Orlando Magic Playoff Preview: Meet the Milwaukee Bucks with Behind the Buck Pass

Aside from Giannis, who is the team’s unsung hero? What player makes this team work so well?

Jordan Treske: Strictly speaking to this year’s team, I think Wesley Matthews perfectly fits the billing of the Milwaukee Bucks’ unsung hero. That certainly stems from the set of circumstances that led to his arrival with the departure of Malcolm Brogdon.

With the Bucks essentially trading Brogdon’s shot creation and snug ball-handling ability in favor of Matthews’ 3-and-D services within the starting lineup, the Bucks brought on their lead defensive stopper on the perimeter. With Matthews taking on such big defensive matchups and mostly succeeding in that department all year long, that has unlocked the likes of Eric Bledsoe and Khris Middleton to take on even more offensive responsibilities and the Bucks have obviously benefited doing so.

You take what you can get with Matthews’ streaky shooting, but he has certainly made the mark in his Wisconsin homecoming by solidifying the team’s starting unit.

Adam McGee: Matthews is a great call, but there is no shortage of other candidates either.

Outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo, no player is more fundamental to how the Bucks structure their game on both ends than Brook Lopez. His 3-point shooting got a lot of attention last year, but with that dropping off prior to the restart at Disney, it seems like his importance was underplayed more generally this year.

Lopez is incredibly skilled in so many departments, offensively, but he would be very much deserving of All-Defense honors this year too. Beyond that, there is a strong case to be made he has been the Bucks’ best player in the bubble to date. Outside of Brook Lopez, what George Hill and Donte DiVincenzo bring off the bench is also essential, although that duo has yet to look quite like themselves since the season picked back up.