Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest takeaways from second day of Media Week

Sam Merrill’s looking for his opportunity with the Milwaukee Bucks

While he ended up as the final pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, Sam Merrill is hungry for his chance to make it in Milwaukee.

Merrill started off his availability by recounting his own draft night last month, which was not only highlighted by being drafted, but getting a text from the two-time MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo:

"“It was pretty special. I was really excited going into the process. Going into draft night, I obviously had no idea exactly what was going to happen, but I felt pretty confident in the interest the Bucks had in me. When they acquired that second pick in the second round, I thought there was hopefully going to to be a good opportunity there and that’s what ended up happening. I was really excited, just because the Bucks are a very good team and it’s a really good opportunity for me to hopefully have a chance to compete for some playing time and also be in a very good system and a good organization. I got texts from Giannis and Khris the next day and that was really cool. That’s where it hit me that I was getting this opportunity and that was exciting.”"

When asked about whether his life experiences, maturity and age can be positive assets when navigating his way into the NBA, Merrill concurred as he spoke of his desire to earn an opportunity with the Bucks:

"“Definitely and that’s something that I tried to portray to teams during the pre-draft process. I know I’m older, so there are question marks with drafting an older guy, I get that. But with my life experiences, going on an LDS mission, playing four years at Utah State, playing under two different coaching staffs, I do feel ready. There are certain parts of the NBA that no one is ready for and I understand that. With everything going so quick and the necessity to be able to adjust quickly and learn on the fly, I feel like that will be stuff that I will be able to do. With my experience and my maturity, I can hopefully be in a position where I can contribute right away.”"