Brayden Burries has earned a look in Milwaukee’s starting five, but that doesn’t mean the job is locked in.
Taylor Jenkins has already shown he’s willing to shuffle the deck, moving rookies Brayden Burries and Nate Ament into bigger roles while sending Ryan Rollins and Ousmane Dieng down the pecking order. Still, Burries may not be in line for a long stay with the starters if Jenkins decides the Bucks need a more natural organizer on the floor.
The issue is pretty clear: the current group can dribble, but it doesn’t exactly scream point guard-heavy. Burries and Tyler Herro are both capable ball-handlers, yet neither fits the mold of a true floor general.
That has shown up in the passing numbers. Since Burries entered the starting lineup two games ago, Milwaukee’s starters have collected just 29 assists, which ranks 27th in the NBA.
That’s a drop from where the Bucks were before the change. With Rollins still in the starting five, Milwaukee sat in the middle of the pack in assists.
He isn’t a classic point guard either, but he fits the passing structure better than Burries or Herro. Unless Jaime Jaquez Jr. starts leaning harder into his playmaking, the Bucks could keep running into the same problem without a true distributor among the starters.
That’s why Kasparas Jakucionis looks like the obvious candidate to step in.
Acquired in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade, Jakucionis is the only pure point guard on the roster. He’s already making his presence felt, averaging four assists per game, which is the second-best mark on the team behind Rollins. As Jenkins continues giving his young players more room to grow, a swap involving Jakucionis and Burries starts to make a lot of sense.
It would also let Milwaukee separate its best passers instead of stacking them in the same spot. Jakucionis could run with the starters and help set the tone early, while Rollins could anchor the second unit and keep the offense moving when the reserves come in. Rather than having both players come off the bench and limit each other’s impact, the Bucks could spread out the ball-handling duties in a way that gives each one more room.
That kind of move would also open things up for the rest of the lineup. Jakucionis would get a bigger runway in his second season, Rollins could take on more responsibility off the bench, Burries would be able to settle into his natural position, and Herro could slide into the off-ball role he’s comfortable with. At this point, another Bucks adjustment feels less like a possibility and more like a matter of time.
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Taylor Jenkins has already shown he is willing to make tough calls when performance slips, including benching Ryan Rollins earlier this year. With Kyle Kuzmas offensive output trending down, Milwaukee could be approaching a point where the veterans role is reduced even further, especially if Jenkins continues to open the door for rookies like Ament and Brayden Burries to take on bigger responsibilities. [Read more 🡒]