to at least start the season.

All of that said, I think Connaughton has a good shot to end up closing more games than Beasley given the huge moments he’s had as a Buck and generally being viewed as a more reliable team defender, at least going into this season. As my Gyro Step cohost Rohan Katti has enjoyed saying this summer, though, the pecking order under Mike Budenholzer is not necessarily the pecking order under Adrian Griffin.

Finally, Jae Crowder can certainly slot into closing lineups too — his jumper looked good on Sunday and he’s one of the best defenders on this roster, especially when it comes to guarding forwards. In matchups where the Bucks close small, with Giannis at the 5 and Brook Lopez on the bench, I would expect Crowder to factor prominently as the smallball 4.

To actually answer the second question: I think a lineup of Damian Lillard, Pat Connaughton, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez will close most games, although I wouldn’t be shocked to see one of Crowder or Beasley get a shot over Connaughton, and two of those three will play with Dame, Khris, and Giannis when Lopez is forced off the floor. No disrespect to Beauchamp or Jackson Jr., but I’ll need to see more consistency from either before I slot them into closing lineups.

Thanks for reading! Let me know in the Discord or the comments here if you’d like more regular mailbag posts, or if you’d prefer them as podcasts, as we’ve got big plans to bring even more Bucks coverage this season.