Milwaukee Bucks: Acquiring a second round pick should be priority

Slated to pick 17th in the 2018 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks should also be looking to buy a selection in the second round come draft night.

When the Milwaukee Bucks traded for Tyler Zeller prior to the NBA trade deadline this season, one of the concerns that many fans voiced was the cost of losing a second round pick.

Second round picks have become increasingly valuable to teams in recent years, so in that regard, the desire from fans for the Bucks to hold a second round pick makes sense.

In actuality, the trade for Zeller could prove to be largely inconsequential in that context, though. The Bucks can still likely pick up a second round pick without parting with any notable assets, and considering the pick that was sent to Brooklyn finished as the 45th pick, realistically they can still get a better second rounder too.

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It’s become common practice in the NBA for teams to buy and sell second round picks for cash considerations — money that doesn’t count against the salary cap.

The Bucks are certainly familiar with this process, although their own experience has generally seen them on the selling side of things.

Notably, the Bucks traded the 38th pick to Golden State in 2016, which the Warriors then used to select Patrick McCaw.

The Bucks were also in the cash considerations business in 2017, as they traded up to draft Sterling Brown with the 76ers’ pick, before then selling their own pick a couple of spots later to the Clippers.

Brown showed promising signs in his rookie season, further proving the value of second rounders for a franchise that drafted Malcolm Brogdon 36th in the previous year, only for him to go on to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

With Brogdon moving toward a second contract as he’s extension eligible this summer, the Bucks are running out of second round contracts. Second round draft picks are the cheapest, controllable assets that teams can get their hands on, and as a result they only become more and more valuable for teams trying to fill out their roster in a salary cap crunch.

The Bucks very much fit that bill in 2018, and yet beyond the financial implications, the talent leaves good reason to make such a deal too.

The 2018 NBA Draft may not be the deepest in terms of star talent, but it does run deep in terms of potential role players. With mock drafts showing little consensus on the players who could be selected from just outside of the lottery, all the way back into the middle of the second round, there’s a real chance that some genuine prospects may still be on the board in round two.

With intriguing talent potentially available and second rounders coming in on low-cost deals, your next question is likely why would any team be looking to exchange a draft pick for cash this summer? The answer to that is simple. There are teams in this year’s draft with more picks than roster spots to fill.

The Philadelphia 76ers have six picks, including four in the second round. The Phoenix Suns have four picks, with two in each round. The Atlanta Hawks have four picks, with just one of them being a second rounder. The Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic all boast two second round picks each too.

Of that group, the Sixers stand out as an obvious target for a trade. With an abundance of young talent already, and some recent picks still stashed overseas (i.e. Jonah Bolden and Mathias Lessort), it’s virtually a guarantee that Philadelphia won’t use all four of those second round selections.

If the Bucks can swing a deal with the Sixers or another team in the second round, it would give them a chance to add another young player who fits the long-term profile of the team and could spend the next few seasons as a contributor at a lower cost than a veteran’s minimum deal.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks: Draft poses variety of tough questions about future

Considering the Bucks’ situation, the kind of value that represents cannot be overstated, making it a must for Milwaukee’s front office to explore in the coming weeks and on draft night itself.