(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
By: Marques Eversoll
All things considered – regardless of how the rest of their season plays out – the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2014-15 season was a huge success. There’s promise. There’s hope.
Above all: There’s a buzz. People are talking about the Bucks (positively).
But in order to take the next step as a franchise and become an actual contender, they need to fill their roster and right their wrongs. The Bucks have a solid core in point guard Michael Carter-Williams, 23, and forwards Giannis Antetokounmpo, 20, and Jabari Parker, 20. The Bucks’ talented trio is under contract through 2017, giving them a nice window to prove they are, in fact, on the ascent.
Slide in shooting guard Khris Middleton – who, once upon a time, was the “throw-in” player in the Brandon Jennings-for-Brandon Knight trade – and the Bucks have four of five starting spots spoken for. (Middleton is going to get paid this offseason. Here’s to hoping the Bucks are able to lock him up.)
But there’s one missing link to what seems like an inevitable Bucks’ rebirth – the center position. It was the one position the Bucks thought they had locked down a couple years ago when they signed Larry Sanders to a four-year, $44 million extension.
It’s been evident through the Bucks’ first two games of their first-round series against the Chicago Bulls; Joakim Noah has 30 rebounds, and Pau Gasol has 29. An athletic big man would do wonders for this young, long and talented Bucks team.
Zaza Pachulia has been a savior. When Sanders left the team, the Bucks were frighteningly thin in the post. Giannis is 6-11 and fun to watch, but he can’t defend the opposing center. John Henson is … John Henson. If not for Pachulia, the Bucks would likely be in a world of hurt – and probably on the outside looking in at the postseason. That being said, Pachulia is not the long-term answer at center.
Sanders was the answer. Or at least he was supposed to be. If he continued the upward trajectory from his 2012-13 season when he averaged 9.8 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per night, then the Bucks would be licking their chops. But then the “Larry Sanders Story” happened. He’s no longer in the league.
What the Bucks need is someone who can be what they hoped Sanders would become.
That person is Kentucky big man Willie Cauley-Stein.
You mean the same Willie Cauley-Stein that scored just two points against Wisconsin in the Final Four?
Yes, that Willie Cauley-Stein. Who happens to be the same Willie Cauley-Stein that was named a finalist for basically every National Player of the Year Award.
Cauley-Stein is not going to give you much on the offensive end of the court, but he’s what Sanders was in terms of a rim protector and rebounder. He’s long, athletic and fits what the Bucks are – a good, potentially great defensive team with a need for a difference-maker at center. The Bucks don’t need a Shaq-type scorer at the position; they figure to have plenty of scoring when Parker comes back, and Giannis continues to improve.
What Cauley-Stein was at Kentucky is exactly what he’ll be in the NBA, and exactly what the Milwaukee Bucks need.
The hard part is actually getting in position to draft Cauley-Stein. He’s being projected to come off the board as early as No. 6 overall, but could potentially fall into the early teens. If I’m the Bucks, I’d be willing to part with multiple draft picks to move up 10 spots and get “my guy.” They also have some attractive trade assets in Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson and potentially O.J. Mayo. A marriage between Cauley-Stein and the Bucks may seem farfetched, but it’s doable.
Carter-Williams, Antetokounmpo and Cauley-Stein. I’m not sure what’s more impressive: the fact that those 58 letters, eight words and two hyphens are really only three guys – or – the fact that it’d be 21 feet (and one inch) of wingspan between your point guard, small forward and center. That’s scary. To everyone outside of Milwaukee.
Marques Eversoll is on-air on SportsLine every weekday afternoon from 4:00-6:00 PM on The Fan, and he hosts the Saturday Morning Showcase every weekend 8:00-10:00 AM. Follow him on Twitter @MarquesEversoll.
