Well guys, it's 90 degrees and rising here at my Oshkosh stomping grounds, so as I sit on the couch with a fan blowing in my face and the EURO 2012 semifinal between Italy and Germany showing in the background, I've decided to write a (short) preview for what we should expect to see tonight when the Milwaukee Bucks are on the clock. First things first, the Bucks made a trade yesterday that supposedly solves the lack of a legitimate big man problem. In a deal with the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee received 7-footer Samuel Dalembert (7.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG), who ranked as the 10th best fantasy center last season for what that's worth. They also swapped picks with the Rockets, who will now pick 12th while the Bucks move down to 14th overall in the first round. I believe I also read somewhere that the Bucks would receive the Rockets' 2013 2nd round pick.
So what did the Bucks give up? Jon Leuer, Shaun Livingston and Jon Brockmon. Three players who had relatively limited roles last season in exchange for a starting center. It looks good when you put it in that context, but you wonder if the Bucks are giving up too early on a player like Leuer, who showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie season and was for some reason benched for a large portion of the season by head coach Scott Skiles. Also, Leuer was a fan favorite because of his time with the Wisconsin Badgers, so it could be viewed overall as a negative decision to ship him off. Now the Bucks roster looks a little something like this:
PG Brandon Jennings, PG Beno Udrih, SG Monta Ellis, SG/SF Carlos Delfino (Free Agent), SF Mike Dunleavy, SF Tobias Harris, PF Ersan Ilyasova (Free Agent), PF Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF Ekpe Udoh, PF/C Larry Sanders, PF/C Drew Gooden, C Samuel Dalembert
BOLD = Last season's main starters
That's ten players and three starters under contract heading into the 2012-2013 season. The Bucks will likely look into re-signing Carlos Delfino, but for some reason all hope appears to be lost in retaining Ersan, which would only further distance myself from being a Milwaukee Bucks fan along with departure of Leuer. I could see the Bucks starting Gooden at the four next season and also look to bolster their bench through free agency or trade. But enough about next season...let's look at tonight's draft.
Now that the Bucks have the 14th selection and are no longer targeting a big man, most have been saying that the team will now look at adding a wing player with good size to compliment the small back court of Jennings and Ellis, who were 12-9 last season playing together. With that in mind, here are some players who could potentially be available that fit such a build:
SG - 6'5" Austin Rivers (Duke, FR)
SG/SF - 6'7" Terrance Ross (Washington, SO)
SG - 6'5" Jeremy Lamb (Connecticut, SO)
Rivers and Lamb are the more recognizable names on this short list, but Ross is the guy likely to still be remaining at the 14th pick and several mock drafts have the Bucks selecting him there. There are also others who still like the Bucks taking either:
C - 7'0" Tyler Zeller (North Carolina, SR) OR
C - 7'1" Meyers Leonard (Illinois, SO)
There have even been whispers of John Henson, Moe Harkless, Terrance Jones, and Jared Sullinger should any of the previously mentioned players be available, but that would seem to give Milwaukee a little too much size. That's why I'm pretty set on the Bucks taking either Lamb or Ross with their first round pick, especially since Milwaukee is high on both of these players...but should Rivers somehow drop to 14, I don't see how the Bucks could pass him up unless they got an enticing trade offer from...oh say, the Boston Celtics? It'll be interesting to see what the Deer end up doing.
Assuming the Bucks take a swing man with their first round pick, I could see them looking at some size in the second round. Maybe not a center...we might be seeing a trend in the NBA about teams playing without a center based on what the Thunder and the Heat did in the Finals...but a guy in the 6'9 to 6"10 range who has some upside. Or, maybe the Bucks take a big man in the first round and think a swing man they like will be available at the 41st pick. With these things in mind, here are some players who could potentially be available that fit the bill:
PF - 6'10" Furkan Aldemir (Turkey)
PF - 6'9" Drew Gordon (New Mexico, SR)
SG - 6'6" Kevin Murphy (Tennessee Tech, SR)
SG - 6'6" Kim English (Missouri, SR)
Honestly, it's so wide open once you get to the second round. I somehow predicted correctly last season that the Bucks would take Tobias Harris with their first round pick and had Jon Leuer on my shortlist for the Bucks' possible second round selection. I've already had to make some assumptions based on which positions the Bucks will select and where they will select these positions, so here is my official prediction for the two selections the Milwaukee Bucks will make in the 2012 NBA Draft (assuming no trades):
1st round, 14th pick - SG Terrance Ross
2nd round, 42nd pick - PF Furkan Aldemir
Might as well get a good sized guard for when Monta Ellis leaves and might as well get another Turkish guy to replace Ilyasova. Forgive me if I sound ill-informed about the NBA and the state of the Bucks in this blog post. I really haven't paid much attention to either lately. In fact, I basically just did all my research on the Bucks and this draft in the last three hours. You know, kind of like cramming for a college exam (WHICH I'LL NEVER HAVE TO DO EVER AGAIN!). What's that, David? You don't have a job yet? Yeah. You should probably hold off on the bragging. Okay, that's enough from me. Enjoy the draft if you so choose to watch it and I'll be back soon with some more yapping about sports.
Chao.
No comments:
Post a Comment