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Milwaukee Bucks Midseason Grades: Guards

By Kenny Jilek

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 19: Jrue Holiday #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles past Kenrich Williams #34 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of a game at Fiserv Forum on November 19, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 19: Jrue Holiday #21 of the Milwaukee Bucks dribbles past Kenrich Williams #34 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of a game at Fiserv Forum on November 19, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) /
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Milwaukee Bucks
Pat Connaughton, Milwaukee Bucks  (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

Milwaukee Bucks Shooting Guards

Pat Connaughton

After two mediocre seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks that led to a mess of a contract extension, Pat Connaughton has turned into a very valuable role player in the past two seasons, which was a big factor in their championship run last season, and has expanded his role even more this year. In 2022, he’s started 15 games, more than he started in the past three years combined, and is averaging double-digit scoring for the first time in his career at 10.8 points per game.

Not only is he increasing his usage, taking 8.3 shots per game and 6.0 threes per game, both career highs, but he’s also enjoying better efficiency than he’s ever seen, shooting 47.1 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from long range, both career-best numbers, excluding his second season in the league when he played just 8.1 minutes and averaged a measly 2.5 points per game.

All these great shooting numbers add up to already having tied his career-high in offensive win shares with 2.0 in the middle of the season. These continue to accumulate as the season goes on, so he’ll far surpass his numbers from any other season in that category, especially if he keeps playing like this.

His player efficiency rating of 14.1 is also the best mark of his career. Pretty much any way you slice it, Pat Connaughton is having a career year. I was one of the first to question the decision to bring him back two years ago, especially after they botched the contract details and had to give him an extra year and more money because of it. However, he’s proven me wrong, especially this season, and now his contract looks like a great value.

Overall Season Grade: A-

Donte Divincenzo

Donte has had some bad luck in the NBA. He played in just 27 games his rookie season because of heel bursitis. In his third year, he finally stepped into a full-time starting role and looked like he’d be instrumental in a long Bucks playoff run, but a tendon injury in his left foot in game three of the opening series of the playoffs against the Heat kept him sidelined for the entire run and well into this season.

When it looked like he was finally back, he ran into health and safety protocols and had to miss more time. Now, he’s had five games played this year, and he can’t buy a bucket. He’s shooting an extremely ugly 18.8 percent from the field and 22.7 percent from three-point range.

He still has active hands-on defense, but they haven’t led to as many steals, he’s turning the ball over slightly more, and he’s had just two assists in five games. It has been a very rough start for the fourth-year guard from Villanova, but I’m willing to give him more time to get into rhythm, and hopefully, we’ll be able to chalk these early struggles up to a small sample size after lots of time off.

Overall Season Grade: Incomplete

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