The Milwaukee Bucks are stuck in a strange middle ground. They’re not built to chase wins at a high level right now, and they don’t have any real incentive to chase losses either. That makes this moment less about the standings and more about something bigger for Taylor Jenkins: figuring out what the next Bucks team should look like.
That’s where the young group comes in. With no real tanking angle to worry about under the NBA’s new lottery setup, Milwaukee has the freedom to let development happen naturally. The veterans can still provide structure, but there’s no need to force the rotation into something that keeps the younger players buried if they’re already showing more.
That tension showed up in Milwaukee’s last preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets, when the Bucks sat Brayden Burries, Ousmane Dieng, and Kasparas Jakucionis to give the veterans more run. Nate Ament, who fits this conversation perfectly, is out with an ankle sprain.
The problem is that the veteran-heavy look didn’t do much for Milwaukee. Charlotte was missing Kon Knueppel, Coby White, Grant Williams, and Grayson Allen, but still handled the Bucks easily in a 105-90 win.
The individual numbers tell the story pretty clearly. Kyle Kuzma has started two games at forward and is shooting 28.6% from the field while averaging 6.5 points per game.
Gary Trent Jr. is even colder at 17.6% from the field and 5.5 points per game. Caris LeVert has been the roughest of the three: he has yet to make a shot or score a point in 29 minutes.
And it hasn’t just been ugly in the box score. Milwaukee has been outclassed in each of those players’ minutes, including a brutal -25 in LeVert’s 28 minutes.
The younger Bucks haven’t turned into world-beaters, but they’ve clearly offered more. Burries and Jakucionis are both averaging more than 10 points per game, and both have done it on shooting numbers that, while still shaky, are better than any of the veterans listed above. Dieng put up 8 points in his only preseason appearance and added five rebounds and seven assists against just one turnover in 22 minutes.
The old-school argument says veterans set the tone and teach the kids how to play the right way. But when the lesson ends with Milwaukee getting run over by the Hornets, it’s fair to wonder what exactly the benefit is supposed to be.
Rewarding worse basketball with more minutes doesn’t make much sense, and it hasn’t exactly worked for the Doc Rivers Bucks over the past few seasons. The good news for Jenkins is that he doesn’t seem locked into that kind of thinking. His preseason approach has been more about seeing the full roster than locking the young players out.
Dieng and Jakucionis have each appeared in just one of Milwaukee’s three preseason games, and Jenkins said those two “are going to get opportunities tomorrow in game 4.”
At this stage, that feels like the right direction. Dieng, Jakucionis, and Burries are the more interesting bets, and they might already be the better ones too. Jenkins can spend training camp and the preseason sorting that out, but there’s not much value in holding back the young players if they’re the ones who are actually making something happen.
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Bucks Still Have One Rookie Question Hanging Over Opening Night
Nate Aments preseason ended on a frustrating note when an ankle sprain kept the Bucks rookie out of Milwaukees final exhibition game, but the early signs are encouraging. Coach Taylor Jenkins said Ament is progressing in his recovery and is expected to be available when the regular season opens, giving the Bucks some reason for relief as they sort out their young talent.
Even so, the team is not treating this like a simple return date and move on. Milwaukee is being careful not to rush Ament back too quickly, and his status remains part of a broader developmental picture the staff is monitoring closely as opening night approaches. [Read more 🡒]