Can the Danilo Gallinari-Bucks deal remove all the woes Milwaukee is going through?
Will this erase all the criticisms thrown toward coach Doc Rivers?
The Milwaukee Bucks entered the recent NBA All-Star Weekend as one of the teams that deeply struggled even though they had two starters in the All-Star Game.
They are currently 35-21, good for third in the Eastern Conference standings. While that looks right for other teams, it is not for the Bucks.
They are meant to be one of the top teams in the league, with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in tow.
However, it has not been that pretty for them since Doc Rivers replaced Adrian Griffin on January 26.
They are 3-7 in Doc Rivers era.
The trade deadline has passed, and they acquired two former players of the 2008 NBA champion coach.
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Patrick Beverley joined the team first, and then Gallinari followed last week, with the deal made official during the All-Star break.
The Italian forward reportedly joined the Bucks for a chance to contend and to once again play for his former coach.
Can Danilo Gallinari make the Bucks better?
There's no denying that Gallinari is a great offensive player. He had his best years with Rivers at the Los Angeles Clippers. His career season was 2018-2019, when he averaged 19.8 per game.
However, he is hardly the answer that the Bucks are looking for.
He will play off the bench as a four. He will probably play alongside Bobby Portis, who is just as good as him from the outside.
The only difference is that Gallinari likes attacking, while Portis likes it better from the arc or low post.
There will be a redundancy in the team because he and Portis will have the same role.
What the Bucks need is a wing defender.
The Athletic's analytics guru, Seth Partnow, studied the Bucks' defensive schemes, and he found out that whatever the coaching staff wanted to do, the personnel were just not there.
They have the best offensive players. Superb defenders in Giannis and Brook Lopez. However, the wing and guard position can be better.
"My intuition is that even with better execution, the scheme doesn't fit the personnel. This roster is very unlikely to be a turnover-generation machine," Partnow said in an interview with Bucks beat writer Eric Nehm.
"Maybe better execution does create an extra opponent miscue or two, but I don't think that benefit is worth the cost in terms of the scoring efficiency, foul drawing, and offensive rebounding increases, which result from increased aggression without the sort of ball-hawking players required."
This is a problem because, over the years, the Bucks have been willing to let opponents shoot tons of threes.
They are 20th in overall defensive rating in the last 10 games.
Gallinari could provide versatility in offense but don't expect any offense to be set for him since the team already has two ball-dominant players in Dame and Giannis. Khris Middleton is the third option for the team.
Right now, the Bucks will have to make do with the line-up they have. It will be a difficult journey for them to get back to the top.
Related article: Doc Rivers Didn't Understand Why the Bucks Fired Adrian Griffin
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