Milwaukee Bucks Should Trade Their First Round Pick
By Dan Larsen
With rumors swirling that the Milwaukee Bucks may trade their first round draft pick, doing so could be a smart move.
Every year around this time, speculation begins to grow that many teams may move in the NBA Draft. Few, if any of these rumors, end up coming to fruition. However, they often pose fun hypotheticals and a basis for discussion.
According to multiple sources, the Milwaukee Bucks are at the heart of one those rumors this year. It’s rumored that the Bucks are considering trading the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft. Where they would move remains unclear. However, being 10th in the draft should give the Bucks a variety of options if they do decide to try and make some noise on draft night,
Trading their pick, whether it’d be to move up or down to potentially acquire two mid-first rounders, would be a shrewd move.
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Sitting at 10, as it stands, puts the Bucks in a bit of an awkward position. Most of the impact players the Bucks would likely want, such as Jamal Murray, Kris Dunn, or Buddy Hield, will be off the board by the time the Bucks pick at ten.
This means Milwaukee must hope that either 1) one of the guys they want falls to their pick or 2) they’ll either need to settle for a decent option like Jakob Poeltl, someone who may not move the needle much, or take someone like Skal Labissiere who would pose a considerable amount of risk, but potentially a higher reward
If, however, the Bucks were able to move further up in the draft, they would likely give themselves the opportunity to acquire one of the following five players: Jamal Murray, Kris Dunn, Buddy Hield, Dragan Bender, or Henry Ellenson, guys who could move the needle and give the Bucks a fourth solid starter to complement their core three guys.
This is an attractive option for the Bucks, an option that is also within reach if they choose to pursue it.
Someone like the New Orleans Pelicans, who have the sixth pick, would make sense as a potential trade partner for the Bucks.
Reports before the trade deadline in February suggested that the Pelicans and Bucks held talks surrounding Greg Monroe. Perhaps an offer of Greg Monroe and the tenth pick may be enough to persuade the Pelicans to part with the 6th overall pick. However, it will also require the Pelicans to shed some salary, whether to a third team or to Milwaukee. It would also guarantee the Bucks at least one of Dunn, Murray, Hield, Bender, or Ellenson.
The Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings (7th and 8th respectively) would also be potential options, though doing so would probably require something other than Monroe since both teams have solid big men.
The second option the Bucks would have is to trade back on draft night. Multiple teams below the Bucks, such as the Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets, possess high lottery picks as well as at least two other mid-first round picks. Thus. if the Bucks were looking to move back, they could potentially acquire two of these picks in return for the 10th overall pick.
Trading back would produce a different benefit than trading up.
Instead of moving up to get a top talent, the Bucks could instead move back only a few picks and give themselves two shots at finding the right guy in the middle of the draft. Given that a variety of quality guys will be available at this point in the draft, such as Wade Baldwin, Denzel Valentine, Domantas Sabonis, Timothe Luwawu, Diamond Stone, and Tyler Ulis, the Bucks could address both their point guard and center deficiencies with their two picks, boosting their depth and giving them more potential value than just picking at 10.
As we saw this past season, the Bucks bench was awful for most of the season. Outside of the emergence of Tyler Ennis, Miles Plumlee, and Jerryd Bayless, the Bucks bench was either riddled by injuries or saw players post one of their worst career seasons. If the Bucks are going to seriously contend for an NBA title within the next five years, they’ll need to improve the depth of their squad significantly.
Trading back, and acquiring two mid-first round picks, would give the Bucks a shot to address that issue in a very cost effective way. Mid-first round picks do bust more often than higher picks, and sometimes fail to contribute. However, if you give yourself two shots at it, the Bucks would likely end up with at least one solid contributor out of those two picks.
Trading back would also give the Bucks an opportunity to take on a bit more of a risk, especially if they had two shots at it. General manager John Hammond, with perhaps one exception in Joe Alexander, has often found the best value at whatever pick the Bucks have drafted at.
Thus, if the Bucks traded back, Hammond could afford to take a risk on someone like Luwawu, someone who possesses considerable upside, but also has significant limitations.
Talking about trading, and actually doing a trade, are two different things. However, the Bucks should have the option available to them if they wish to take it.
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Whether they stay at 10 or move remains to be seen. However, if the price is right, the Bucks should seriously consider trading their way up or down on draft night.