Milwaukee Bucks select Josh Hart in 2017 NBA Re-Draft

With FanSided’s 2017 NBA Re-Draft in full flow, we selected Josh Hart for the Milwaukee Bucks with the 17th overall pick.

It’s become something of a FanSided tradition in recent years for all of the various team sites to come together ahead of the NBA Draft and to play the draft out with each site acting as their respective team’s general manager.

My colleague Jordan Treske and I have enjoyed an impeccable record over the course of these mock drafts (no need for anyone to fact check that), and so we were thrilled at the prospect of putting our Milwaukee Bucks GM caps on once again.

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With the date for this year’s NBA Draft still very much uncertain, the focus instead turned to the 2017 NBA Draft, and a Re-Draft to be more specific.

In reality, the Bucks selected D.J. Wilson with the 17th overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, a move which they may like to have back at this point given that the former Michigan Wolverine has struggled to carve out a full-time spot in the rotation in the time since.

With that in mind, Jordan and I decided to go a different route when it was our turn to select at No. 17. So I called in our pick of Villanova’s Josh Hart with the 17th overall pick.

Hart has enjoyed a steady first few years in the NBA since being selected with the 30th overall pick. Hart was picked by the Jazz but immediately sent to the Lakers via draft night trade, where he went on to become one of the steadier and more productive players of their youth movement prior to LeBron James‘ arrival.

Of course, Hart would later be traded to the Pelicans as part of the Anthony Davis trade, although he’s had no issues settling into a new role in The Big Easy in the time since either.

Considering how the Bucks’ style of play evolved following the departure of Jason Kidd midway through what was Wilson’s rookie season, Hart would have been a much more seamless fit for the current team’s “Let It Fly” philosophy under Mike Budenholzer.

Hart is by no means a deadeye shooter, but he’s very capable, knocking down 35.3 percent on 4.3 three-point attempts per game for his career to date. Also possessing the size to play and defend either wing position, having a nose for rebounds, and some comfort handling and passing the ball, Hart obviously fits the pass, dribble, shoot mold that Jon Horst has prized as general manager.

If the Bucks had picked Hart, he’d have been an obvious complementary fit alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Eric Bledsoe, and may even have had an opportunity to play a key role on a contender.

It’s also worth noting that Hart was a teammate of Donte DiVincenzo‘s at Villanova, the player drafted by the Bucks a year later who is currently showing so much promise in Milwaukee.

The full Re-Draft order can be found by viewing the pick-by-pick breakdown over on the FanSided main site.

Did we make the right pick for the Bucks? Would the Bucks be better off with Josh Hart? Let us know on social media!