The Milwaukee Bucks Varied Paths To The First Overall Pick In The 2016 NBA Draft

A Sad Possibility – The Bucks Win Some Games, And Either Stand Pat Or Move Down

The Milwaukee Bucks are on a tank streak, but their actual strong performances early in the Point Giannis era have cost them tank stock. Milwaukee holds just a half game lead over Orlando and Denver in the tank standings.

Denver has no incentive to tank because their pick will be heading to Toronto regardless, but they’re still not a very good team. The Magic are bad and no player on their roster is a true star, so they’ll have reason to want to suck. They are also not good anyway, so the choice isn’t really theirs.

If the Bucks pick up a few wins on a very light homestand they have awaiting them that includes the Suns, Magic, and Bulls coming to Milwaukee, then these teams will have an easy chance at being even worse than the Bucks. Milwaukee also has a game against the 76ers on the road before their season ends.

The Magic game is especially important, as it’s worth an entire game in tank standing. If the Bucks win they’ll likely rise above Orlando in the standings, depending on the games that occur before that one.

Ending in the ninth, tenth, or eleventh spot greatly decreases the odds of anything fun happening in the draft lottery. Those spots have just a 6.1 percent, 4.0 percent, and 2.9 percent chance (respectively) at the top three, with a less than two percent (at best) shot at getting that first overall pick.

Next: The Absolute Worst Scenario