Milwaukee Bucks: 15 greatest draft steals in franchise history
89. . Power Forward. 2013. Giannis Antetokounmpo. 1. player
The player affectionately known as the “Greek Freak” was a relative mystery to both the NBA and its fans leading into the 2013 NBA Draft. Team executives will tell you now how he was “next on their board” or that they tried desperately to trade up to take him, but the reality is that a young kid from Greece who was the physical embodiment of Michael Jordan’s dunk from “Space Jam” was a risky pick in the lottery.
Milwaukee took the risk with the 15th pick and were well rewarded for it. Giannis Antetokounmpo has grown into one of the league’s very best players, and at the time of writing is the front-runner to win the league’s Most Valuable Player for the 2018-19 NBA season.
His combination of length, size and strength has converged to make him the most dominant interior player since prime Shaquille O’Neal, and one of the league’s best defenders as well.
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Getting a reliable starter with the No. 15 overall pick is a victory, and the Bucks got that and so much more. The Bucks had just one NBA All-Star from 2002 until 2017 when Antetokounmpo made his first. He has since been named a starter all three times he was selected.
In 2019, he was the Eastern Conference’s leading vote-getter, highlighting his immense popularity. Not simply a star in Milwaukee, Antetokounmpo has become the league’s international face.
Antetokounmpo has three All-NBA nods to go along with his three NBA All-Star appearances, and another two All-Defensive Team selections to boot.
In 2017, he was named the league’s Most Improved Player, and in 2019 he will likely be named its Most Valuable; he has an outside shot at being named the Defensive Player of the Year as well. What a year it was for the Greek Freak in 2018-19.
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Pick No. 15 has somehow turned into something of a hidden gem, with Hall of Fame point guard Steve Nash and current NBA Finals participant Kawhi Leonard also going in that draft selection. Yet Antetokounmpo may end up as the very best of that group, and certainly goes down as the greatest draft steal in Bucks’ history.