4 Times the Milwaukee Bucks nailed their late NBA Draft picks

Luc Mbah a Moute

The 2008 NBA Draft was a weird one for the Bucks. At eighth overall, they picked Joe Alexander, one of the most infamous top-10 picks ever due to playing only two seasons in the NBA. However, they used their second-round pick pretty successfully, selecting Luc Mbah a Moute with pick 37.

The Cameroonian power forward played five seasons in Milwaukee, in which he averaged 6.9 points and 5.3 rebounds a game. These stats don't look very impressive, and they probably aren't, but that's because Mbah a Moute really shined as a defender. He made use of his length and strength to stop opposing players and make himself pretty hard to beat on that end of the floor.

He even received some consideration, though near the bottom of the list, in the 2009-10 Defensive Player of the Year pool. The poor team performance didn't allow him to get a lot of credit at the time.

He often went in and out of the rotation, but he ended up finding a way to be on the floor in the key moments. He helped the team make it to the playoffs twice (which doesn't look like a big accomplishment nowadays, but it was at the time) and started all of his postseason games, where he actually improved his scoring numbers to 8.8 points.

Unfortunately for him, he could never win a playoff series with the Bucks, but he helped the franchise get somewhat relevant during one of its weakest periods.

After the 2012-13 season, he was traded to Sacramento, ending his run in Milwaukee. However, his best years were still ahead since he was a key member of the 2017-18 Houston Rockets, who were so close to beating the Golden State Warriors. In a bench role, he provided good defense and some much-improved shooting in the second unit, adding depth to a team that got to touch glory with its fingertips but couldn't really grab it.

Despite of that, he's still a beloved player in Milwaukee, and it all started with a 37th pick, quite similar to the next player on the list.