Wisconsin Herd: G League Expansion Draft won’t add much to the roster

By Ti Windisch | Aug 23, 2017

OSHKOSH, WI - AUGUST 11: Wisconsin Herd president Steve Brandes (left) introduces Herd general manager Dave Dean (center) and head coach Jordan Brady (right) during a press conference at the Oshkosh Convention Center on August 11, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Although it will be exciting to find out who the Wisconsin Herd take in the G League Expansion Draft, most of the selected players probably won’t suit up for Wisconsin anytime soon.

The G League Expansion Draft is today, if you’re reading this on Wednesday, August 23. Yay! The Wisconsin Herd can add some fun players to their roster, as we outlined here on the site a few days ago.

In the (paraphrased) words of Steve Brandes, President of Milwaukee Bucks G League Operations, building a team from scratch is challenging, but also uniquely exciting. It’s incredibly rare to get an opportunity to build up a professional roster from literally nothing, but that’s what the Herd get to do in the next several weeks.

The first step was the signing of Bronson Koenig and Jalen Moore to two-way contracts. Both Koenig and Moore will reside mostly with the Herd next season, as there is a 45-day cap on how long they can spend with the Milwaukee Bucks.

More from Bucks News

Now, the rest of the roster needs to be filled out. Wednesday’s G League Expansion Draft will help with that as well, but not by much. There are 11 rounds to the expansion draft, but 11 new Wisconsin players won’t truly be added to play during the coming season.

In recent inaugural seasons for G League teams, hardly any expansion draft picks actually suited up for their teams. As noted by Adam Johnson over at 2 Ways & 10 Days, just one player picked in the expansion draft by all three of the Delaware 87ers, Westchester Knicks, and Raptors 905 actually played for the team in their inaugural season.

The reason for this is many players not protected by their team in this expansion draft are likely leaving for more money elsewhere. G League teams still can only offer paltry salaries compared to what players on that level could make in professional leagues in Europe or Asia.

But, as Adam points out in that same piece, getting rights to players that may not come over can still be important for fledgling G League franchises.

"What’s key to remember is these players become assets for expansion teams to make trades and obtain players they want.For example, the 905 traded player rights of Kevin Jones along with a draft pick to the Santa Cruz Warriors for the rights of Ronald Roberts. A trade that may not have happened without the expansion draft in place to provide the 905 with assets to wheel-and-deal."

That 905 team would go on to win the G League title in 2017, in part thanks to smart asset management. Rights to players are G League assets, which makes them important.

Managing the rights to overseas players may not sound thrilling, but luckily anything Wisconsin Herd-related is exciting right now, because the team is still so new that construction has yet to be finished on their arena.

Next: Wisconsin Herd: Who will the Herd pick in the G League expansion draft?

The G League Expansion Draft is no exception to the excitement. Not every single pick that Wisconsin makes will end up suiting up for the Herd next year, or maybe even ever. Still, making smart moves will be crucial to avoiding a poor beginning for the Wisconsin Herd as a franchise.

Home/Bucks News