NBA Draft 2017 Prospect Watch: Tyler Lydon

Fit with the Bucks

Before John Hammond left as general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks, the move had been to take long athletic players with a great work ethic. John Henson, Giannis Antetokounmpo,  Jabari Parker, and Thon Maker all fit as examples of the Bucks’ draft priorities in that regime.

Ti Windish pointed out a few weeks ago, the recent shift and need for shooting in Milwaukee.

"Every new player the Bucks brought in that offseason was a fairly capable shooter, whether it be Mirza Teletovic, Matthew Dellavedova, Michael Beasley, Tony Snell, Jason Terry, Malcolm Brogdon or Thon Maker."

Shooting is needed in the Bucks organization and Lydon can provide the long range spot-up shooting that could replace veteran Michael Beasley if he leaves during free agency. Teletovic, while possessing a similar shooting acumen, will be turning 32 in the upcoming season and 35 at the end of his contract.

Lydon can step in immediately as a role player off the bench similar to when he was at his best during his freshman season at Syracuse. While the NBA mock drafts have Lydon going as high as 23rd in the CBS Sports mock draft, Lydon has bounced around from late lottery selection to the second round.

The Bucks have shown interest as Lydon worked out recently for the team and appear to be continuing to make shooting a priority. Similarly to Thon Maker last year I don’t see Lydon getting back to the Bucks selection in the second round and I could see Milwaukee using that strategy with Lydon and the 17th pick if he is the top player available on their draft board.

My personal thoughts for the Bucks organization would be to wait on Lydon and see if he can be picked up as a value pick in the second round. In that scenario, he could offer something similar to the value Brogdon brought last year, although this may require a trade up or down in the draft as the range of Lydon’s selection seems unknown.

Next: NBA Draft 2017 Prospect Watch: Ike Anigbogu

Bucks fans at the very least would delight in the fact that Lydon has his own Twitter account for his intermittent mustache, Rico. Maybe Tyler Lydon is the perfect fit in Milwaukee.