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A look at Milwaukee’s best from their time in Vegas
With the Bucks’ 2024 Summer League coming to a disappointing close, let’s recap the notable performers from the squad. Starting with the players who put themselves in an optimal position to earn time with the big team.
Chris Livingston
Chris Livingston came to the Bucks as the final pick of last year’s draft as a big-bodied, raw athlete sorely needing to develop some level of craft and three-point shot—such improvement was shown in Vegas. The former Kentucky Wildcat averaged 15 points and shot the three-ball at an acceptable 42 percent on three attempts per game while grabbing nearly nine rebounds. Additionally, he showcased some limited ballhandling chops and solid positional understanding on both ends of the floor, playing and guarding three through five in Vegas.
Livingston’s upside as an on-ball creator is minimal at best, and it’s completely fine because he’ll never be asked to do that on the big team. He knows where his bread is buttered and doesn’t stray too far from it. At 220 pounds and 6’7” with a 6’11” wingspan, Livingston has a frame you cannot teach, and there is seemingly a path for him to help the Bucks at some point in the coming years. The first step in that path was showing he can execute the typical role-player skills at an improved level. He certainly passed the test in Summer League; we’ll now see if he gets a shot in the NBA.
Ryan Rollins
After joining Milwaukee on a two-way contract in the middle of last season, Ryan Rollins showed some promise for the Herd but didn’t blow you away with his performances. Now, the former Warrior and Wizard was arguably the Bucks’ top performer in Vegas. Removing the final game where he played just eight minutes, Rollins averaged fourteen points and three assists on 51 percent shooting.
The former Toledo standout doesn’t possess elite burst, but his savvy three-level scoring made him Milwaukee’s most effective shot-creator. It could be argued that Rollins’ ability to command the offence was not leaned into heavily enough. He was the go-to option when a possession got into the mud, giving the team a good shot where there seemingly wasn’t one. The Bucks may well need some tertiary shot creation off the bench in the years to come, and Rollins made a strong case he can provide just that.
AJ Johnson
The player Bucks fans were most intrigued to see was undoubtedly the 19-year-old AJ Johnson, who Milwaukee selected at pick 23 in the 2024 draft. Johnson, who spent last season playing limited minutes in the NBL for the Illawarra Hawks, was widely viewed as a reach at 23 and had many Bucks fans confused at the selection given his age and slender 167-pound frame. Those concerns were largely assuaged as Johnson put together a more-than-solid performance in Vegas—minus the final game—while exhibiting some very exciting flashes as to what his ultimate ceiling could be.
The 6’4” guard boasts high-level twitch, fluidity, and a functional handle that allows him to blow past defenders and finish above the rim. Removing the final game where he put up a 0/12 stinker, Johnson averaged fourteen points and three assists while shooting the ball from deep at an impressive 41 percent clip on six attempts per contest—pretty good! Johnson’s defence was more effective than many might have expected; he has good height, quick feet, and walled off drives decently well. Of course, if the rookie were to guard Jayson Tatum right now, there is a 99 percent chance he’d get put in the basket. As Johnson develops, he’ll need to get more of an in-between game and become more point guard-y, but the flashes, man, the flashes!
Next up in our Summer League wrap-up series will focus on the steady contributors who didn’t come up huge, but had some nice moments and didn’t look at all bad. Look for that tomorrow.