National Basketball Association

Milwaukee Bucks: Could Current Bucks Rewrite Milwaukee's Stat Leaderboards?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The young Milwaukee Bucks have a long way to go, but it’s possible that they rewrite Milwaukee’s career leaders in several statistics.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Paul Pressey. Ray Allen. Alton Lister. All players who accomplished amazing statistical feats in their time with the Milwaukee Bucks. And all players who might see themselves fall from their current top spots in Milwaukee’s career statistic leaderboards.

The young Bucks have a lot to prove before they end up dethroning legends like Kareem and Ray, but it’s not inconceivable that young stars Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton eventually rewrite much of the Bucks record books.

The thing most working in the young Bucks favor is time. Many Milwaukee legends did not have a lot of time with the Bucks before leaving for whatever reason. If ownership is as dedicated to this core as it seems they are, then Giannis, Jabari and Khris shouldn’t have those problems.

Nothing is certain of course–the point of this piece is to show what’s possible, not what’s going to happen or even what’s likely to happen. There are no sure things in the NBA, and there certainly aren’t any in Milwaukee.

That being said, some modern Bucks will have chances to climb Milwaukee’s leaderboards. There are several statistical totals that are in reach, should certain Bucks players stick around for long enough. We’ll go through a few of them here, although feel free to @ us on Twitter with any more you think of that aren’t included.

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Total Points Scored

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played less minutes than three other Bucks, but he still scored the most points among anyone to wear a Bucks uniform. He managed a mammoth 14,211 points in his six seasons with the Bucks.

Khris Middleton is the closest of the young Bucks to that mark, having already totaled 3,479 points with Milwaukee. The 11,000 points he needs to take first place seems daunting, because it is, but it’s not an impossible figure to overcome.

If Middleton stays in Milwaukee for ten years he’d need to score under 14 points per game, on average, to take first place. That’s a tough ask for anyone–the average player just doesn’t stay in one place that long, typically.

Jabari Parker might have a better shot at this one. He’s got less points than Middleton, but he’s only 21 years old. Jabari needs 12,834 points to take sole possession of first place. That’s around 16 points per game for a decade, if Jabari stays exceptionally healthy.

Seeing as the young Parker has yet to hit his prime and scored nearly 19 points per game after the All-Star break last season, he could get there in less than a decade. Eight seasons of 20 point per game scoring would get Jabari to the top spot, again assuming he stays healthy.

Those are still long odds, but in eight years Jabari will only be 29. Even if it takes him a little longer, there’s a real chance Jabari Parker could lead the Bucks in points before his career with the team is over.

It should be noted here as well that Giannis also has a shot. He scored 18 points per game after the All-Star break as well, and he has over 2,900 points with Milwaukee already.

If Jabari takes lead dog scoring status he’ll probably have a better shot, but who knows how this malleable core will take form going forward.

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Total Assists

It’s fitting that a traditional point guard isn’t the one currently leading all Milwaukee Bucks in total assists, because his likely challenger also isn’t a point guard. Paul Pressey got 3,272 assists as a Buck.

Giannis Antetokounmpo already has 702 of them in three years, with only a few months of that time seeing Giannis play as a point forward. He averaged 7.2 assists after the All-Star break last season in that role.

Even assuming a down-grade to six assists per game, Giannis could rack up over 2,800 assists in six seasons. With the 700 he already has, that means the Greek Freak could be Milwaukee’s new assists leader before he turns 30.

Michael Carter-Williams tallied over 400 assists in just 79 games with Milwaukee so far, but it’d take a lot for him to ever challenge Pressey for that title. Especially with the ball being placed in Giannis’ hands going forward, it’s unlikely that anyone besides Antetokounmpo will be able to supplant Pressey.

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Total Rebounds

This one is tough. Unsurprisingly, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also holds the Bucks record for most total rebounds. Kareem grabbed 7,161 boards in his six years with Milwaukee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is probably the only Buck with a real shot here. None of Milwaukee’s centers are featured prominently enough to ever rival Abdul-Jabbar, and neither Khris nor Jabari has the rebounding chops to chase Kareem.

