In case you forgot, the Milwaukee Bucks had a golden opportunity to scoop up Joel Embiid during the 2014 NBA Draft. The organization, however, passed on the chance to draft Embiid and instead went for Jabari Parker for the No. 2 overall pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers would then go on to select Embiid as the third pick, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Milwaukee Bucks: Would Joel Embiid Have Been a Good Fit Alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Bucks reporter Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revisited the prospect of an Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo pairing in a recent edition of his mailbag. Things were obviously much different back then, and even the Bucks themselves probably didn’t imagine that Embiid nor Giannis would have reached the insane heights they have at this point in their respective careers.
Owczarski, however, believes that if Milwaukee decided to use their second-overall pick on Embiid back in 2014, the 7-foot big man would have thrived alongside Antetokounmpo:
“My gut reaction is the fit would have been there.
“Antetokounmpo’s ascension coincided with Embiid slowly getting healthy, and we’ve seen Embiid develop into a mid-range threat with the ability to shoot the three-pointer. He is also a plus defender. I think if he was under contract when Mike Budenholzer took over in 2018, we’d have seen Embiid playing the Lopez role. The real question would have been if a healthy(ish) Embiid would have wanted to sign extensions to stay with the Bucks as his offensive skillset exploded. It would’ve been fun to watch them work together on both ends of the court, that’s for sure,” Owczarski wrote.
Owczarski makes a valid point about the Bucks facing a significant challenge in keeping Embiid as he and Giannis rose to superstardom almost at the same time. It’s very much possible that Embiid would have walked away from the team in free agency, leaving the team with nothing to show for.
Then again, the Bucks didn’t fare too well with Jabari Parker, who himself left Milwaukee as a free agent after his fourth season with the team.
Whatever the case might be, it’s just fun to imagine what a frontcourt pairing of Embiid and Antetokounmpo would have looked like for the Bucks.
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