Milwaukee Bucks 2022: Ranking the Roster – Introduction

It’s August, so you recognize what time it’s. Summer season holidays are winding down, children are going again to high school, and the NBA preseason is…nonetheless weeks away, so we’ve acquired extra ready to do. Whereas we look ahead to the Milwaukee Bucks to return to motion, why not return to one in every of our favourite pastimes: rating the Bucks roster?

This collection has run yearly right here on Brew Hoop for fairly a while (since 2014!), however there have been totally different variations of those rankings over the course of the totally different eras the franchise has moved by means of. Initially, it was a rating of property for the reason that Bucks had simply accomplished their worst collection on document. Then the workforce improved some, and it grew to become an ordering of which gamers had been “most vital for future success.” Lastly, as soon as the Bucks made it to (and gained!) the 2021 NBA Finals, we discover ourselves in our present state, the place we rank the roster primarily based on postseason potential. From final yr’s intro:

[P]ostseason success must be paramount in your thoughts when contemplating your rankings. Common season competency is a bonus, particularly in the event that they can assist the workforce get to the next seed that yields dividends within the Playoffs, however take into consideration the way you envision every particular person participant factoring in when postseason video games arrive.

With that in thoughts, who else needs to hitch me for a stroll down reminiscence lane? How lots of the present assortment of gamers had been even in Milwaukee again in 2014 (I’ll offer you two guesses.)? How have rankings modified over time, and the way a lot turnover has the roster undergone for the reason that Mike Budenholzer Period started? Don’t fear about Googling the outcomes from years previous: I collected them right here for you!

A number of notes on this desk:

• The 2020 rankings had been a large number. The offseason was truncated so we ranked gamers in bulk, inside their place teams; I tried to place gamers in some tough order primarily based on the voting outcomes, so take these figures with a grain of salt.
• We’ve gotten to know Wes Matthews fairly nicely, however he solely seems on this desk as soon as as a result of he wasn’t on the roster at the start of final season.
• The next gamers have by no means been ranked on this train: Jevon Carter and Serge Ibaka (joined the Bucks midseason in 2021-22), MarJon Beauchamp and two-way participant A.J. Inexperienced (rookies), and Joe Ingles (new to Milwaukee).
• Jordan Nwora is on the listing as a formality; Milwaukee prolonged him a qualifying provide and…nothing has occurred since. He would possibly return to the Bucks, or he would possibly search employment elsewhere (and unlock his seat on the bench for somebody – anybody – else, or nobody in any respect). Till we all know for positive, we’ll maintain him in thoughts…however that would change at any second.
• The Bucks have retained six of their prime seven-ranked (by this train) gamers from the previous two offseasons: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Vacation, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, and Pat Connaughton. With just a little little bit of assist, you may make a stable playoff rotation out of that group!

The overall construction will stay the identical: we’ll embrace a ballot within the article that allows you to vote for the Least Necessary Buck on that put up’s listing. The “winner” of that ballot will get voted off and their rating is ready, and the following put up will embrace the following ballot, from 17 all the way in which as much as 1 (aka “the Giannis spot”).

One factor we’re going to do some in a different way this time round is add a “confidence score” for every participant who we spotlight at their respective spot on the listing. It is going to be a easy 1-5 Likert scale that asks the query: how assured are you that this participant shall be within the 2023 postseason rotation? It should look just a little one thing like this:

This may assist us differentiate between gamers in the course of the pack which have totally different questions surrounding them, whether or not it’s capability, stability, availability, or one thing else totally. For instance, who will get the next rating on this mark: the savvy veteran Joe Ingles, or the “toolsy” rookie MarJon Beauchamp? It should assist inform our early opinion concerning the end-of-season roster, and in addition be one thing price wanting again on subsequent yr, the place we are able to inform how shut (or far off) our preseason preconceptions had been to actuality.

However sufficient about that, let’s get going! I’ve preemptively organized the roster into normal “tiers” primarily based on our playoff-centric perspective, so with out additional ado, let’s kick issues off by selecting which participant on this listing is the least vital for the Bucks to achieve success within the playoffs. Prepared, set, vote!