Entering his third season as an NBA player, 21 year old Thon Maker will look to continue the positive progress and development he’s made so far at the Milwaukee Bucks. Declaring for the 2016 NBA draft, Maker was a highly touted junior despite the rare jump straight from high school without any college experience. The Bucks took him at pick 10 in the draft thanks to his rare combination of height (216 cm), shot blocking and shooting ability.
Maker’s has had an unusual NBA journey.
His first season saw him average just 9.9 minutes per game despite 34 starts, the team high on Maker’s potential at the time were keen to see what the Sudanese/Australian could do.
Last season Maker only started 12 games last season, the shine seemingly has worn off. Maker has near doubled his minutes since his rookie season (increased his minutes per game to 16.7) but he isn’t a regular part of the team’s rotation and the jury is clearly out when it comes to how the Bucks see him fitting into future plans.
Maker has continued to develop, he increased almost all major statistical categories including points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks last season but his development hasn’t seemed to come fast enough.
The 2018-19 season offers some fresh challenges for Maker, the athletic big man will once again try to solidify his role within the team but will be battling off-season veteran acquisitions of Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova.
Maker may still possess the most “upside” among the Bucks big men but there’s he also faces a huge task in earning regular minutes behind Lopez, Ilyasova and last season starting centre John Henson.
The centre position has been a continual mystery for the Bucks over the past couple of seasons, the team has tried a myriad of things, but last season seemed to share minutes between Maker and Henson more often than not.
Now with Lopez the Bucks have now found a scoring centre who’s been a very good and consistent NBA player over the last decade. Lopez has settled in already as the team’s starting centre and Henson seems to be the team’s first option off the bench. Does Maker have the ability to move to forward in order to gain minutes?
Maker has logged minutes at power forward before. Utilising his athleticism and outside shooting touch it’s been something he can do successfully. However with the addition of 31-year-old Ilyasova, who has a much more reliable outside touch, Thon is at damage of becoming expendable.
Ilyasova will give new coach Mike Budenholzer a scoring punch off the bench behind star Giannis Antetokounmpo who is also slated to make a permanent jump from the three to the four spot this season.
While Maker’s season is uncertain and it’s highly likely his is mentioned in more than one trade discussion during the year he will be a big part of Australia’s national team programme, especially if we have any chance of winning a gold medal at either the FIBA World Cup or Olympic Games.
Maker made his national debut against Japan during the NBA off-season, making worldwide headlines in another game against the Philippines as the most notable player involved in the wild brawl that escalated between the two teams. Although Maker couldn’t be blamed for initiating the horrendous scenes, his willingness to protect his teammates ultimately came back to bite him as he was charged and suspended for three games.
Maker provides a unique look for the Boomers that likely big man counterparts Andrew Bogut and Aron Baynes don’t really provide. As Andrew Bogut ages his minutes are unlikely to go beyond the 20-25 minute mark in international play so having a talent like Thon who can play at the three, four and five spot gives the Boomers’ great depth and incredible versatility.
Thon faces a challenging third season in the NBA, one that he could potentially credit as career defining should he continue his development and become the player Milwaukee and Australian fans would like him to become.
He faces major competition for his playing role this season, something he hasn’t seriously had over his first two seasons. Still, Maker has one of the biggest upsides of any player in the entire league given his athleticism and raw ability, something he hopes will prosper into a long and glittering career at both NBA and national team level.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
