The Milwaukee Bucks have gotten quite familiar with Andrew Nembhard during his time as a member of the Indiana Pacers. They were also quite familiar with him before that, as NBA insider Zach Lowe recently shed light on how the Bucks were seemingly enamored with Nembhard leading up to the draft in 2022 on the latest episode of The Zach Lowe Show.
To make matters worse in the present day, the feeling was seemingly mutual.
"The Bucks had the 24th pick in the draft, and they worked out Nembhard, I think twice. Loved Nembhard. All over Nembhard. From what I heard, he even had to cancel a Pacers workout because he had to go back and workout for the Bucks and the Bucks were picking seven spots ahead of the Pacers. And they passed on him and took MarJon Beauchamp... He has never ever forgotten about it and wants revenge on the Bucks all the time."
Bucks' draft misses continue to haunt them
This feels like a gut-punch, especially with Nembhard torching the Milwaukee Bucks in back-to-back playoff runs. It will hurt even more if he and the Pacers get it done in the NBA Finals. Milwaukee's lack of youth has been a consistent problem over the last several years, and drafting Nembhard certainly could have helped that issue.
Instead, the Bucks selected MarJon Beauchamp. At the time, the vision somewhat made sense, as Milwaukee absolutely needed a wing. However, there were always concerns about Beauchamp's fit, and they came true. The wing never carved out a role for himself consistently and got traded late in the year this past season.
Beauchamp scored eight total points in two trips to the NBA Playoffs with Milwaukee. Against the Bucks alone, Andrew Nembhard has scored 158 points in the postseason. Swing and a miss.
The draft misses are nothing new for the Milwaukee Bucks. Jon Horst has made some quality swings in trades and free agent signings, but drafting is something he's never excelled at. With a reliance on older veterans, this rough draft record is currently plaguing the Bucks, especially as they aim to field a younger, faster, and more athletic roster next season.
To be clear, there's no clear-cut indication that Nembhard would have become the player he is today if he had been drafted by the Bucks. It's easy to point the finger at Horst for not picking surefire players, but the coaching staffs during his tenure haven't exactly done their part to develop the youngsters on a large scale either. It's an all-around issue.
While there's no correcting the Andrew Nembhard blunder, and it may haunt the Milwaukee Bucks for the foreseeable future, they do have a chance to at least get on the right track with draft picks soon. Milwaukee holds the 47th pick in this upcoming draft, and while that might not seem too enticing, this class is loaded with potential late-round draft talent.
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