Jason Kidd’s Milwaukee Bucks were the youngest team to make the NBA playoffs, and just getting there wasn’t enough for the squad, who took two games from the Chicago Bulls before bowing out after six games.
For a team that finished the 2013-14 season at the very bottom of the league standings, it was a tremendous turnaround orchestrated by Coach Kidd and carried out by the fledgling squad—but most importantly, it provided the perfect building blocks for where the franchise wants to be going forward.
“We want to continue to build on what we went through last season, and that’s learning how to play as a team and learning how to win,” Jason said during Milwaukee’s Summer League contest with the San Antonio Spurs. “We’re a young team. This summer, I wouldn’t say we got older, but we feel very confident that we have a great group of guys who will work extremely hard.”
Milwaukee first added UNLV standout Rashad Vaughn and former Toronto Raptors sharpshooter Greivis Vasquez on draft day, and general manager John Hammond and Co. didn’t stop there, re-signing emergent star swingman Khris Middleton and adding former Detroit Pistons big man Greg Monroe in free agency.
As last year’s Young Bucks now transition into the new, but still young, Milwaukee squad, Hammond likes the way his roster is shaping up under the tutelage of J-Kidd.
“Talking about the continuity beginning with Jabari
[Parker], Giannis [Antetokounmpo], MCW [Michael Carter-Williams], Khris, John Henson, and now Greg being a part of that group,” Hammond said at the news conference for Monroe and Middleton. “So, that is the young core, that we’re hoping with over the next two to three to four years, that that group can eventually become the team that we want them to be, and that’s a championship team.”The Bucks’ brass pinpointed re-signing Middleton and pursuing Monroe in free agency as their top priorities. Coming off the bench at the beginning of last year, Middleton worked into the starting lineup, when Parker tore his left ACL after just 25 contests. Work ethic and versatility are two traits that stand out in J-Kidd’s mind when he thinks about the current Bucks unit, and Middleton brings just that each and every day.
“Khris being a young player, I think he grew,” Jason told FOX Sports Wisconsin’s Sophia Minnaert. “His work ethic at practice, after practice, he was someone that spent a lot of time in the gym, and you can see hard work paid off. He did win a couple of games for us, but as time went on he got better each game, and it shows, you don’t have to always start to have success.”
Middleton emerged as one of the team’s foremost leaders last year, leading the squad in scoring and steals in the postseason, averaging 15.8 and 2.3 per contest, respectively. While his return gives Milwaukee some much-needed continuity, the addition of Monroe gives it a prodigious punch down low. But according to Jason, Monroe provides much more than that.
The Georgetown product spent five years with the Pistons, and last year was arguably his best all-around. He shot just shy of 50 percent from the floor, his free-throw percentage (75 percent) was the best of his career, he nearly matched a career-high with 15.9 percent, and his 10.2 rebounds per game were a career best.
“I think when you look at Greg, he can play multiple positions, I’m a big fan of that. I’m not a coach that believes he is just a center, he’s a basketball player. He can be out there with a big group or a small group. He can definitely put the ball in the basket,” J-Kidd said. “He’s a great guy, so we look forward to him being a part of the Bucks family.”
Being one of the top free agents on the market, Monroe had several other teams vying for his services. But when the Bucks pitched to the 6’11” big man, they didn’t focus on the city. Instead, Hammond and his 10-time NBA All-Star coach focused on basketball.
“Everybody can write about the competition of L.A. or New York, but it’s not about that,” Jason explained. “I think it comes down to us pitching what we have and if it fits. It’s not about the city, it’s about people. And, Greg had a decision to make, so did Khris, if they didn’t like what they saw in the sense of Greg playing against us, and us coming down there. For Khris being here, he could’ve went somewhere else.”
It was a strategy that intrigued Monroe, a player who was familiar with the Bucks and the BMO Harris Bradley Center and Milwaukee from his time with the Georgetown Hoyas and Detroit Pistons. Middleton, who had witnessed first-hand the nature of the Bucks family, also was drawn to the atmosphere of class, character, and integrity cultivated by the organization.
“Since I’ve been here everything has been great,” Middleton said. “They treat us first class and try to make sure we’re taken care of. With the coaching staff, they’re all about getting better and winning here each day, as a player that’s all you can ask for.”
Monroe also looked at several other factors—and near the top of the list was the presence of a future Hall-of-Fame player at the head of the organization. The 25-year-old forward was greatly impressed by J-Kidd’s resume, and he’s thrilled to go to work and learn from one of the best to ever do it.
“He’s won everywhere,” Monroe said of Jason. “As a player, he’s been winning as a coach, and so everybody knows who he is, and what he’s done for this game. I know he has a lot to give back, as a coach now, so I’m looking forward to working with him a whole lot.”
A seventh-overall selection by the Pistons in 2010, Monroe has yet to see the postseason in five years. After five seasons of watching the Eastern Conference playoffs on TV, Monroe is anxious to be a part of the NBA’s 16-team tournament to crown a champion. After watching the Bucks from the outside looking in last year, and seeing the title ring on his new coach’s finger, Monroe is more than hungry to join the playoff battle.
“Maybe the correct word is starving for the playoffs,” Monroe said. “They were there last year, even without Jabari, and you add a guy like that back to your team, with the guys they have in place, that’s already a step in the right direction. They had everything set up for what I wanted. Everything that I needed to be comfortable and happy, that’s what they had. I’m just really, really excited to start working with these guys.”
With the addition of Monroe and the re-signing of Khris, Jason and Hammond both believe they are heading in the right direction, and hopefully down the path that will end with a champagne shower, hanging of a championship banner to the rafters at the Bradley Center and the addition of the Larry O’Brien Trophy to its trophy room.
But even more than just loading the roster with talent, the Bucks general manager and NBA-champion head coach have added a young, selfless core that works hard and reflects that family mentality.
“One of the things I did want to mention about us, and the goals that we have, and aspirations that we have in becoming a championship-caliber team, the one thing that Jason and I continually talk about is that it’s so much more enjoyable when you’re doing it with the right kind of people. I’ll let Jason talk about the basketball side, but I’ll say this, I know that for living with Khris now for the last year, and also for Greg, and knowing what he stands for, and who he is as a person, both of these guys I think are even better men, than basketball players,” Hammond said. “At the end of the day, if we are going to do this, and do this the right way, we need to start with the right kind of people, and that’s what both of these guys are, high character guys. And, we’ll find a way to win with people like that.”
