Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo selects his All-Star team
Serving as a captain at this year’s All-Star Game alongside Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James, Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo filled out his team at this year’s All-Star Draft Thursday night.
If you’re having a hard time following all the comings and goings surrounding the Milwaukee Bucks over the last 48 hours or so, I don’t blame you.
This year’s trade deadline has come and gone and the Bucks were one of many teams that worked the phones as they completed a three-team deal between the Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Pelicans that reportedly netted them veteran forward Nikola Mirotic late Thursday morning/early afternoon.
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Currently holding the best record in all of the league, it’s just the latest indication that the Bucks have set their sights on going for it all this year and getting a player of Mirotic’s caliber stood as one of the biggest takeaways on the day.
However, the topic of team building wasn’t just isolated to the Bucks’ front office as the team’s superstar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, tried his hand at filling out his All-Star team during Thursday night’s All-Star Draft.
Serving as a captain alongside Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James for this year’s NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte, Antetokounmpo filled out his 13-man roster for all to see with this year’s draft being televised during TNT’s pregame show staple, Inside The NBA.
With James garnering the most fan votes, the four-time MVP held the first pick for this year’s crop of starters while Antetokounmpo held the first pick to select from the group of reserves.
The Greek Freak first picked Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, returning the favor Curry paid to him last year when he served as captain. He followed that up with selecting Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kemba Walker, all in that order.
For his first pick from among the reserves, Antetokounmpo picked his long-standing running mate and first-time All-Star, Khris Middleton. He then proceeded to add some international flavor between his picks of Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers maestro Ben Simmons, all first-time All-Stars as well.
Antetokounmpo keyed in on adding more size between his selections of five-time All-Star Blake Griffin of the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic, another first-time All-Star. Last but not least, Antetokounmpo picked Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry for his last pick.
Then came deciding which legends would go where with both Dirk Nowitzki and Dwayne Wade being late adds by NBA commissioner Adam Silver. While James added some suspense at first, he ended up taking his long-time peer and former teammate in Wade, leaving Giannis with Nowitzki.
Just as it looked like we were wrapping things up, James approached Antetokounmpo on a trade between Westbook for Simmons, which the three-time All-Star took him up on, making for the first-ever trade in All-Star Draft history.
So with that, the first televised All-Star Draft was certainly a smashing success. Now we’ll see which team gets the better of the other when this year’s All-Star Game takes place next Sunday night in Charlotte.