After seeing him up close in the playoffs, Patrick Patterson should definitely be on the radar of the Milwaukee Bucks this off-season. His length, defense, and ability to stretch the floor would make him an ideal fit on the Bucks roster.

Patrick Patterson is exactly the type of player the Bucks need to go after this off-season. He figures to be one of the most under-valued players in free agency. Take one look at his numbers from this season (6.8ppg and 4.5 rpg) and it would be hard to figure out why. Looking deeper, Patterson finished 31st in the NBA in ESPN’s real plus minus, as well as 10th in NBA.coms NETRTG this season of players playing more than 18 minutes. While these are not perfect stats, it gives you an idea of some of the hidden value he brings when he is on the floor. Because of his low profile and relatively unremarkable base numbers, he does not figure to have a huge market in free agency and we should be able to sign him at a reasonable price. Lets take a look at what exactly makes him a good fit on this roster.

His Length and Defense

The Bucks defense relies heavily on length, athleticism, effort, and communication for their defensive scheme. Patterson has all of these tools at his disposal. At 6’9″ with a 7’2″ wingspan, Patterson definitely has the length needed to play the four position for the Bucks. Although not a big time shot blocker, he is very good at using his athleticism to quickly rotate over and help make shots difficult for opponents driving to the rim.

When it comes to his perimeter defense, he is fairly mobile and has good lateral quickness. He has the ability to switch onto quicker players and play adequate on-ball defense. Something the Bucks defensive scheme demands from its bigs. Here is Patterson switching onto Jimmy Butler and forcing him to take a tough shot.

As far as communicating and being a team player on defense, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey summed up the extra dimension he brings in an interview with sportsnet 590. “He’s a glue guy. He does so many things that the naked eye doesn’t see. He’s out their quarterbacking the guys, telling them what to do, where to be, talking on defense, communicating. Doing the dirty work that the numbers and charts don’t show.”

The Bucks seem to have a love for players who communicate well and bring that extra dimension of toughness and energy to their team. Recently we have seen this with players like Dellavedova, Terry, and Brogdon. As well as in previous seasons with guys like Jared Dudley and Zaza Pachulia. All in all, Patrick Patterson would fit the mold of the type of role players we like to go after. He brings length, athleticism, communication, and energy on the defensive end of the floor.

His Ability To Stretch The Floor

The Bucks need shooters to space the floor. Long-term, Jabari and Giannis are the two players we are building around and neither of the two are great three point shooters at the moment. Both improved tremendously this past-season, but Jabari before his injury only shot 36%, and Giannis shot 35%. Although respectable, both appeared to be fairly hesitant when it comes to shooting the long-ball, passing up open shots a lot of times. Their percentages were more than likely the result of getting a lot of open looks from deep because of teams not respecting their three point shooting.

In the modern NBA, you need to have 3-5 players on the floor that teams respect when shooting from deep. Having bigs who can space the floor like Patterson with players like Jabari and Giannis is immeasurable. In his four seasons with Toronto, Patterson has shot 36% or better from deep each season. Although not great, his mechanics are very consistent and defenses respect his ability to shoot from three.

In Toronto, he was clearly trusted to shoot the ball from deep as he shot almost four threes per game this season. It is no surprise that ALL of the Raptors best lineups from this season, involved a combination of Derozan and Patterson. Derozan shot only 27% from deep this year. Having lineups with bigs like Patterson allowed Derozan to attack the basket with more room. When it comes to the Bucks, Thon Maker is our only big at the moment who can stretch the floor. Bringing in another stretch big this off-season has to be a priority, and Patterson would definitely fit the mold.

Weaknesses

A player like Patrick Patterson who is likely going to go for less than ten million per year in free agency does not come without weaknesses. On offense, the only things he really does well is shoot the three and be the screen-setter in the PnR. He has zero-post game for a big man, and when going up for offensive rebounds he does not have the strength to hang with bigger 4’s or 5’s. When it comes to the perimeter he seems to only be able to beat bad/slow defenders off the dribble.

Finally, Patterson has battled with injuries throughout his career. Because of these injuries, the Raptors have restricted his minutes a bit. He only played 24 minutes per game this season. Also, as a big man close to the age of 30, he could start to lose some of the things that make him a very good player at the four such as his quickness.

Overall

If we can sign Patrick Patterson to a reasonable contract, he would be a great fit for the Bucks. As mentioned, we need stretch bigs and he comes at a big plus on the defensive side of the ball as well. There are not many power-forwards in the league who would fit our defensive scheme any better with his length and athleticism. Also, his veteran leadership, communication, and energy on defense will greatly enhance our bench. Finally, he does not look to be in line for a huge payday and should be a reasonably cheap free agent. Overall, Patrick Patterson looks to be one of the most under-valued free agents this off-season and the Bucks should target him if they free up the necessary cap space.

Oh, and here’s a gif of him going absolutely crazy in one play. #Energy