The Milwaukee Bucks continued to welcome in potential draft picks for workouts on Monday.
Having been confirmed as having met with at least 11 prospects at the Draft Combine in Chicago, the Milwaukee Bucks returned home and quickly got back down to the business of group workouts.
Although the team’s early workouts at their practice facility in St. Francis have been comprised almost entirely of players likely to go undrafted, post-Combine it seemed natural to expect an uptick in the caliber of invitees, and that proved to be the case on Monday.
The Bucks welcomed in five guards who could all draw some buzz in the latter stages of the draft, but perhaps most notable of all was Oregon’s Tyler Dorsey, a player who many currently have tipped to hear his name called on draft night.
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According to the list of participants published on Bucks.com, Dorsey was joined by Jajuan Johnson, Trevon Bluiett, Damyean Dotson and Davon Reed.
Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon was also expected to join the group on Monday, but had to withdraw due to illness. According to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Bucks plan to reschedule a workout for Bacon soon.
Without further ado, let’s take a closer look at the players who did attend on Monday though and get a sense if any of them could ultimately start next season as Milwaukee Bucks.
Jajuan Johnson
Guard – 6’5″
Following in the footsteps of teammate Katin Reinhardt who has already worked out for the Bucks in this pre-draft process, Jajuan Johnson is the latest Marquette Golden Eagle to audition for Milwaukee’s NBA team.
Johnson has just finished up a solid if somewhat unspectacular four-year career at Marquette, where at the very least he managed to show year on year improvement.
That peaked with a senior season that saw Johnson average 12 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 steals in 26 minutes per game.
Johnson has always been an active and tenacious defender for the Golden Eagles, as throughout his four years with the team he averaged an impressive 2.9 steals per 40 minutes.
Although not a lights out shooter by any means, Johnson has taken major strides in the past two years as he’s averaged 38 percent from three-point range on both occasions.
According to Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Johnson’s play was very well-received by the Bucks. Vice president of scouting Billy McKinney was quoted as saying:
"“Jajuan represented himself very well. I’m sure at some point that we might even have him back in to take another look at him. He didn’t show any signs of nervousness. If he did, I’ll tell you what he did, he applied it out on the floor in a very positive manner.”"
Trevon Bluiett
Guard – 6’6″
An accomplished scorer during his three years at Xavier, Trevon Bluiett is a well-rounded guard who’s generally projected to go undrafted and will therefore be particularly determined on the workout circuit.
Since arriving as a freshman in 2014-15, Bluiett has received significant opportunity while playing for the Musketeers, amassing over 3,000 minutes in total for his college career.
Still, Bluiett’s role peaked in his junior year when he averaged 35.1 minutes per game, and the biggest development to come from that was the Indianapolis native’s emergence as a more dominant scorer.
Bluiett averaged 18.4 points per game last season, and did so while posting very respectable shooting splits of 43.9 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three-point range.
As was noted by Bucks.com, perhaps the most impressive detail of Bluiett’s scoring was his consistency as he posted double figure scoring in 33 of 36 games.
Tyler Dorsey
Guard – 6’4″
Although Bucks fans may be more familiar with the Marquette players, Tyler Dorsey is by far the highest profile prospect to visit Milwaukee at this early stage of the draft process, and arguably the first with a very realistic chance of being drafted.
Having just finished his sophomore season, Dorsey’s youth and potential for further improvement is another way in which he differs to the senior heavy group of prospects who have visited Milwaukee’s practice facility to date.
Having only recently turned 21, Dorsey is a solid scorer who has proven his ability as a deadeye shooter through his two years at Oregon. Dorsey shot 42.3 percent from deep on 5.3 three-point attempts per game this season,
Also notable when discussing Dorsey is his experience playing for Greek underage teams and practicing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of the Olympic Games last summer.
Dorsey wasn’t shy about speaking about his connection to Milwaukee’s star, as Matt Velazquez noted for the Journal Sentinel:
"“Dorsey also shared that he learned a lot from witnessing Antetokounmpo’s intense work ethic during the Greek workouts. He got shots up with Antetokounmpo during those practices and picked his brain as often as possible. During the NBA playoffs, Dorsey reached out to Antetokounmpo via text on multiple occasions to wish him well.”"
Damyean Dotson
Guard – 6’5″
At 23 years old, Dotson is a slightly older prospect than many looking to find a home in this year’s draft, which can be attributed to him sitting out the 2014-15 season in order to transfer from Oregon to Houston.
Having seen his role in Oregon reduced from his freshman to sophomore season, that proved to be a good move from Dotson as he received more playing time with the Cougars.
Dotson put together a strong senior year for Houston, averaging 17.4 points and 6.9 rebounds a game, while shooting an outstanding 44.1 percent from deep on a whopping 7.7 attempts per game.
On top of that strong play on the season, Dotson has since managed to string together impressive showings at both the Portsmouth Invitational and the Combine. Although he remains an outsider to be drafted, Dotson’s stock is certainly on the rise.
Davon Reed
Guard – 6’6″
Whether it happens to be in the NBA, the D-League or overseas, Reed possesses the kind of physical profile that should make him an intriguing three-and-D wing as a pro.
With a 7’0″ wingspan, Draft Express described Reed as having “similar length to the likes of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Moe Harkless”. That will certainly appeal to NBA teams, and may even catch the eye of the length-inclined Bucks scouts.
Throughout his four years at Miami, Reed was a solid role player, although he only managed to break into double-digits per game starting in his junior campaign.
As a senior, Reed averaged 14.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game, while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 39.7 from deep.
Next: NBA Draft Combine 2017: Confirmed Milwaukee Bucks’ interviewees
We’ll have further updates on prospects who work out for the Bucks as they happen, along with a variety of draft profiles on site. Make sure to stick with us for all of your Bucks draft coverage.