It was apparent the moment it happened that the Milwaukee Bucks landed a steal when they selected Arizona guard Brayden Burries 10th overall in this past draft. However, in case anyone needed to hear it more, results from a new ESPN poll painted a perfect picture, with Burries coming away as the easy winner of the "Who will prove to be the biggest draft steal?" question.
Bucks have the draft's biggest steal on their hands
The voting was a landslide in Burries' favor. The guard came away with six votes, while second on the list was Golden State's Yaxel Lendeborg, who earned three. Sacramento's Darius Acuff Jr. earned two, while Chicago's Caleb Wilson and Atlanta's Kingston Flemings each tallied one. Lendeborg is a quality player, but even his coach, Steve Kerr, groaned when the Bucks took Burries, per Anthony Slater.
That says a lot. This one simply wasn't close.
It was surprising to see Burries fall to 10, given that some mock drafts had him going as high as five, while many had him going as low as nine. Anything beyond that felt like a reach. Yet, when the Dallas Mavericks shockingly selected Morez Johnson Jr. with the ninth overall pick, likely due to his ties to new coach Dusty May—they worked together at Michigan—Milwaukee's choice became clear.
Burries upped his stock in Summer League
While those in league circles were already high on Burries, his stock skyrocketed after an impressive collection of performances at Summer League. Across four outings, the guard put up 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 rebounds, and two steals while hitting 50 percent of his shots. Sheesh. Few rookies in this class managed numbers like that, though it wasn't the largest sample size of games.
The guard looks poised to be a significant contributor in Milwaukee's rotation from day one next year. Despite a crowded backcourt, Burries should have an opportunity under Taylor Jenkins to spread his wings from the jump. After years and years of swings and misses on draft picks, Burries looks like the curse-breaker after he practically fell into Milwaukee's lap 10th overall.
As the guard embarks on his NBA journey, he will look to send a message to the nine teams that all passed on him before landing with the Milwaukee Bucks. So far, it seems like he's done a good job. The next task is keeping the ball rolling.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.
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