Giannis might. He’s got 1,493 boards through three Milwaukee seasons, with his total rebounds going up each year. He grabbed over 600 rebounds last year. It would take over nine seasons of that kind of production for Giannis to take Kareem’s top spot.

Considering how young Antetokounmpo is, it’s possible. He’d need a long and productive Bucks career, but if he can keep that average of nearly eight boards per game up he has an outside chance at that record.

Take a second to remember how damn great Kareem was right here. Giannis and Jabari are fantastic players, and it would take them around 12 years apiece to top marks Kareem set in literally half the time if they manage to stay so productive over the next decade.

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Total Steals

Quinn Buckner is an underrated part of Milwaukee Bucks history. The hard-nosed defensive point guard recorded more steals in a Bucks uniform than anybody else, totaling 1,042 in his six seasons with the franchise.

This record is in reach for Khris Middleton. Middleton has recorded 336 steals in three years with the Bucks. He peaked last season, managing 131 steals in 79 games.

If Middleton found a way to keep that production up, he’d pass Buckner in six seasons. That’s a big ask, but it’s encouraging that Middleton increased his steals per 36 minutes after the All-Star break last season.

Obviously if he managed to have a few seasons with even more than 130 steals it would make him reaching Buckner that much easier. Right now no other Bucks seem to be within reach of this mark–1,000 steals is an impressive career total to be sure.

Middleton could reach that mark with the Bucks by around age 30 though, which means he’d likely still be pretty productive. Like any of the scenarios on this list, nothing is guaranteed–six years of production is a lot to expect, considering how many variables are at play.

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Total Blocks

John Henson fans have to have been waiting for this one. Alton Lister averaged 1.7 blocks per game with the Bucks in seven years with the team. John Henson has spent four years in Milwaukee, and has averaged 1.6 blocks per game in that time.

Lister only hit 2.0 blocks per game twice in his Bucks tenure–Henson has already done it once, and averaged 1.9 blocks per game last year. He’s got 402 blocks logged, compared to Lister’s 804.

Henson is halfway there. He’s roughly equal to Lister in terms of shot-blocking ability–they both averaged 3.0 blocks per 36 minutes in their Milwaukee careers. Honestly, Henson is probably even better than Lister.

He’s averaged 4.0 blocks or more per 36 for his last two seasons, something Lister failed to ever do in his career, Bucks or otherwise. If Henson actually got consistent minutes or especially the starting center gig in Milwaukee, he’d definitely pass Lister in the next half-decade–potentially even before his four-year contract extension is up.

Henson has been unable to ever capture that starting job though, and with Greg Monroe and Miles Plumlee both still around it seems like 2016-17 won’t be the season he passes the 20 minutes per game mark for the first time since 2013-14.

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Total Three-Point Shots Made

Both the incumbent and the challenger for this mark are easy to guess for Milwaukee Bucks fans. Ray Allen hit more threes than any other player in franchise history, making 1,051 of them in his seven Milwaukee seasons.

Khris Middleton is already eighth among Bucks in made threes, and needs just under 700 more of them to pass Ray. Khris made 143 threes last season. If he averages 140 makes for the next five years, he’ll lead the Bucks in career made threes.

Considering how poorly the Bucks did in spacing the floor in recent years, he’s the only one who seems to have a chance at displacing Allen. Really, the times are working against Ray as much as Middleton is in this case.

The NBA in general is much more trigger-happy from long-range than it ever has been before. If as much emphasis was put on three-point shooting in the early 2000s as it is now, Allen might’ve been asked to shoot even more. Still, he actually did average more threes per 36 minutes with the Bucks than Middleton does.

Considering his 40.6 percent three-point conversion rate, he probably would’ve made a significant amount of those extra attempts. Middleton, for what it’s worth, has been a 40.5 percent three-point shooter with the Bucks.

Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Games Played/Minutes Played

Both of these records are in play for both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton. Giannis probably has a better shot being three years younger, but if Khris sticks around in Milwaukee for a long time he too could pass the current leaders in both categories.