With the way the NBA season has gone, Milwaukee Bucks fans don't need anything else to sulk over at the moment, but Kyshawn George gave them something anyway. On the latest episode of The Old Man and the Three, the Washington Wizards forward explained how he had a great pre draft workout with the Bucks, who ultimately passed on him in one of their most puzzling moves of the decade.
"I had a couple of teams that I had really really really good feedback from and was kind of my floor, and they didn't pick me... The team was Milwaukee. Had an individual workout with them that went pretty well. Had really good feedback from them."
Bucks passing on Kyshawn George will haunt them
When the Milwaukee Bucks were finally on the clock in the 2024 NBA Draft, taking a wing felt like the obvious route. After all, the roster desperately needed one, and there were a handful of options still up for grabs, including Kyshawn George, Ryan Dunn, and Terrence Shannon Jr. They literally could not have gone wrong. However, to the surprise of everyone, they didn't select a ready-to-help wing.
Instead, in one of their most stunning decisions in recent memory, the Bucks selected AJ Johnson, a 19-year-old guard who plenty of mocks didn't even have in the first round. It was clear from day one that Johnson was years away from contributing, making the move all the more puzzling. To top it off, Johnson didn't even last one full season with the team before being traded away.
Meanwhile, George, who went to the Washington Wizards one pick later, has started blossoming into something special. In his second NBA season, George is averaging 15.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and five assists per game while sinking 39.7 percent of his triples. Having just turned 22, he's still got plenty of room to grow and looks like a legitimate building block for the young Wizards.
Ironically, George is exactly what the Milwaukee Bucks are missing right now. The team is starved of meaningful wing depth, as they have been for years now. His sweet shooting would have made him a perfect complementary piece to Giannis Antetokounmpo, and he would have lined up nicely on the youth timeline alongside players like Ryan Rollins and AJ Green.
Of course, there's no telling if George would have started developing the way he is now had he been drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks. Doc Rivers banished AJ Johnson to the bench, and perhaps he may have done the same with George. There's no way the world will ever know because the Bucks passed on him despite what was apparently a strong pre-draft workout.
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