The 1996–97 Milwaukee Bucks season was the 29th season for the Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association.

Season summary

Off-season The Bucks received the fourth overall pick in the 1996 NBA draft, and selected point guard Stephon Marbury out of Georgia Tech University; however, the team soon traded Marbury to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for rookie shooting guard, and first-round draft pick Ray Allen from the University of Connecticut on draft day. During the off-season, the Bucks signed free agent Armen Gilliam, acquired Andrew Lang from the Timberwolves, acquired Elliot Perry from the Phoenix Suns, and hired Chris Ford as their new head coach.

Regular season Under Ford and with the addition of Allen, Gilliam, Perry and Lang, the Bucks won five of their first six games of the regular season, and got off to a 15–11 start to the season. However, the team soon fell below .500 in winning percentage, and held a 21–26 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, the team traded second-year guard Shawn Respert to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Acie Earl. The Bucks struggled posting an eight-game losing streak between February and March, and finished in seventh place in the Central Division with a 33–49 record; the team missed the NBA playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.

Vin Baker averaged 21.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Glenn Robinson averaged 21.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, and Allen provided the team with 13.4 points per game, led them with 117 three-point field goals, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. In addition, Sherman Douglas provided with 9.7 points and 5.4 assists per game, while off the bench, Johnny Newman contributed 8.7 points per game, Gilliam averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, Perry contributed 6.9 points, 3.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game, and Lang, the team's starting center, averaged 5.3 points and rebounds per game each, but only played 52 games due to an Achilles injury.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Baker was selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference All-Star team. Off the bench, Baker posted a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference, 132–120. Meanwhile, Allen was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Eastern Conference Rookie team, and also participated in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest.

The Bucks finished 22nd in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 634,999 at the Bradley Center during the regular season.

Aftermath Following the season, Baker was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics in an off-season three-team trade, and after four seasons with the Bucks, while Newman was traded to the Denver Nuggets on draft day. Meanwhile, Douglas, who was involved in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets, and Earl was released to free agency.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 4 Stephon Marbury PG Georgia Tech 2 33 Moochie Norris PG West Florida 2 53 Jeff Nordgaard SF Wisconsin-Green Bay

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

|-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 1 || November 1, 1996 || @ Philadelphia | W 111–103 |Vin Baker (25)

| CoreStates Center20,444 | 1–0 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 2 || November 2, 1996 || Boston | W 124–102 |Johnny Newman, Glenn Robinson (21)

| Bradley Center17,275 | 2–0 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 3 || November 6, 1996 || Vancouver | W 105–89 |Ray Allen, Vin Baker (20) |Vin Baker (11) |Sherman Douglas (8) | Bradley Center13,689 | 3–0 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 4 || November 8, 1996 || @ Miami | L 89—101 |Vin Baker (27)

| Miami Arena15,200 | 3–1 |- style="background:#bbffbb;" | 5 || November 9, 1996 || @ Charlotte | W 100—98 |Vin Baker (28)

| Charlotte Coliseum24,042 | 4–1 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 6 || November 12, 1996 || Phoenix | W 99–89 |Vin Baker (32)

| Bradley Center13,565 | 5–1 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 7 || November 14, 1996 || @ Golden State | L 86—95 |Vin Baker (32)

| San Jose Arena14,414 | 5–2 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 8 || November 15, 1996 || @ Sacramento | L 99—103 |Glenn Robinson (29)

| ARCO Arena17,317 | 5–3 |- style="background:#fcc;" | 9 || November 17, 1996 || @ L. A. Clippers | L 94—102 |Glenn Robinson (31) |Armen Gilliam (13) | | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena7,311 | 5–4 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 10 || November 19, 1996 || Dallas | W 100–97 |Armen Gilliam (27)

| Bradley Center13,225 | 6–4 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 11 || November 21, 1996 || Atlanta | L 65–73

| Bradley Center14,698 | 6–5 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 12 || November 23, 1996 || Washington | L 90–95

