Jason Kidd has proven his doubters wrong during his first season as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks. Now he has accepted the next challenge on his list: turning Michael Carter-Williams into a franchise point guard.
The Bucks turned a number of heads again when they completed a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers for the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year while trading away Brandon Knight, who had developed into a nice, reliable player for the Bucks. But they simply felt his ceiling was much lower than what MCW’s can be.
There are many similarities between MCW and the type of player that Kidd was at the beginning of his career and there is reason to believe that Kidd is the coach that can turn the stud sophomore in to an NBA superstar in time.
The Bucks just acquired the next Jason Kidd in Michael Carter-Williams.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 20, 2015
MCW Models His Game After Kidd
The Bucks have established a blueprint for the type of players they want and Carter-Williams fits that mold perfectly as a long and athletic guard that could potentially thrive in his new home. His rookie deal runs through the 2016-17 season and that is plenty of time to work with Kidd as the perfect teacher than can help him develop his skill set. MCW told scouts at the 2013 NBA Draft Combine that he has patterned his game based on the style of his new head coach saying that he “always modeled by game after Jason Kidd in his prime.” Now he will have the opportunity to really fine tune his skill set and build on his style to become the best player that he can be.
Striking Similarities Between The Two
There are some that feel it’s unfair to compare MCW to Kidd at this point in his career but the comparisons are obvious and the fact that they are now working together makes them that much more relevant. Kidd was a 10-time All-Star and by the time his career was over, he sat second on the league’s all-time leaderboard in both assists and steals. However, a closer look at the numbers for both Kidd and MCW from the first two years of their careers shows some very striking similarities in field goal percentage, assists per game and steals per game. Kidd had a .383 field goal percentage and averaged 8.8 assists and 2.1 steals throughout his first two seasons. Carter-Williams has a .396 field goal percentage and averages 7 assists and 1.8 steals throughout his first two years in the NBA. There is no denying that it would be a reach to say that MCW will ever come close to reaching the gaudy statistics that Kidd recorded but the groundwork appears to be there. The similarities in the numbers is likely one reason that drew the Bucks to MCW.
Better Chance To Succeed With Better Players Around Him
There will be some major differences as Carter-Williams transitions to a much more competitive Milwaukee team and some of those changes are going to be very positive. The Bucks play at a more controlled pace with more structure. The 76ers looked like they were playing pickup basketball many nights with a cast of nobodies. In Milwaukee, there is a much strong support system in place for MCW even beyond Kidd. There’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson and Kris Middleton. They’re not a championship contender but they have a young core with competent players that will take a lot of pressure off of MCW. He’ll know have the opportunity to slow the game down and pick his spots more often, which should help his shooting percentages and assist numbers while cutting down on turnovers. We got a taste of what we’re likely to see when he scored seven points, collected eight assists and two steals while going three-of-five from the field in his debut (in just 18 minutes). Coincidentally, that debut came against his former team.
Carter-Williams has the potential to thrive in Milwaukee and his chances of reaching that potential and turning in to a star should dramatically improve with the perfect teacher to guide the way for him in Kidd.
