Milwaukee Bucks mock draft roundup: Post-draft lottery edition

Jeremy Woo, Sports Illustrated: Jaden Hardy, G, G League Ignite

This pick from Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated is very much in the vein of the Terquavion Smith pick from age, position, and style of play. Jaden Hardy (6’4″ and 198 pounds) is one of the most polarizing players in the draft and would be a fascinating pick for the Bucks.

Hardy had a ton of hype coming out of high school before choosing to go the G League Ignite route over going to college. He really struggled to begin the year and his draft stock took a huge hit (hence why he’s being mocked to the Bucks at number 24).

Overall, Hardy finished with 17.7 points on 48.2 percent true shooting along with 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 26.9 percent on 6.5 3s per game with the Ignite squad over 12 games and just over 40 percent on 2s.

The biggest knocks on Hardy are his shot selection and his willingness to play defense. At his size, he can more than hold up against other guards and is strong enough to guard up against some smaller wings but the lack of effort is massive.

The truly terrible shooting efficiency numbers stem from his poor shot selection. He takes a lot of contested shots both inside and outside of the arc. He’s a good shooter but not as good as he thinks he is.

Hardy is actually a pretty underrated passer but mostly because he doesn’t do it enough despite being pretty good at it. His game got more mature as the season went on and the hope would be that if you get him in the right system and environment, he’ll keep that maturity going.

Hardy would be a massive upside swing pick for the Bucks at a position/style where they could absolutely use someone that has Hardy’s handle and self-creation ability.

This is a very important draft pick for the Milwaukee Bucks, who can hopefully get a future impact player to help keep the championship window open.