Milwaukee Bucks: NBA Draft workouts continue in Milwaukee

With the NBA Draft quickly approaching, the Milwaukee Bucks continue to bring in draft prospects to fill spots on both the Bucks and Wisconsin Herd rosters.

Even before hiring Jon Horst to serve as general manager, the Milwaukee Bucks brought in another two rounds of NBA Draft prospects: six on Wednesday, and six on Thursday. With six more on Friday, there were a ton of NBA Draft prospects checking in with the Bucks over the past week.

We’re going to run through all 18 of them all right here in one post, starting with one of the only ones slated to be drafted come June 22, Kentucky’s Bam Adebayo.

Bam Adebayo

Adebayo is a 19-year-old center who just finished his first season with Kentucky. He’s slotted to go 19th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, meaning he could be a real option for the Bucks with their 17th overall pick, depending on what all happens in the proceeding picks.

Bam is a pretty typical center prospect. His game doesn’t extend to the three-point arc, and he averaged a respectable 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game. His 1.7 turnovers per game are a red flag, especially since Adebayo only racked up 0.8 assists per contest last year–classic rookie mistakes from a freshman center.

Antone Warren

Despite not being placed any any DraftExpress lists, much less a mock draft, sophomore center Antone Warren has declared for the 2017 NBA Draft. The Antelope Valley product must’ve gotten tired of playing NCAA ball, or stopped hoping Antelope State could get him more on the map.

Much like Adebayo, Warren is a more traditional center who hit more than 60 percent of his field goals last season while averaging 11.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He was one of the best JUCO players last year, for what it’s worth (sadly, not that much when talking NBA Draft prospects.)

Hassan Martin

Rhode Island may not be looked at as a powerhouse NCAA program, but the Rams did make the NCAA Tournament this year, and actually won their first matchup, against Creighton. Part of the reason they won was senior forward Hassan Martin, who worked out with the Bucks on Wednesday.

Martin averaged 13.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and an impressive 2.4 blocks last year for a 6’7″ forward. Unfortunately, there does seem to be one hole in his game at the moment–Martin made just 25 percent of his triples in his senior season at Rhode Island.

Sebastian Saiz

Originally born in Spain, Saiz spent four strong years at Ole Miss, eventually becoming just the second player in school history to total 1,000 rebounds. He shot nearly 50 percent over his four years at Ole Miss, and the 6’9″ forward made his impact felt at that school.

Saiz averaged 15.1 points and 11.4 rebounds as a senior, showing he’s got some strong big man skills. Unfortunately, like Martin, Saiz’ skills do not extend to the three-point line, where Saiz shot 28.8 percent in his senior season.

Jack Gibbs

Jack Gibbs isn’t the first point guard to head to the NBA after hitting a ton of threes in his time at Davidson. Gibbs may not be the next Stephen Curry, but he was a 36.9 percent three-point shooter in college who made three threes per game in his senior season.

Gibbs averaged 22.1 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals per game last season with Davidson. The biggest thing holding Gibbs back might be his height–he stands at 6’0″, nearing the bottom of the NBA size range. Then again, people said the same about Isaiah Thomas once upon a time.

Dallas Moore

Dallas Moore is also the name of a “Outlaw Country/Honky Tonk Artist” but for our purposes here we’re going to stick to talking about the 6’1″ guard who just finished his senior season at North Florida.

Playing in the Atlantic Sun Conference certainly prevented much hype from building up around Moore, although to his credit he stood out there, winning back-to-back player of the year awards in that conference. He averaged 23.9 points, 4.0 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from deep. Moore can play.

Ismael Bako

Ismael Bako is a 6’10” center from Belgium who has played well both in his season with the Stella Artois Leuven Bears in Belgium and at the 2017 adidas EUROCAMP. He’s not a stretch five and he doesn’t have a workable triple, but there is certainly upside here.

Bako was named the Belgium BLB Rookie of the Year after the 2016-17 campaign, starting 21 games and averaging 8.0 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest, somehow winning that award despite playing at least a few games with the Leuven Bears in each of the last five seasons and starting seven games the year before he won rookie of the year. Huh.

Tyler Roberson

Former teammate of former Milwaukee Buck Tyler Ennis, Tyler Roberson just finished his senior season at Syracuse and is now hoping for a shot to make an NBA team. He won’t go in the first round like Ennis did, but Roberson might just make a team.

Roberson saw less minutes and thus less production in his fourth season as compared to his third. His points per game dipped from 8.8 to 5.3, as his minutes dropped from 30.8 per game down to 20.4 per game. Roberson’s field goal percentage went up in his more limited role, but the 6’8″ forward not being able to shoot or find minutes on a collegiate team aren’t great indicators for his NBA chances.

Ben Moore

Another 6’8″ senior forward who can’t shoot the three, Ben Moore just finished his collegiate career with SMU, although, unlike Roberson, he did not see any reduction in minutes as his career progressed.

