ST. FRANCIS, Wis. -- The Giannis Antetokounmpo experiment at point guard is going to continue, at least for one more preseason game.
With starter Brandon Knight out for Tuesday night's game in Cleveland against the Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd plans to start Antetokounmpo at point guard as part of an extremely tall and long lineup.
Bucks center Larry Sanders missed Monday's practice with an illness and won't accompany the team to Cleveland.
Joining Antetokounmpo in the backcourt will be the 6-foot-8 Khris Middleton, while Jabari Parker (6-foot-8), Ersan Ilyasova (6-foot-10) and Zaza Pachulia (6-foot-11) will round out the starting five.
Kidd has made clear that his preseason starting lineups and rotations should be taken with a grain of salt, as he is using the exhibition slate to figure out who he will play and where come the regular season.
The first-year coach of the Bucks has also held healthy players out of preseason games in order to play certain rotations.
"We're trying to see as many combinations as possible," Kidd said following Monday's practice at the Cousins Center. "For us, it is a matter of seeing different combinations, seeing Giannis play the point."
Knight suffered the groin injury during Saturday's preseason loss to the Chicago Bulls, forcing him to sit out of the second half. With Nate Wolters out with a right ankle injury, Kidd played Kendall Marshall at point guard for the entire third quarter, while Antetokounmpo ran the offense in the fourth quarter.
"You can't really read too much into who is on the floor and when right now," Marshall said. "It is just a matter of Coach getting a feel for us and us getting a feel for each other.
"You know who you play well with. I think Brandon has been doing a great job finding shooters out of the pick-and-roll and finding Larry with the lobs. I think me and Jerryd Bayless have done a great job of finding each other. He does a great job of penetrating and getting looks. You start to notice all of those things, but Coach will be the one that will determine what is best."
Intriguing would probably be the best way to describe the possibility of the 6-foot-11 Antetokounmpo playing point guard on a regular basis.
Ever since Antetokounmpo played point guard during summer league, the idea has been floated around. Circumstances are now allowing Kidd to try it during the preseason.
"I think his first gift is that he makes plays for his teammates," Kidd said. "That's one of his strengths and we have to find a way to put him in that position on the floor. He's special in the open court. In the half court, we need to make sure we find ways he can help his teammates and also help himself."
While he didn't have an assist while at point guard Saturday, Antetokounmpo also didn't turn the ball over. He went 4 for 7 from the floor to score nine of his 11 points while at point guard and could have had a couple of assists had his teammates knocked down shots off his passes.
"I feel like if I handle the ball it gives me the opportunity to go around the bigs and go to the basket," Antetokounmpo said Saturday. "Not only that, but I tried to make my teammates better. That's what I was thinking."
Early in the fourth quarter Saturday, Antetokounmpo blocked a Taj Gibson shot at one end and finished with a dunk on the other end just four seconds later.
His second highlight-reel play came just a few possessions later. Antetokounmpo took Bulls guard Tony Snell into the post and backed him down before finishing with a hook shot Kidd called "Magic Johnson-like."
"It just showed his ability to be patient, to look around to see what was there and he took what was given," Kidd said. "When he extends himself, he becomes 11-feet tall if not taller. It was a nice sky-hook. He looked very comfortable doing that."
Although Knight is out, the Bucks still have Marshall, Wolters and Jerryd Bayless as point guards on the roster. It is unclear how much Antetokounmpo will run the offense Tuesday night, but he likely will be matched up against Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving at the start.
The Bulls tried multiple defenders against Antetokounmpo on Saturday, including Kirk Hinrich, who is considered a strong defensive point guard. Hinrich took advantage of the 19-year-old in transition to draw a charge.
Because of Antetokounmpo's inexperience at the position, Kidd is anticipating plenty of mistakes.
"But the mistakes are all positive," Kidd said. "Like the charge he had on Hinrich? He just has to understand the reputation of Hinrich. He's going to take a charge. But also just slowing down a bit and understanding that when guys are in front of you, most of them are going to try to take charges due to his height."
Is Antetokounmpo a viable option at point guard come the regular season? That remains to be seen. It is impossible to say a 19-year-old can or cannot play point guard on such a small sample size.
The ceiling of a point guard with Antetokounmpo's skill level and size is scary, but there's a chance that it may not pan out. At minimum, Antetokounmpo will gain valuable ball handling skills and confidence from the experiment.
"A coach has to listen to his players," Kidd said. "Without it even being verbal, they will tell you their actions if they feel comfortable with it. Some of the plays he made in the Chicago game, but also just in practice, he's trying to find guys and trying to do the right thing. Add in that he's almost 7-feet and it is a special player."
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