After a tough start in Phoenix, Ennis finds room to thrive with the Bucks

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At the wild NBA trade deadline, Tyler Ennis's rookie season began.

Ennis, a 20-year-old point guard from the Toronto suburbs, was drafted 18th last June by the Phoenix Suns, one of four Canadians picked, but by the time the season started, Ennis found himself buried behind three other more experienced guards. He played eight NBA games in four months.

Then came Feb. 19, the unruliest trade deadline in NBA history, which concluded in a panoply of deals in 20 minutes of crazy town. By the end, close to one in 10 players in the league were moved – many of them point guards. A nexus of the storm was Phoenix, where players were on the team bus ready to head to the airport for a road trip. Before it departed, five players, including Ennis, got off to head elsewhere.

Ennis was a minor part of one of the day's blockbusters, a three-team dance among Milwaukee, Phoenix and Philadelphia in which several guards moved. Ennis landed on a team backed by new big-money ownership and a head coach, Jason Kidd, who is one of the great point guards of history. And Ennis rose from a nobody with the Suns to relative prominence with the Bucks.

It was a moment for which Ennis had been poised. He has talked about not getting a fair shot in Phoenix.

After a stellar freshman season at Syracuse University, but with little pro playing time, he instead devoted himself to the gym. In the moments he saw game action, mostly in four strong development-league stints, he shined.

In Milwaukee, he's played 20 games, ahead of Wednesday night, with an average of 15 minutes of floor time an outing. In his first NBA start on March 14, against Memphis, he registered 11 assists.

"I knew I was going to have a better opportunity here," Ennis said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. "Experiencing it on the court for yourself rather than, like in Phoenix, watching it."

This is a milestone season for Canadians in the NBA, bookended by the emergence of No. 1 draft pick Andrew Wiggins, the likely rookie of the year, and the retirement of legend Steve Nash.

Wiggins has delivered, starting every game and, since late December, leading the entire NBA in minutes played. His compatriots have had a tougher time.

Ennis, with his opportunity in Milwaukee, is the only other Canadian rookie to notch an NBA start, one game. Nik Stauskas, picked eighth by the Sacramento Kings, has played for three coaches and seen erratic court time. Dwight Powell, picked 45th by Charlotte, was on three teams before finding some stability on his fourth stop, in Dallas. Sim Bhullar, a 7-foot-5 centre who went undrafted, has played well in the development league and this week reaches the NBA with the Kings.

In Milwaukee, Ennis has an ideal mentor in Kidd. "He's a kid who can get to the basket," Kidd has said. "He can shoot and pass. Each time he takes the floor he gets better."

Ennis's father, Tony McIntyre, the long-time basketball organizer for elite youth in the Toronto region, said, "If you look around the league, there's a couple rookies playing, but for the most part they're not playing or they're injured. He's shown he's quite capable."

Milwaukee could be the ideal home. He is the backup to Michael Carter-Williams, last season's rookie of the year, who arrived from Philadelphia in the three-team trade with Phoenix. There's the tutelage of Kidd and new ownership, led by two billionaire hedge-fund executives. The roster is young, and staked on tomorrow rather than today.

"He's in a good place," said Mike George, Ennis's agent. "It's a great team with a great future."

A year ago, the Bucks were sold for a then-record $550-million (U.S.) to Marc Lasry of Avenue Capital Group and Wesley Edens of Fortress Investment Group. They spoke about the essential value of community and have since expanded the ownership group – as they try to drum up support for a new arena. The Bucks staff has also been overhauled, with upward of five dozen new employees, including Kidd.

The future focus was obvious at the trade deadline. The Bucks were 30-23, sixth in the weak Eastern Conference, but traded guard Brandon Knight to Phoenix; Knight is a near all-star who probably attracts big money this summer as a restricted free agent. The Bucks have gone 6-15 since, but cling to sixth in the East.

Ennis, who is camped out in a hotel, has been embraced by a feeling of family, a feeling of building. Nine of 14 players on the roster have three or fewer seasons of NBA experience. There are potential stars in sophomore Giannis Antetokounmpo and injured rookie Jabari Parker, the No. 2 pick behind Wiggins last June.

"We have a really close team, even off the court," Ennis said. "It's fun to be playing with guys you know have your back. It's a much closer group, from the front office to the coaching staff to everybody. The whole organization."