Milwaukee Bucks: 3 players who overachieved in 2018-19

The Milwaukee Bucks exceeded many expectations throughout the 2018-19 season and these three players were a big reason why.

The Milwaukee Bucks finished the 2017-18 regular season in disappointing fashion with just 44 wins. Entering that year, some people around the organization thought they could climb to 50 if everything went right. Unfortunately, they were doomed by horrible coaching and players who didn’t seem to mesh.

Fast forward to the beginning of the 2018-19 season and expectations weren’t much different. They were expected to win between 46-48 games according to most Sports Books. However, everything went right for the Bucks this season and they just won their 60th game on Sunday night. That’s only the fifth time in franchise history they’ve won at least 60 games and the first time since the 1980-81 season.

General manager Jon Horst appeared to make all the right moves last summer. He signed stretch bigs such as Ersan Ilyasova and Brook Lopez. Let Jabari Parker walk. And most importantly brought in new head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Budenholzer created an atmosphere that is extremely relaxed and fun for his team. More importantly, he created an offense that maximizes Giannis Antetokounmpo’s potential. However, those two haven’t done it alone, as these three players have surpassed expectations heading into the year and gave the Bucks a big boost.

3. Malcolm Brogdon

Brogdon is currently recovering from a slight tear in his plantar fascia. However, the fact that he’ll miss the rest of the regular season means he locked up a historic 50/40/90 season. Brogdon proved to be a capable scorer during his first two seasons, but picked up his game a bit in his third year. He averaged career-highs in points per game (15.6), rebounds (4.5), free throw percentage (92.8), three-point percentage (42.6), field goal percentage (50.5) and effective field goal percentage (57.6).

Despite Milwaukee lacking a second star behind Antetokounmpo, Brogdon was a crucial player in their balanced scoring attack. He rarely attracted the opposing teams best defender and he made them pay for that. He’s a huge part in what the Bucks do and they’ll get a nice boost when he returns.

2. D.J. Wilson

Wilson only appeared in 22 games during his rookie season in 2017-18 and looked like a complete bust of a draft pick. Then, lo and behold the magic of Budenholzer. Suddenly, Wilson is a fringe rotational player on the NBA’s best regular season team. He’s definitely gone through his ups and downs on offense, but is connecting on 36.7 percent of his 2.4 three-point attempts per game.

Most importantly, he’s a versatile defender who is able to guard multiple positions. He’s the perfect center if the Bucks decide to go to a switching defense because he can step out on wings on the perimeter as well as body with bigs down low. The Bucks expected absolutely nothing out of Wilson this season, but ended up getting a guy who has stepped up when Milwaukee has been short-handed in their frontcourt.

1. Brook Lopez

It’s odd that Lopez, a one-time All-Star and former 20-point per game scorer ends up number one on this list after only averaging 12.5 points per game. However, Lopez impact on the Bucks has been much greater than his simple per game scoring average.

Lopez’ ability to stretch the floor and knock down shots way behind the arc has given Antetokounmpo and his teammates all the room they need to attack the hoop at will. His ability to defend the paint is equally as important. Lopez is the only player in NBA history to record at least 175 blocks and 175 threes in the same season. That sounds like number one material to me.