What seemed like a mad Summer League experiment will become a reality Tuesday: Giannis Antetokounmpo will start at point guard for the Milwaukee Bucks when they take on the Cleveland Cavaliers in a preseason game. Antetokounmpo will start with Khris Middleton and Jabari Parker on the wings, Ersan Ilyasova at power forward and Zaza Pachulia at center.
Bucks experimenting with Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard on Tuesday
The nearly seven-foot Bucks forward will make his long-anticipated debut at point guard against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Antetokounmpo has grown to nearly seven feet with a 7’3 wingspan, but has flashed the playmaking skills of much smaller players in his brief NBA career. This is why the Bucks often played him at point guard during the July Summer League. Antetokounmpo committed many turnovers, but also showed glimpses of what is possible with his combination of size and skills.
“We’ve seen it in practice, and so when you see a player’s comfort level with the ball no matter what size, we want to see it in game action,” new Bucks coach Jason Kidd said back in July. “We slowly have started letting him have the ball and running the offense.”
Antentokounmpo is unlikely to start the regular season at point guard, since Brandon Knight remains on the roster. But if the experiment goes well on Tuesday, we may see Point Giannis again at some point in the next few months.
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