By Marques Eversoll
With the second pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Bucks will add their best offensive talent since Ray Allen in 1996. Whether his name is “Parker” or “Wiggins,” No. 2 immediately becomes the Bucks’ new No. 1.
Brandon Knight is good; he may be the Bucks’ best player – and he and Khris Middleton are all the team has to show for Brandon Jennings – but there are plenty of Knights around the NBA. Knight isn’t a guy you build around, he’s a guy you put around guys you build around.
And if the Bucks’ current best player is “tradable,” then who on their team isn’t?
In my opinion, the Bucks currently only have one “untradable” player – Giannis Antetokounmpo. And if the Bucks think they have a chance to add two more “untradable” players early in this draft to pair with Giannis, then they should do so.
Giannis only averaged 6.8 points per game as a rookie, but he’s a freakishly athletic and long 19-year-old, who, in a few years, could be a skilled 7-footer. If Giannis reaches his potential, he and No. 2 could give the Bucks something to really build around.
Beyond Giannis, everyone should be on the block. The Bucks shouldn’t throw their team away for just anything, but this is a talented draft that could put a new brand on the Bucks’ floor.
The Bucks, under new ownership, look to be headed into a new era, so this is an important offseason. Their “to-do list” starts with No. 2, and while I think they should stand by Larry Sanders for another year, nobody except Giannis should be completely off the table in trade talks.
The Bucks would be wise to add a second lottery pick. They’d take Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins at No. 2, and then get their new point guard with their second pick.
1. Bucks select Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins at No. 2.
If Parker is there, he’s the pick. Bank on it. If Parker goes first to Cleveland – which he may or may not be a fan of , depending on your stance on his “tanked” Cavs workout – then the Bucks must choose between Wiggins and Dante Exum.
I believe Exum will be a stud in the NBA. He and Giannis would give the Bucks an incredibly long and athletic point guard-small forward combination, but I just can’t bring myself to picking Exum over Parker or Wiggins.
If the Bucks don’t end up with Parker or Wiggins on Thursday, then they better get Dante Exum, a couple key roles players and a lifetime supply of their favorite chips in return. The Bucks haven’t had a true go-to scorer on the wing for a really long time. They’ll get that guy on Thursday.
Possibilities at No. 2: Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins
2. Bucks trade back into the first round, pick their point guard
There’s been talk that the Kings were interested in Knight and Sanders for a while, and they’re reportedly open to trading the No. 8 pick. If the Kings are willing to move No. 8 for Knight and change, it’s a done deal. If they need Knight and Sanders, that’s too much.
If the Kings bite on a Knight-and-O.J. Mayo-or Ersan Ilyasova deal for the eighth pick, then the Bucks should do that. A dream scenario would land Parker at No. 2 before stopping Marcus Smart’s slide at No. 8. Of course, this may be more likely to happen after the Kings pick Smart at No. 8 because the Bucks would face a tough decision at that spot if Smart were already off the board. Draft picks can’t be traded after Thursday at 1 p.m.
Perhaps a more likely scenario would be the Bucks moving a combination of Knight, Sanders, Ilyasova, Mayo and John Henson for some veteran help and another first-round pick later than the Kings’ eighth pick.
If the Bucks keep Knight, they could move him to shooting guard and start the rookie at point, whether it be Louisiana Lafeyette’s Elfrid Payton – my second (somewhat) realistic option behind Smart – Syracuse’s Tyler Ennis or Connecticut’s Shabazz Napier. Michigan’s Nik Stauskas and Michigan State’s Gary Harris aren’t natural point guards, but they could pair either with Knight to give the Bucks a pair of capable scorers in the backcourt.
Smart, Harris and Stauskas are surefire lottery picks, while Payton and Ennis could sneak in to bottom part of the lottery as well. Napier is expected to go in the 20s.
Possibilities with the Bucks’ second first-round pick they don’t yet have: Elfrid Payton, Tyler Ennis, Shabazz Napier, Nik Stauskas, Gary Harris
Best-case scenario for the Bucks in the Draft:
Wiggins may have the highest ceiling of any wing player in the draft since Kevin Durant in 2007, or perhaps LeBron James in 2003. However, if Parker openly wants to play in Milwaukee, as has been rumored, then he should be the Bucks’ pick.
Rarely does a top-flight player point to Milwaukee as his preferred home. But in Parker’s case, it’s just a quick drive up the street from Chicago.
In a perfect world, the Cavaliers take Wiggins with the top pick and Parker falls into the Bucks’ lap at No. 2. Either way, the Bucks end up with their new franchise player. But while I was once the guy who tweeted, “Anyone who passes on Andrew Wiggins in the NBA Draft will regret it,” I now believe the Bucks’ best pick would be Parker. He’s the safe pick, and the Bucks aren’t in a position to go for the $1 Million question without any lifelines when they can take their $500,000 and walk away.
As far as Parker’s running mate, the Bucks would be doing cartwheels if Smart falls to No. 8, the Kings call the Bucks and ask for Knight and something in exchange for the rights to draft whomever they want – and if he’s there, the Smart pick would be Marcus.
But considering he could go as high as No. 4 to Orlando and likely won’t fall past the Lakers at No. 7, the Bucks landing Parker and Smart is a pipe dream on steroids.
However, if they can land that duo, then they should do whatever it takes outside of moving Giannis. The Bucks haven’t won a playoff series since 2001; it’s time for a franchise to turn the page and go all-in on the 2014 draft.
