The Milwaukee Bucks have been making a lot of noise this week. First, they made a major trade for Jrue Holiday, which cost the team all of their draft picks in this year’s draft. Shortly after, there was reports of a sign-and-trade involving Bogdan Bogdanovich. Then on draft day, there was the bomb that the deal was never agreed to and was not going to happen.
In any case, the Bucks acquired two second round picks from the Pelicans for future draft picks in order to give themselves a couple of selections in the 2020 draft. Regardless of how the Bogdanovich situation goes down, these are two players the Bucks do have, and they have skill sets that could potentially help this team immediately.
Draft Pick- Jordan Nwora (45th Overall): Forward
With the 45th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select Jordan Nwora!!#BucksDraft | @JordanNwora 🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/AdNTkGpaFS
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 19, 2020
Jordan Nwora is a 6 foot 7 forward who was drafted out of Louisville University. This past season, his junior year, was the best of his collegiate career. He averaged 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game. His shooting splits, though, are what may be the most attractive to this Bucks team. In 2019-2020, he shot 44/40/81. That 40% three-point percentage would be a great addition to a Bucks team that desperately needs players who can knock down three-point shots on a consistent basis.
Nwora’s three-point percentage is very encouraging because he attempted over six three-point shots per game. This percentage is not a result of making just a few attempts. He shot them often, and he made them often. In addition to his lights-out shooting, he is also a pretty good defensive player, as seen here:
Jordan Nwora. Lights out shooter… 🎯
He's teaming up with Giannis and the @Bucks. Here are his highlights from the 2019-20 season with @LouisvilleMBB. #NBADraft pic.twitter.com/3moU8ONRkr
— Stadium (@Stadium) November 19, 2020
The basic consensus on Nwora is that if he can defend on a consistent basis in the NBA, he will be a very good rotational player.
Draft Pick- Sam Merril (60th Overall): Guard
Last 2020 NBA Draft Pick: Sam Merrill at No. 60 to Milwaukee.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2020
With the last pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, the Bucks selected Utah State guard Sam Merrill. Merrill finished his senior year at Utah State with averages of 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists. Most importantly to the Bucks, he shot 46/41/89 from the floor. In addition to the great shooting stats, he was also incredibly clutch for Utah State:
all of sam merrill's clutch buckets in a three-day span at the mountain west tournament pic.twitter.com/46jyWxT2wB
— taylor griffin (@griffdunk) March 10, 2020
While Merrill is a lights-out shooter, the big knock against him is his poor defensive rating. While the Bucks can certainly use his quick release and accuracy, it will be difficult to give him extended playing time in close games.
Draft Grade: B
Second round picks, especially late second round picks, do not typically make immediate impacts. However, given the circumstances, the Bucks addressed their need for shooters and drafted players who played at least three years of college ball. This is important because they will not need as much development time as players who played just one or two years, or played one season overseas.
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