Gary Neal should provide 3-point prowess, steadiness to Bucks backcourt
This is the ninth in a 15-part series running Wednesdays and Fridays profiling each Milwaukee Bucks player leading up to the start of the NBA season.
The feeling of watching an NBA championship slip away is something Gary Neal will always have in the back of his mind. One win away from a title, Neal and the San Antonio Spurs had two chances to steal one victory in Miami.
Without Ray Allen's miraculous shot to force overtime in Game 6, Neal would have been a champion. The Spurs lost in overtime and eventually fell to the Heat in Game 7. The pain is still there four months later, but Neal's mind is focused elsewhere.
A restricted free agent, Neal had his qualifying offer rescinded by San Antonio in July leaving him as an unrestricted free agent. In search of a bigger role, he joined the Bucks on a two-year, $6.5 million deal.
2012-13 stats: 9.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 1.9 APG, 41.2 FG %, 35.5 3-point FG %, 86.5 FT % in 68 games with San Antonio.
2013-14 salary: $3,250,000.
Last year: Though he started 17 games, Neal came off the bench for the Spurs for the majority of the season. Down on the pecking order of scoring options for San Antonio, Neal found a way to score nearly 10 points per game.
Neal fit into the San Antonio system and was one of the team's valuable role players. Known as a great 3-point shooter, Neal shot under 40 percent from beyond the arc last season for the first time in his career.
The 29-year-old had a great April, averaging 13.4 points per game and shooting 37 percent on 3-pointers. Neal had three good games during the NBA Finals, including scoring 24 points on 6-of-10 3-pointers in San Antonio's Game 3 win. After beginning his career overseas, Neal was given a chance by the Spurs to come over in 2010. His three years in San Antonio were almost identical, as he averaged close to 10 points per game each season and was a consistent outside shooting threat.
The San Antonio culture and its winning ways have rubbed off on Neal, but he was just a role player with the Spurs. Neal felt like it was his time to seek a bigger opportunity elsewhere, leaving behind the only team and the only coach he's ever known in the NBA.
This year: While he won't be a starter, Neal will have a bigger role with the Bucks. He'll serve as O.J. Mayo's primary backup at shooting guard with the potential to see some minutes at point guard.
The minutes may be increased, but Neal will still be asked to do similar things for the Bucks as he did with the Spurs. Neal will be one of the primary scoring options off the bench and will be expected to serve as an outside shooting threat.
Off the court, Neal is being counted on to bring some of the winning ways he picked up in his three years in San Antonio. Neal wants to become a player a team can count on day in and day out and is looking forward to the challenge ahead in helping Milwaukee turn around.
From the front office: "He's a huge piece to this puzzle that we've put together. Having spent the years in San Antonio, he was in a phenomenal program. He's played with two of the best players in the league in Tim Duncan and (Tony) Parker, and I think (Manu) Ginobili is in that mix as well. He's been with real professional guys and has developed good habits. That's something we talk about here. Gary has been in a program like that and now it has a chance to rub off on some of our guys. He's a competitor; he's a fiery guy." -- Bucks coach Larry Drew
Follow Andrew Gruman on Twitter
