Milwaukee Bucks 2020 NBA Draft roundtable: Looking at potential fits

Milwaukee Bucks 2020 NBA Draft roundtable: Ranking talent tiers in the first round

Question: This year’s 2020 draft class has been described as weaker at the top, but deeper in the middle. At what points in this year’s draft have you determined the greatest talent drop-offs will be? How would you compare a late-first rounder’s value this year to past years?

Spencer Pearlman (@SKPearlman): I think the talent drops off a good amount somewhere around 8-10, then levels off for a while. You’re going to be finding teams who rank players similarly and picking who fits their team the best because the disparity in talent level from, say, 14+ isn’t that big. In terms of value, I think this year’s late first to early second is better value than last year’s in the same range. Especially for win-now teams, there are a good number of players who can come in and be rotation players on day 1.

Max Carlin (@maxacarlin): On my board, I see pretty sharp drop-offs in the mid-lottery and the mid-20s. However, since the guys I value in the mid-lottery do not generally seem to be as well-regarded by the NBA (names like Tyrese Maxey, Devin Vassell, and Cole Anthony), I think some of the best value picks in the 2020 Draft will come in the late lottery or possibly even late teens. While I run out of guys I’d be comfortable spending a first on at about 25th on my board, a similar situation emerges where these guys may well be available even early in the second, representing nice values. In that late first range, if a team knows what it’s looking for, I think it should have options. Whether it be a mobile big, off-guard with plus ball skills, or a 3 & rim protection forward, there will be guys well-suited to fill roles for teams with good awareness of their needs and plans for implementation.

Ben Pfeifer (@Ben_Pfeifer_): This class is pretty flat to me all around. There’s a bit of a drop-off to me around 20 after the top guys, but I don’t think a late first in this class is that much worse than a normal late first. There’s actually going to be quite a bit of value in the late first this year, with prospects like Killian Tillie, Leandro Bolmaro, Isaiah Joe, Desmond Bane and more available late in the first round.

Mike Gribanov (@mikegrib8): In late lottery, there is a drop-off. That’s a good place to be, at 12-14 or so. I think early to mid-20s is a good place too. It is difficult to give a more precise answer since I’m going by my own board – not sure what teams will actually do. A late first is about similar to past years, maybe a little weaker on average, but there will be good talent around. It’s just a matter of getting the right guy.

PD Web (@abovethebreak3): Weak and strong are relative terms based on positions. For a team that is desperate for wings, this draft is going to take a nose dive in quality in the late teens. The last three drafts had wings and 4’s galore down through the first round, but most were of the project variety past the lottery. Going through the list, there were a lot of wings picked for wings sake. In this draft, there are not so many theoretical utility wings, but a cavalcade of guards and bigs with interesting intersections of lower usage skills, mostly accessible in the context of good teams with a jumbo initiator… oh!