Milwaukee Bucks interested in Mickael Pietrus
The Milwaukee Bucks are rumored to be interested in signing free-agent wing player Mickael Pietrus. The interest appears mutual according to Pietrus’ agent Bill McCandless.
“We talked about 10 to 14 days ago,” McCandless said. “We’re waiting to see what happens. Mickael would be interested in playing for Milwaukee, absolutely.”
Milwaukee currently has a sizable void to fill on the wing after electing to draft John Henson at #14 overall in the June draft and re-signing power forward Ersan Ilyasova.
It’s apparent that the Bucks brass isn’t yet confident enough to hand the keys to the stating small forward job over to second-year F Tobias Harris out of Tennessee despite his sensational summer league play.
As great of an individual defender as Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is, his offensive liabilities probably prevent him from being a starter with the make-up of this Bucks team.
Milwaukee’s other option would be to go BIG with a front court consisting of Ilyasova, Drew Gooden and Samuel Dalembert. If the Bucks don’t want to go that route, then it’s absolutely necessary to sign a versatile wing player to come in and start immediately at the ‘3’. (small forward)
Milwaukee’s primary small forward the last two seasons has been Carlos Delfino when healthy. It’s becoming clearer that the Bucks aren’t interested in bringing Delfino back into the fold.
Is Pietrus an upgrade?
Pietrus, coming off knee surgery in the off-season, turned 30 in February and has career averages of: 8.4 ppg and 3.1 rpg in 21.5 minutes per game and has shot 42.7% from the floor, 66.5% from the line and 35.7% from the arc for Golden State, Orlando, Phoenix and most recently, Boston.
Pietrus goes about 6-6, 215 with a slender, athletic build. He’s known for his exceptional and tenacious defense.
Delfino, who goes 6-6, 230, turns 30 in August and has posted similar career numbers to Pietrus. Delfino is also known for being an above average defender, though not quite on the level of Pietrus.
Both Delfino and Pietrus have been injury plagued throughout their respective NBA careers and are known as streaky three-point shooters.
Pietrus has more of a penetrate/mid-range game than Delfino and is more fluid on the basketball court. Pietrus’ length and defensive abilities would complement the mob of front court players Milwaukee already has under contract for 2012-’13 wonderfully.
The mob of front court peices on Milwaukee’s roster at the moment gives Coach Scott Skiles numerous options and looks to go to on the floor at any given time. The Bucks would only need an effective 20-25 minutes per game out of Mickael. I firmly believe that a healthy Pietrus can give you that in spades.
With Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis forming an explosive, yet undersized backcourt, Pietrus seems to be a better fit in the starting 5 than Delfino.
Is Mickael Pietrus over Carlos Delfino a significant upgrade? Absolutely not, but I do believe it to be an upgrade nonetheless.
Pietrus has been a fan favorite everywhere he’s played and if he wants to come to the ‘Brew City’, I think it would be a prudent move to bring him on board.
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