| Bradley Center16,508 | 6–6 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 13 || November 25, 1996 || @ Orlando | W 100–88

| Orlando Arena16,808 | 7–6 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 14 || November 27, 1996 || Cleveland | W 92–75

| Bradley Center14,189 | 8–6 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 15 || November 30, 1996 || Charlotte | L 87–94

| Bradley Center16,327 | 8–7

|-style="background:#fcc;" | 16 || December 3, 1996 || Chicago | L 104–107

| Bradley Center18,717 | 8–8 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 17 || December 7, 1996 || @ Washington | W 126–118 |Glenn Robinson (44) |Vin Baker (13) | | US Airways Arena18,756 | 9–8 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 18 || December 8, 1996 || Boston | W 100–87

| Bradley Center13,350 | 10–8 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 19 || December 10, 1996 || Detroit | L 85–93

| Bradley Center13,202 | 10–9 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 20 || December 12, 1996 || Seattle | W 100–97 |Glenn Robinson (32)

| Bradley Center16,355 | 11–9 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 21 || December 14, 1996 || New Jersey | W 101–91 |Vin Baker, Glenn Robinson (27)

| Bradley Center16,689 | 12–9 |-style="background:#bbffbb;" | 22 || December 16, 1996 || @ Boston | W 107–91

| Fleet Center15,030 | 13–9 |-style="background:#fcc;" | 23 || December 18, 1996 || L. A. Lakers | W 107–91

| Bradley Center16,829 | 13–10

Player statistics

Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 82 81 30.9 .430 .393 .823 4.0 2.6 0.9 0.1 13.4 78 78 40.5 .505 .278 .687 10.3 2.7 1.0 1.4 21.0 60 1 11.2 .508 .167 .661 2.2 0.4 0.2 0.3 2.8 4 0 5.3 .667 .000 1.000 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 1.3 79 79 29.3 .502 .333 .667 2.4 5.4 1.0 0.1 9.7 9 0 4.8 .348 .000 .714 1.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 2.9 80 25 25.6 .471 .000 .768 6.2 0.7 0.8 0.5 8.6 9 0 4.3 .333 .000 .000 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 0.4 52 52 23.0 .464 .000 .721 5.3 0.5 0.5 0.9 5.3 3 0 4.3 .000 .000 .000 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 82 4 25.1 .450 .347 .765 2.3 1.4 0.9 0.2 8.7 82 3 19.5 .474 .358 .745 1.5 3.0 1.2 0.0 6.9 14 0 5.9 .316 .111 1.000 0.5 0.6 0.0 0.0 1.4 80 79 38.9 .465 .350 .791 6.3 3.1 1.3 0.9 21.1 5 1 14.4 .375 .000 .125 1.8 0.2 0.4 0.2 1.4 56 7 9.4 .449 .143 .737 2.0 0.4 0.3 0.2 1.7 46 0 5.2 .526 .333 .667 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.1 1.2

Awards and records Vin Baker, All-NBA Third Team Ray Allen, NBA All-Rookie Team 2nd Team

Transactions

Trades June 26, 1996 To Milwaukee Bucks---- Ray Allen To Minnesota Timberwolves---- Stephon Marbury September 25, 1996 To Milwaukee Bucks---- Elliot Perry To Phoenix Suns---- Marty Conlon December 4, 1996 To Milwaukee Bucks---- Chucky Brown To Phoenix Suns---- Darrin Hancock February 20, 1997 To Milwaukee Bucks---- Acie Earl To Toronto Raptors---- Shawn Respert

Free agents Player Signed Former teamArmen GilliamAugust 6, 1996New Jersey NetsJoe WolfSeptember 3, 1996Orlando MagicDarrin HancockOctober 3, 1996Charlotte HornetsKeith TowerOctober 3, 1996Los Angeles ClippersDavid WoodOctober 3, 1996Dallas Mavericks

Player transactions citation:

References

See also 1996-97 NBA season