Camp has stayed quiet on injuries and transactions this morning, but the minutes Pete Nance and Jericho Sims logged down last season's stretch are the clearest frontcourt signal Jenkins inherits. With preseason five days away, whether that trend holds under a new coach is the open question in Milwaukee.
Last season
Milwaukee finished 32-50, missing the playoffs with an offense and defense both near the bottom of the league and Antetokounmpo sidelined for long stretches. Rivers resigned when it ended. Buried in that record, though, was a frontcourt rotation that leaned harder on its bench bigs as the year wore on — a trend camp has inherited, not invented.
Last season's stretch run
Nance played 28.2 minutes a game across his last five outings of the year, well past his season average. Sims climbed even higher — 28.9 minutes a game over his final ten appearances, then 32.6 across his last five, a jump of nearly thirteen minutes from his season norm.
This summer
The Miami trade sent Antetokounmpo and Portis out and brought Ware into the center mix; the draft added Burries and Ament. That left five bodies stacked behind Turner, and whether last season's late surge for Nance and Sims would carry into a new coach's rotation was left unanswered heading into camp.
This month
The roster trimmed to twenty-one when Malique Lewis departed Sept. 21, narrowing the frontcourt picture further. Jake Stephens arrived behind that departure, a seventh big in camp, but Nance and Sims remain the two with an actual track record of extended minutes.
This week
No new injury or roster move has surfaced since Lewis's departure, leaving the frontcourt plan as the one open storyline heading toward games. Whether last year's minutes trend for Nance and Sims was circumstance, or a preview of how this camp sorts its bigs, will show up fastest once preseason tips off.
How many minutes have Pete Nance and Jericho Sims been playing for the Bucks?
Over the final stretch of last season, Nance averaged 28.2 minutes a game across his last five outings and Sims climbed to 28.9 over his final ten, then 32.6 over his last five — both well above their season norms.
When does Bucks preseason start in 2026?
Milwaukee opens its preseason slate Oct. 5 at home against Minnesota, followed by road games at Oklahoma City and Charlotte before the regular season begins Oct. 21 at Washington.
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