Milwaukee Bucks: Does Giannis need a perimeter star to win a championship?

Does Giannis Antetokounmpo need a star on the perimeter to win a championship?

Giannis Antetokounmpo is arguably considered the most dominant player in the league right now. He absolutely owns the paint, has a growing post-game, is unstoppable in transition, and has a unique passing vision.

What more do you want from a superstar? Well, the most popular knock on Giannis is his shooting.

For as great as Giannis has been during his career, he is not a knockdown shooter. He’s a career 28 percent 3-point shooter and was only shooting 30 percent this season from deep.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been surrounded well by his organization

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Luckily for the Greek Freak, the Milwaukee Bucks organization has given him an excellent coach in Mike Budenholzer who’s brought an excellent mix of spacing in their system so that Giannis doesn’t need to be a 3-point threat for the team to be successful. Credit executive Jon Horst for adding shooting to the roster as well.

What is clear when watching the Bucks play is that their team definitely draws from coach Budenholzer’s time in San Antonio. The Bucks are currently built like the Spurs with the one truly dominant star surrounded by plenty of excellent role players.

The results so far have been great, a 60-win season in coach Bud’s first year followed by a league-leading 53-12 record up until the league suspended play this year. The Bucks, during this span, have also had the best defensive rating in the league and a top-6 offensive rating.

The one flaw is that so far this team has failed to bring a championship to Milwaukee, which really got me thinking. Over the past few years, many media members have dubbed Giannis as “Modern Shaq” which is really interesting because now it seems like the “Modern Shaq” is playing the role designed for Tim Duncan.

Now there’s no way tell what it would be like if Shaquille O’Neal was in Duncan’s place but think about this, with if the Bucks actually designed the team like Giannis was actually Shaq?

Shaq was one of the most dominant forces the NBA had ever seen, he was a rim’s worst nightmare, and when he was Giannis’ age he also possessed that deer like a frame to run the court with.

Think about when Shaq was at his most dominant, though. When he achieved the highest of highs in his career, he was always paired with a hall-of-fame level perimeter player. Shaq made his first-ever Finals appearance with young Penny Hardaway, then he had a dynasty with the devasting duo he formed with Kobe Bryant. All of that before winning his final title with a young Dwyane Wade.

It really makes you think now, does Giannis need that perimeter threat to reach championship glory too? He just might.

When looking at the past three Finals MVPs, they all have one thing in common, they were prominently perimeter players. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard are all prominently perimeter players, and that’s because when their teams need a basket all three of these players can manufacture one.

In the playoffs when it’s a tough grueling game, sometimes it all comes down to one possession, and if you need a 3 to tie the game, you don’t want Giannis to take it. The same way we didn’t want Shaq to take it.

Now imagine if Giannis had a killer on his team. The other superstar, his own Kobe Bryant. The Bucks would be all the more devastating, need a 3 to tie the game no problem. If the pressure comes onto that guy, then he can dump it into Giannis much like other superstars dumped it into Shaq.

Whether or not the Bucks need that type of player to win, it wouldn’t hurt to acquire one. Sure the Bucks have Khris Middleton who’s an excellent wing, but he isn’t that type of superstar. Middleton in clutch-time situations is also shooting a horrendous 28 percent this season.

Now finding a player like this easier said than done. There isn’t one of those guys in free agency this year, and even if there was Milwaukee doesn’t have the cap space to sign one.

A trade for a player like Bradley Beal, or Jrue Holiday could work, but does Milwaukee really have the amount of young talent and assets it takes to make a major trade? It feels like a stretch.

Then, there’s the draft. Now hear me out, especially in this draft, grooming a superstar will take some time but there’s an interesting option here. The Bucks have the Indiana Pacers pick in the draft which is currently projected to be the 19th pick in the draft. This could be a spot to get the guy.

General Manager Jon Horst recently spoke to how important this pick will be to the Milwaukee Journal.

"“The pick is going to be impactful to our roster going forward,” Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a recent conference call. “It’s a great opportunity for this team that’s already achieving at a high level, a team that’s going to have a top record in the NBA or at least a top-two record in the NBA. To end up having a pick that’s late lottery, early 20s is really a great asset.”"

This pick can become even more impactful than Horst stated above if the team looks to how Jerry West famously acquired Shaq’s running mate in Kobe Bryant.

Bryant was a bit of a project being so young, but Jerry West knew at the time that acquiring him to pair with the eventual addition of Shaq could be lethal. A Bucks trade up using their pick from Indiana and a player on their current roster could get them high enough to acquire a prospect with serious potential.

Players like Tyrese Maxey, Kira Lewis Jr., and Jahmi’us Ramsey are all perimeter shot-makers with serious potential. Potential that could be reached with coach Budenholzer.

Regardless of whether Giannis actually needs a perimeter threat to be champion, it doesn’t mean that the Bucks shouldn’t pursue one. A perimeter player-big man combo is a championship model, just look at all of Shaq’s team or Magic and Kareem…the upside to superstar player on the perimeter next to Giannis could be dynastic.