Milwaukee didn’t need to do anything flashy. They didn't have to get cute with it.
Everyone in the building knew they just needed to be smart. They just needed to see the board, assess what the draft class dictated, and take the obvious swing given their needs at the moment: a point guard with upside, on a cheap deal, who could actually crack the rotation next year.
But instead, with pick No. 47 in this year's NBA Draft, they still managed to miss everything with an obvious airball: selecting 6-foot-11 Serbian big man Bogoljub Markovic, a name that wasn’t even on most second-round mocks and did absolutely nothing to address their most urgent need.
Milwaukee keeps shooting itself in the foot by avoiding the obvious decision
We've said it before, and we'll say it again: if the Bucks end up with the wrong guards this offseason, they'll regret it fast.
Tyrese Proctor, a 6-foot-5 playmaker with NBA tools and years of Duke experience, was sitting right there. So was Javon Small, or Max Shulga, or even John Tonje out of Wisconsin. None of them were the promised point guard to save them from their troubles, but they were there.
There was a litany of guards available who actually made sense for a Bucks team that might open next season with no Damian Lillard and zero guaranteed backup point guards under contract. It was the most sensible decision in the world to choose any one of them.
Instead, they went the opposite direction and grabbed a big man. One they decided to likely stash. And worst of all, one who definitely won’t help them next season.
And their reasoning was upside. Even when they had the most monumental of problems facing them now. Instead they were enamored with a future. Assistant general manager Milt Newton said as much when questioned by reporters, per Eric Nehm of The Athletic, saying:
"For one, we also look at upside. To have a player with that length, who can do the things that he can do, those are all transferrable, translatable things that you can do in the NBA. But like I said, going back to the fact that playing with grown men, playing in a physical league and being able to have some success in that, we think that is something we can look at and think that, you know what, in a year, two years, he will be able to compete on the NBA level, if not sooner than later. The potential is there, and the upside is there that we just couldn't pass on."
To say that it was an underwhelming pick would be nothing short of an understatement. In reality, it was borderline negligent. Milwaukee’s guard depth is in flux: Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. are free agents. Lillard is still rehabbing, and Gary Trent Jr. might not return. This team needs backcourt help.
Proctor wasn’t a sure thing, but he was a guard with size, pedigree, and enough of a floor to at least contribute in stretches next year. That’s more than you can say for most second-rounders. For a capped-out team with zero margin for error, that should’ve mattered.
Instead, the Milwaukee Bucks are banking on a developmental big to solve their problems. The moment called for a solution, and they whiffed it with a dream of one.
This isn’t about Markovic himself. He might be good. But the pick encapsulates the Bucks’ growing issue: a front office that can’t seem to align need with value. Drafting a stash big when your guard rotation is on fire is the equivalent of calling the plumber when your kitchen’s already flooded.
The Bucks didn’t need a home run, or a three, or a half-court hail Mary. They just needed the simplest of layups. And once they took the shot, they bricked it.
And now they're one step closer to a quiet offseason that solves none of their problems.