NBA Re-Drafts are always intriguing to see from a fanatical and analysis perspective. Individuals get to either pat themselves on the back for a correct pre-draft player projection or mourn the day they wrongly gauged the professional ceiling of an NBA draft prospect.
While the bucks have managed to reel off a fabulous multiyear run as a successful franchise, their pro drafts the past few seasons haven’t yielded as many uncut gems. In fact, the last four first-round selections Milwaukee has made since 2017 are of players who don’t reside on the team anymore.
Today, I will hypothetically rewrite history by orchestrating a three-year Milwaukee Bucks re-draft. It’ll provide context of what happened in prior drafts and what could’ve (and should’ve) actually taken place in its wake.
1. 2017 NBA Re-Draft: Bucks Select John Collins 17th Overall over D.J. Wilson
D.J. Wilson never received the consistent amount of minutes needed to play and develop under Coach Mike Budenholzer throughout his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks. His most promising stint with the team was in Year Two when he averaged almost six points while shooting 41% from the field on nearly 19 minutes played per contest.
The year before his last season with the bucks, Wilson shot a woeful 24% from distance and hovered below 40% from the field as a third-year NBA product. The writing was on the wall, and he has since become a basketball journeyman.
In this re-draft scenario, Milwaukee doesn’t get to experience Wilson’s flop and instead ends up choosing John Collins. In 293 games with the Atlanta Hawks, Collins has averaged almost 17 points alongside 8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per contest. The Wake Forest product has morphed into a serviceable three-point shooter by eclipsing at least 34% from deep every season of his five-year career.
2. 2018 NBA Re-Draft: Bucks Select Robert Williams 17th Overall Over Donte Divincenzo
Divincenzo didn’t get consistent minutes in the main rotation until his second year with the team. By the end of his third year, Jrue Holiday, Pat Connaughton and Khris Middleton had all excelled in the 2021 Playoffs making The Big Ragu’s services expendable.
Donte wasn’t necessarily a bad player for the franchise, he had just ceased being an important one. Before his devastating ankle injury, the Nova standout averaged career-highs in points (10.4), assists (3.1), rebounds (5.8), minutes (27.5) and three-point percentage (37.9). Fortunately (or unfortunately for Donte’s sake), Patty C, Holiday and Middleton each made up for his absence by providing equally impactful minutes of play under bigger circumstances.
In this re-draft scenario, Milwaukee takes a developmental flyer on Two-Time SEC Defensive Player Of The Year Robert Williams III. While it took the “Time Lord” two years to break through the Boston Celtics‘ rotation, he always flashed First Team All-NBA Defensive Talent. Williams’ has registered no less than 1.2 blocks per game in each of his first four seasons.
3. 2019 NBA Re-Draft: Bucks Select Kevin Porter Jr. 30th Overall and Don’t Trade Him
It feels like eons ago when the bucks took the talented KPJ 30th overall in 2019 just to ship him and Tony Snell to the Detroit Pistons for journeyman Jon Leuer. In actuality, it was only three years ago and arguably an underrated draft miscue.
The Bucks could’ve used the likes of KPJ that same season when the team’s starting backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Wesley Matthews collapsed during the NBA Bubble Playoffs. Porter Jr. would’ve spent most of his rookie year in the G-League, but by postseason time could’ve been ready to provide a spark as the squad’s second unit combo-guard.
While the bucks have won an NBA title during the USC product’s brief NBA career, the years they didn’t magnified their rosters lack of multiple offensive creators. When Middleton went down in the first round of this year’s playoffs, it was only Giannis or Holiday consistently probing the lane to make defenses honest. They could’ve used KPJ’s offensive talents as a swing guard for Middleton’s absence while also have him serve as a third playmaker alongside Jrue and The Greek Freak.
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