Alternate 2013 NBA Draft: Milwaukee Bucks Select…

Nov 6, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard

(17) against the New Orleans Pelicans during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Hawks defeated the Pelicans 121-115. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Dennis Schröder

If Milwaukee was open to trading away Brandon Jennings, I guess it wouldn’t really have come as any real surprise to see them take a punt on an exciting, young point guard with the 15th overall pick. Dennis Schröder was exactly that too.

Having impressed on the international stage for a number of years at events like the Nike Hoop Summit, and already playing professional basketball in Germany for his local professional team the Braunschweig Phantoms, the German was more of a known commodity than many of his Euro peers.

There was no shortage of pre-draft video available on Schröder, and that’s part of what played in to him being dubbed as the new “Rajon Rondo“.

It’s funny, because Schröder would fit exceptionally well into the long-armed, athletic identity that the Bucks have today (and in fact many Milwaukee fans still like the idea of him on the team some day), but without Giannis would that style even have come to pass?

Schröder even worked out for the Bucks, and the organization liked what they saw. Head of scouting Billy McKinney told Andrew Gruman at the time:

"Dennis is a very good defensive player. I think that’s one of the things he’s going to get better at. He has good point guard skills, as well. He has a good all-around game. He’s 19-years-old right now. He has a tremendous chance to grow as a player, but in stature, as well. Physically, he’s going to get stronger as he competes with grown men now."

Schröder has since developed into one of the more promising alternative options that the Bucks had on that night, but if they had selected him the team may have ended up feeling very different.

Next: Shane Larkin