If last year is any indication, Wright could be their most important reserve
When I looked over our list of ranked 2024–25 Bucks before today, I couldn’t quibble with it too much. I’m generally an AJ Green believer, but we may be too high on him because we’re too low on Pat Connaughton, who finished a spot below him. MarJon Beauchamp at fourteen is bad news all around, but I can’t disagree. I will, however, disagree and quibble with this one: Delon Wright is the seventh-most valuable Buck in the eyes of 61% of respondents.
The reason? I think Wright would have been, currently is, and will be more valuable to Milwaukee in the postseason than Bobby Portis, who finished a distant second with 23% of the vote. Yes, he’s long been a fan favorite, but the harsh reality is that in the playoffs, Portis has generally been a negative for the Bucks since the title run. He performed well in their five-game series victory over Chicago in 2022 (the last time the Bucks won a playoff series, mind you) and came up big in the 2021 NBA Finals, plus during the East Finals right before with Giannis hurt. They don’t win a ring without him.
However, look at his numbers (12 PPG on 44% from the field and 25% from deep since that Bulls series), defense, and antics since and despair. Whatever scoring value he added, he’s given back on the other end, and he infamously got himself kicked out of Game 4 in last year’s first round when he started in place of an injured Giannis. That necessitated a lot of Danilo Gallinari and torpedoed their chance at evening the series heading back to Fiserv Forum. He atoned for this somewhat with a big Game 5, but dialing his own number and being a pretty sizeable ball stop at other times during the series hamstrung Milwaukee: take out Game 5, and the team was just +6 despite him putting up 70 points on 45% shooting across 148 minutes.
I bring this all up to reiterate a point I’ve made since May: Portis has proven in the past three years that he hurts the Bucks more than he helps them in the postseason. I’ve also said that you need seven players in a given series who help more than they hurt, and the Bucks haven’t had that in any series since the 2022 first round—they’ve had five at most. That’s why the Bucks critically needed to update the middle of their roster outside their best four starters.
But the Portis discussion is for another day (probably tomorrow), and I’m here today to talk about Wright, who joins his ninth team this fall. I think Wright can be one of those seven guys against any opponent, helping Milwaukee more than he hurts them. We’ll start with what he doesn’t do too much: score. His per-36 average of 11.1 points is pretty unimpressive. His identical 5.5 rebounds per 36 and assists per 36 are better, painting the picture of a more versatile player, which he is.
At 6’5”, he’s got great size for a combo guard and has run point enough in his career that he can credibly take shifts as a primary facilitator for reserve units, though he might be better off as a secondary ballhandler alongside a more dynamic point guard (hey, the Bucks have one of those). He’s only briefly been a starting guard in his career but has been a quality backup with many teams, settling in around 4–5 PPG and 37% from deep over the past five seasons. Well-accustomed to an off-ball role, he’s played alongside these backcourt stars more recently in his journeyman career: Luka Doncic, De’Aaron Fox, Trae Young, and Bradley Beal. He’ll see plenty of time at the two alongside Damian Lillard, who he’s three inches taller than.
I’m burying the lede a little bit here, though. Why Wright will be so critical to the Bucks once the playoffs hit is all on the other side of the ball. From the moment he signed his veteran’s minimum deal this offseason, he instantly became their best point-of-attack defender. For a team that lacked a backcourt stopper until the deadline last year, this is huge for Milwaukee. Before Patrick Beverley, it seemed like no Buck guard could stay connected with opposing guards, let alone keep in front of them—blow-bys and straight-line drives galore.
Once the 2024 postseason began. Beverley became a starter for the Bucks three games before Lillard got injured. Doc Rivers’ reasoning was obvious: Milwaukee desperately needed Beverley’s perimeter defense against Indiana’s young, dynamic backcourt. So the 35-year-old played the second-most playoff minutes on the team, dealing with Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, and T.J. McConnell. He did a solid job, particularly on Haliburton, but PatBev is smaller or lighter than all three of those guys, not to mention older. Picture a guy who’s four years younger and four inches taller with a 6’8” wingspan on those Pacers guards. Sounds a lot safer, right?
Wright finished last year in Miami, and in their first-round defeat to Boston (sans Jimmy Butler), he and almost-Buck Haywood Highsmith kept the Heat competitive as the first line of their vaunted 2-3 and 2-2-1 zone defenses (not to mention he shot 60% both from the field and from three, torturing Celtics fans somewhat). That perimeter stoppage can be seen somewhat in Jrue Holiday’s line for the series: 7.8 PPG on 35% shooting. Wright’s size gives him an edge over most point guards and is comparable to many wings, particularly ones who play the two. Eric Nehm at The Athletic has more on Wright’s D, complete with video of his work on star guards, including a guy who gave the Bucks tons of trouble last year: Tyrese Maxey.
Wright has long earned raves for his instincts and motor, plus he is all over passing lanes, leading David Aldridge to dub him The King of Deflections. That’s well-earned: while steals aren’t necessarily indicative of defensive prowess, his 2.3 steals per 36 over the past five years sticks out, and his 2.6 figure last year was third among players who played over 400 minutes. Cleaning The Glass puts him in the 99th or 100th percentile among combo guards in steal percentage in each season since 2021. He does all this without fouling: he’s never finished below the 90th percentile in defensive foul percentage since 2020. That gives him a decisive edge over Andre Jackson Jr., the only other Buck who is a plus in terms of POA defense.
No matter how you slice it, Wright is a big upgrade from Beverley—again, PatBev was one of Milwaukee’s key players against Indy, unfortunately. And that’s why I expect Wright is going to be more important to the Bucks come playoff time than any other reserve, including Portis, who might give you one good game per series if that (hell, I’ll take one average game from Portis if they play the Celtics, who he’s been awful against). We’ll likely see Wright in many closing lineups before then, and given his defensive chops; he seems like the best candidate on the roster to play alongside the big three (either with or without Brook Lopez) in crunch time.
What say you, though? Am I too bullish about his prospects in the postseason? Will he be like nearly all role players and not be playable at all in certain matchups?
Anyway, onto 6th in our series…
Polls close at 8 AM (Central) tomorrow.