By Marques Eversoll
A couple months ago, after Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins poured in 41 points in a March 8 loss to West Virginia, I tweeted, “It’ll be a big mistake if anyone passes on Andrew Wiggins.”
Fast forward to March 23 when Kansas was bounced from the NCAA Tournament by No. 10 seed Stanford – in a game in which Wiggins took just six shots and had as many turnovers (four) as points – many people seemed to sour on the Canadian-born superstar. How quickly people forget that Wiggins averaged 28 points in the previous four games. But this is America, after all, and we expect stars to be invincible.
I have no concerns about Wiggins. He probably won’t be the NBA’s best rookie this season – that title will likely be held by Duke freshman Jabari Parker – but Wiggins will be a star in the NBA. And he should be Cleveland’s pick at No. 1.
Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert reportedly prefers Wiggins, while several in the front office are leaning towards Parker. Last summer, Gilbert wanted Indiana’s Victor Oladipo with the No. 1 overall pick, but the front office swayed him into signing off on UNLV big man Anthony Bennett. Oladipo went to Orlando and averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists as a rookie. Bennett, as the Cavs’ No. 1 overall pick, averaged just 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in only 12.8 minutes per game.
It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Gilbert making the call on this pick after last year’s disaster, especially considering Parker had a subpar workout with the Cavaliers in the week leading up to the draft.
Parker showed up about 15 pounds over his playing weight at Duke, didn’t shoot well and was described as “indifferent” during the workout. One Cavaliers source said, “It was clear we weren’t his first option.”
ESPN draft guru Chad Ford, citing a source, says Parker “strongly prefers” to play in Milwaukee. A can’t-miss NBA prospect wants to play in Milwaukee. This is real life.
Jabari wants Milwaukee, and Milwaukee needs him.
The Bucks are in a different position than all but a few NBA teams. Milwaukee is far from the league’s most attractive city for free agents. In order to build the team into a true contender, they’d need to do it through the draft. The Oklahoma City Thunder is the template for small-market teams in the NBA.
Between 2007 and 2009, the Thunder drafted Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden. In fact, they drafted so well that they couldn’t feasibly fit all four players into their payroll, forcing them to trade Harden to Houston.
The Bucks may have struck gold last summer by spending the No. 15 pick on Greek swingman Giannis Antetokounmpo. His numbers (6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds) aren’t staggering, but he’s a 19-year-old athletic freak who has reportedly grown two inches and tacked on 27 pounds in the past year. Giannis now stands almost 6’11” and weighs 217 pounds.
Giannis and Parker play the same position, as they both could play small forward or power forward. But if they’re both on the court at the same time, the “position” becomes subjective, as either player can play inside or outside. It gives the team flexibility.
One way or another, the Bucks will have their new face of the franchise on Thursday. It will be Wiggins if Parker goes No. 1, or it’ll be Parker if Wiggins goes No. 1.
“One of those guys (Parker or Wiggins) will be a Milwaukee Buck,” Bucks director of scouting Billy McKinney said Tuesday on WDUZ.
The Bucks, for the first time in a long time, are in a win-win situation. Whomever is picked No. 2 immediately becomes the team’s new No. 1. But as tough as it can be for a team like Milwaukee to build a contender, it’s even tougher to get a potential All-Star to handpick the Bucks as his preferred destination.
It’s been 13 seasons since the Bucks won a playoff series; they’re not in a position to swing for the fences. Parker is the safest pick in the draft, and he’d be the Bucks’ best player as soon as he walks through the door.
Milwaukee needs Jabari.
You can hear Marques on SportsLine, Monday through Friday 4:00-6:00pm on WDUZ 107.5 FM and 1400 AM “The Fan” and on the Saturday Morning Showcase at 8 am on Saturdays. You can follow him on Twitter @MJEversoll and/or email him at [email protected].