On the contrary, Moore got more minutes every season he played, capping out at 32.3 minutes, 11.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in his last season with the Mustangs. He’s an athletic playmaker, but not having a shot will make it difficult for Moore to carve out a lane in the NBA.

Tony Farmer

Tony Farmer, which sounds like a fake name I’d use on FarmersOnly.com, is a sophomore forward out of Lee College in Texas. He was a rising star in high school, until he was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of kidnapping, felonious assault, robbery, and intimidation.

Farmer struggled to gain admission to many programs after his release from prison in 2015, and eventually decided to go to Lee College, a community college in a small town in Texas. He averaged 17.4 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game as a sophomore.

Matt Thomas

Matt Thomas is a 6’5″ guard who just finished his senior season at Iowa State. He started all 35 games he played last season, averaging 12.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in nearly 31 played minutes per game.

It took him two years to crack the 40 percent from the field mark, but Thomas put up a 47.7 percent mark from the field and shot 44.5 percent from three-point territory last season. He’s not exactly a standout, but Thomas was a very solid contributor at Iowa State for the last two years.

Ty Sabin

A local baller, Ty Sabin is fresh off of his senior season at Ripon College, where he starred in his four years. He was a first-team D3Hoops,com All-American in his senior season, and he won Midwest Conference Player of the Year three times as well.

He dominated the competition for most of his career, but especially in his last season, when he averaged 30.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. The competition may not have been great, but Sabin balled out excessively regardless.

Xavier Johnson

A 6’7″ guard from Colorado, Xavier Johnson just finished his senior season and is hoping to make it to the NBA now that his NCAA career is over. He averaged nearly 15 points per game as a senior, and added another 5.9 rebounds as well.

He played in 127 games in his four-year career with Colorado, and was a capable shooter in that time. Johnson hit 47.8 percent of his field goals and 38.2 percent of his threes in his collegiate career, proving that he’s got lots of range to his game.

Justin Jackson

Currently the 16th-rated prospect according to DraftExpress, Justin Jackson is the top prospect to be included on this list so far. His Tar Heels won the 2017 NCAA National Championship, and Jackson had a major role in the victory.

He averaged 18.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in a consensus First Team All-American season that also saw him win ACC Player of the Year honors. The junior forward led North Carolina in made threes, sinking 105 of them at a 37.0 percent clip. If he’s there when the Bucks is on the clock, Jackson would be a nice selection for Milwaukee.

Billy Garrett

A much less-touted prospect than Jackson, Billy Garrett is a 6’6″ guard who just finished his collegiate career after a strong senior season with DePaul. Once the Big East rookie of the year, Garrett has not made as much of a mark since then.

He averaged a quiet 14.9 points, 3.3 assists and 2.9 rebounds as a senior. The biggest question for Garrett going forward is his three-point shot. He hit 36.3 percent of his threes as a senior, but shot just 27.7 percent the year before, and never hit 33 percent aside from his senior season. He’ll need to be more consistent going forward from three-point territory.

Donovan Mitchell

Another first-round projected prospect, Donovan Mitchell, like Justin Jackson, is a very talented ACC prospect. Mitchell is a 6’3″ guard who averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game as a sophomore before declaring for the NBA Draft.

Ranked 11 among DraftExpress prospects, Mitchell likely will not be picked by the Bucks barring a huge slide for him, but it’s smart to be prepared for something like that happening. With a 6’10” wingspan and a 35.4 percent mark from three-point range, Mitchell has all the tools to be a productive NBA player.

Isaiah Briscoe

Another shorter prospect with a longer wingspan, Isaiah Briscoe stands at 6’2″ but has a 6’9″ wingspan, allowing him to defend above his height. He’s not currently projected to be drafted, but at 71 in DraftExpress’ Top 100 Prospects list Briscoe isn’t missing the cut by much.

The Kentucky product played over 30 minutes per game last season, averaging 12.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.2 rebounds per game. It’s not easy to put up any sort of numbers surrounded by Malik Monk and De’Aaron Fox, but Briscoe found a way to.

Kadeem Allen

Like Briscoe, Kadeem Allen is just barely missing the cut to be drafted this year, according to DraftExpress. He’s ranked 64th on their top prospects list, meaning he could certainly be picked by a team in the second round.

Another 6’2″ guard with a 6’9″ wingspan, Allen has some very interesting tools. He averaged just 9.8 points in his senior season, but shot 42.7 percent from deep and added 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists as well. Allen made an impact at Arizona, and may do so in a smaller sense in the NBA as soon as next season.

Next: NBA Draft Big Board 2.0: The Top 75 Prospects

As the 2017 NBA Draft draws ever closer, we’ll continue to cover everything the Milwaukee Bucks are doing, and even what they’re rumored to be doing.