This offseason, the Milwaukee Bucks made a major change by signing Damian Lillard. While everyone knows what he can do from an offensive standpoint, one analyst ripped the All-Star guard for his play on the other end.
By trading for Damian Lillard, the Bucks’ dynamic underwent a complete makeover. Before him, Milwaukee had one of the best two-way guards in the league in Jrue Holiday. Now they have a point guard who can easily target opposing offenses.
Lillard has never been known as a positive defender, but one analyst put him on edge for a lack of effort. He feels like the Bucks’ new star has no plans to help in any way on that end of the floor.
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“No system works if the best players aren’t committed, and at this point it would be an understatement to suggest Lillard isn’t committed to playing defense,” Brad Botkin wrote.
“In reality, the guy is playing some of the laziest and downright worst defense of his career, and that’s really saying something for a guy who has always been a pretty apathetic defender. It was disgraceful at times.”
Through his first five games with the Milwaukee Bucks, Lillard averaged 23.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists.
Damian Lillard is playing the worst defense of his career
Looking at the numbers, Damian Lillard is playing some of the worst defense of his entire NBA career. He is at the bottom of the league in terms of defensive rating.
Trading Jrue Holiday for Lillard has caused the Bucks to take a major hit defensively. Last year they were generally among the best in the league when it came to defensive rating. Now they are ranked 25th out of 30 teams.
Milwaukee may have hoped that their offensive firepower would have hidden their defensive shortcomings, but that hasn’t been the case. They rank 12th in the NBA, with an offensive rating of 112.0.
Even with strong defensive anchors like Brook Lopez and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks defense has been unable to effectively hide Lillard. It’s still early in the season, but they need to figure out a solution quickly.
The Bucks went all in on the trade, thinking it would put them back in the title picture. If they can’t find a way to defend as a team, their chances of reaching the final are slim.