Fit with the Bucks
With his range falling firmly in the second round, it’s looking very likely that Bazley will be on the board by the time the Bucks are on the clock with the 30th overall pick six days from now.
Of course, that is subject to change once the draft gets underway, but it’s worth exploring what Bazley offers to a team like the Bucks and where they’re at on their current timeline.
There’s no question Bazley poses to be a long-term project and while Milwaukee has embraced and has seen the fruits of their new development pipeline under head coach Mike Budenholzer this season, this will be a completely different undertaking in the case of Bazley.
For those reasons, it will likely be a couple of seasons before Bazley is ready to contribute on the NBA level and even then, will the investment of overseeing his development pay off in a meaningful way?
That’s an even more pertinent question to a team like the Bucks that ascended to contenders this season and are certainly looking to maintain that next season, provided they retain most of their significant pieces that are set to hit free agency in a couple of weeks.
Bazley won’t stand as the lone project that the Bucks will have to consider whether they’re worth the investment as other “unknown” prospects could easily fall in the range where the team is selecting.
There’s a world where Bazley proves to be an impactful piece and the journey he took to get to the NBA will stand as a footnote in his overall story. But it will take plenty of time and plenty of effort to make it so and the Bucks have to ask themselves if it’s worth taking on such a risk, even at the position they’re at in the draft.