1 Prominent issue is haunting the Bucks (and it's their own fault)

There are plenty of reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks are off to an ugly 1-3 start this NBA season.

Looking at the smaller picture, the Bucks simply haven't played with the effort and intensity a team gunning for a championship must display. They've looked like a team just going through the motions on a nightly basis. Factoring into that is the larger picture, which involves Milwaukee's failure to mold any of their young draft picks into rotational players over the past several years.

The Bucks' failure to develop drafted youth is plaguing them

The Milwaukee Bucks do not have a good track record with drafting and developing youth under this current regimen. Under Jon Horst's watchful eye since he was hired as the general manager in 2017, Milwaukee has used picks to take D.J. Wilson, Donte DiVincenzo, Jordan Nwora, MarJon Beauchamp, Chris Livingston, AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith in the draft.

The closest thing the Milwaukee Bucks have gotten to a key contributor in that stretch is DiVincenzo, who did have a strong season as a starter in 2020-21. However, he was oftentimes injured, and most of his NBA success has come since leaving Milwaukee. Outside of him, there are players who are no longer in the NBA or are rotting on the bench.

The lack of youth has been a prominent issue for the Bucks in recent memory because other teams, ones who actually develop youth, are oftentimes faster, more athletic and more energetic. Just take a look back at Milwaukee's first-round loss to the Indiana Pacers last season. Yes, the Bucks didn't have Giannis Antetokounmpo, but the Pacers' youth outmatched the Bucks in what was a winnable series.

Looking across the league, most contenders have a draft pick that has turned into a rotational piece. The Nuggets have Christian Braun. The Los Angeles Lakers have Dalton Knecht. The Warriors have Brandin Podziemski. The 76ers have Tyrese Maxey. The Heat have Tyler Herro. The Milwaukee Bucks have... no one.

All of Milwaukee's draft picks are spending most of their time on the sidelines these days. Doc Rivers did give Andre Jackson Jr. first-half minutes in the team's most recent loss to the Boston Celtics, but it was short-lived. He's the closest thing Milwaukee has to a rotational player from a draft pick, but it appears Rivers doesn't trust the former second-round pick enough yet.

There were high hopes for MarJon Beauchamp when he was taken with a first-rounder back in 2022, but he's failed to leap into the rotation and is now shrouded in trade rumors. Despite being made the richest final pick of a draft ever with his contract, Chris Livingston has barely made his presence felt with the Milwaukee Bucks.

With a clear need for youth in the rotation, everyone but Jon Horst and the front office was shocked when the Bucks selected two 19-year-olds in this past draft, taking Johnson and Smith. While they're both filled with potential, they are 19 and far from ready to contribute consistently. Johnson was just sent down to the G-League to work on his game.

Johnson and Smith could become good players in time, but that's not helping the Milwaukee Bucks in the present after falling to a 1-3 record and desperately needing some youth in the rotation. Should the Bucks have taken players who can contribute now over later? Time will tell what Johnson and Smith develop into as players, but right now, it's looking like they should have.

The failure in drafting and developing young talent has caught up to the aging Milwaukee Bucks, and the issue will not be going away anytime soon.

While all of these players could still grow into rotation pieces, it's unclear if they can do it in Milwaukee with how little faith Rivers seems to have in them. In time, they may end up being another DiVincenzo, blossoming after they leave. Or Rivers can understand the needs of this team and perhaps look to see if any of them have anything that can help this team. If not, that's a seismic front office failure.

Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.