Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks draft Sterling Brown at 46 overall in 2017 NBA Draft

By Ti Windisch

Mar 17, 2017; Tulsa, OK, USA; USC Trojans guard De'Anthony Melton (22) guards Southern Methodist Mustangs guard Sterling Brown (3) on a shot during the first half in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2017; Tulsa, OK, USA; USC Trojans guard De'Anthony Melton (22) guards Southern Methodist Mustangs guard Sterling Brown (3) on a shot during the first half in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at BOK Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a strange little sequence of events, the Milwaukee Bucks ended up drafting Sterling Brown as their second round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

The Milwaukee Bucks went into the 2017 NBA Draft with a first round pick and a second round pick. Their first round pick came and went, and the Bucks drafted D.J. Wilson out of Michigan.

The second round got a little bit more interesting. The Bucks, as first reported by Brad Turner of the L.A. Times, sold their 48th overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers, who would go on to use it to draft Sindarius Thornwell.

Moments later, Shams Charania of The Vertical reported that the Bucks then bought back into the second round, and took Sterling Brown out of SMU with the 46th overall selection, formerly belonging to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Although Thornwell might well be the bigger name–and Bucks fans have already done some grousing about the team selling a pick that ended up being used on a player with some name recognition again–Brown has gotten lots of love as a top sleeper in this draft.

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SB Nation called him “the NBA draft sleeper you want your team to take,” and Sports Illustrated named him the 12th best wing player in the draft, ahead of at least one prospect who was already off the board at 46 overall.

Brown is a senior, which is almost certainly a big part of the reason he dropped so low. As the Bucks learned with Malcolm Brogdon last season, older draft prospects can offer quite a bit right out of the gate.

Standing at 6’6″ with a 6’9″ wingspan, Brown has the size to play mostly at shooting guard on the lengthy Bucks, although he could slot in at small forward to relieve Giannis Antetokounmpo as well. He’s capable of doing a bit of everything at the NBA level, which is always fun.

Brown averaged 13.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game in his last collegiate season. He’s a capable defender and shooter, who knocked down 44.9 percent of his threes last season.

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It’s hard not to think Malcolm Brogdon when looking at Sterling Brown, at least a little. Brown plays bigger than Brogdon, but the fact that they’re both seniors who have no gaping holes in their games sticks out. Clearly, Milwaukee valued the player they got in the second round of the 2016 NBA Draft enough to go after another solid senior this time around.

The weird pick buying and selling most likely made the Bucks some money. The Clippers had already bought one second rounder, and with Steve Ballmer funding L.A. the team has not been afraid to spend some cash.

Philly, on the other hand, has too many second rounders to use them all over the next few seasons. Even though the Bucks moved up a couple of spots, they probably at least broke even on the deal, which is a fun second round quirk.

Next: Bucks Take D.J. Wilson 17th Overall

As long as the swap results in a good player ending up on the Milwaukee Bucks–or the Wisconsin Herd–there shouldn’t be any problem with how the team made their pick in the second round.

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