The Milwaukee Bucks took a look at a group primarily made up of seniors in their latest workout on Thursday.
The Milwaukee Bucks continued their workouts on Thursday as a group of mostly seniors looked to impress, and another former Wisconsin Badger visited.
Off the back of a stellar season for the Badgers, Bronson Koenig was among Thursday’s attendees. As we’ll detail later, unfortunately his workout didn’t go exactly to plan, though.
Michigan Wolverine Moritz Wagner faced different decisions to the rest of those in attendance as he still works on deciding whether he should return to college or commit to the draft this year.
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Another notable prospect at the workout was Virginia’s London Perrantes, a long-time former teammate of Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon.
As they do for all of the workouts, the Bucks posted a list of all the players in attendance on their website early on Thursday morning.
Let’s dig a little deeper beyond that, though, and take a closer look at those from this workout hoping to impress the Bucks ahead of the draft.
Moritz Wagner
Forward – 6’10”
As a sophomore, Moritz Wagner was the only non-senior to work out for the Bucks on Thursday, and as a result, he’s a prospect who still has major decisions to make.
M Live reported that Wagner’s stock is very unpredictable at the moment as the prospect places in the first round of Chad Ford’s draft for ESPN, but doesn’t figure at all in Draft Express’ mock for 2017. The player himself had the following to say on his situation:
"“If I have a feeling that a team believes in me that much to draft me in the first round, I have to seriously consider that. As long as I don’t have that feeling, I won’t risk losing (two) years of eligibility at Michigan.”"
Having seen a major uptick in his minutes as a sophomore, Wagner’s skills have become more apparent, but whether that’s enough to take the jump to the next level at this point remains to be seen.
The German native possesses a good shooting touch for his 6’10” frame, as evidenced by his averages of 56 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from deep for his sophomore season.
Altogether combining for averages of 12.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.0 steals, there’s certainly potential in Wagner’s game, and now it’s just up to the NBA teams decide if he needs some more time in college to further polish his skills.
Moses Kingsley
Forward – 6’10”
A native of Nigeria, Moses Kingsley tested the draft waters after a strong junior season last year, but after opting to return to college didn’t quite manage to kick on.
Having averaged 15.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 blocks, 1.2 assists and 1.1 steals on 54.8 percent from the field as a junior, Kingsley played 1.7 minutes less per game as a senior and experienced drop-offs in points, rebounds and steals.
What Kingsley can boast this time around in the draft process is some semblance of a three-point shot. Having only attempted a total of two attempts from deep through his first three years at Arkansas, Kingsley attempted 16 threes as a senior and converted at a 43.8 percent clip. Although the sample size is small, the promise is now at least there.
If Kingsley can earn a greater opportunity for himself as a pro, his long wingspan and impressively strong frame will likely be important factors for any team who takes a risk on him. What Kingsley has to prove is that he has rounded out his skill-set to complement his physique.
Andrew White
Guard – 6’7″
Having started out his college career with very limited opportunities at Kansas, Andrew White made the necessary moves to showcase his skill and took advantage.
White transferred to Nebraska for his junior season, and then played for Syracuse as a post-graduate transfer senior.
According to Bucks.com’s bio for White, he set a new Syracuse record for made three-pointers in a season, knocking down 112 triples on the year.
That shooting is what should really make White appeal to NBA teams, as having shot 41.2 percent on 6.2 three-point attempts in Nebraska, and 40 percent on 8.2 attempts per game with Syracuse, it’s no fluke at this point.
Coming off of a senior year at Syracuse, the zone defense may make it a little bit more difficult for teams to assess his individual defense. At 6’7″ tall, if White can impress with defensive effort in workouts, he certainly could find a way into the second round of the draft.
London Perrantes
Guard – 6’2″
London Perrantes leaves Virginia with an incredible legacy secured in the annals of Cavalier basketball history. Among a number of notable records he now holds, Perrantes left Virginia as the team’s all-time leader in starts, games and minutes.
Of course, relevant to the Bucks’ perspective, Perrantes also spent a number of years playing alongside Malcolm Brogdon. The 22-year-old spoke to Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel about the impact that had on him:
"“Obviously being behind him for three years at Virginia was huge for me,” said Perrantes, a 6-foot-2 guard. “I tried to take everything I could from him day in and day out — still am. I still try to pick his brain and text whenever I need something or whenever I just need to hear something positive or if I have a question. I’m always able to talk to him and that’s good for me.”"
Although he’s very obviously undersized and in many ways doesn’t look like the typical NBA guard, Perrantes has very concrete and easily defined skills that should be of interest to professional teams.
Known for his tenacious defense, and a career 40.9 percent three-point shooter in college, Perrantes is the kind of player who can be expected to compete in every workout. The hope for teams like the Bucks will be to see the best version of Perrantes and have him bring out the best of those around him.
Bronson Koenig
Guard – 6’4″
Following in the footsteps of Nigel Hayes from earlier in the week, Bronson Koenig became the latest former Wisconsin Badger to work out for the Bucks on Thursday.
Unfortunately for Koenig, his workout was cut short as he suffered an ankle injury. Although vice president of scouting Billy McKinney made it very clear that the Bucks have seen enough of Koenig this year that the workout being cut short wouldn’t have any impact on their thinking, Koenig still shared his thoughts on it to Matt Velazquez of the Journal Sentinel:
"“I thought I was doing really well until I rolled my ankle a little bit,” said Koenig, who was standing with the use of crutches with a brace on his ankle. “It’s definitely frustrating, as is any injury, but I’ve been blessed my whole career to be pretty injury free. Especially it being my first workout it’s more frustrating, but I was playing well. Hopefully I proved myself a little bit to everybody and showed what I could do a little bit.”"
On the court, Koenig averaged 14.5 points per game as a senior with the Badgers, along with 2.1 rebounds, 2.0 assists and a 39.5 percent success rate from deep.
Koenig finished his time as a Badger holding the single season school record for most threes made in a season, as well as the most made in a career.
J.J. Frazier
Guard – 5’10”
Very much undersized by today’s NBA standards, J.J. Frazier enters the draft process as a proven scorer looking to convince teams that his offensive instincts can translate to the professional game.
Frazier averaged 18.8 points, 4.1 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 rebounds per game as a senior in acting as the driving force behind his UGA Bulldogs team.
Frazier’s play as a senior earned him an invite to the prestigious Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, where he again excelled by ultimately being named to the event’s All-Tournament Team.
Frazier is very much a score-first point guard, and after a difficult senior year in terms of three-point shooting, teams will be hoping to see evidence of his past long-range success in workouts.
Next: Milwaukee Bucks Pre-Draft Workouts: T.J. Leaf visits Milwaukee after Combine interview
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.