Milwaukee Bucks: Implications of the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery
Point guards will be gone
The 2017 NBA Draft is defined at the top by its point guards, as was the 2016-17 college basketball season. Although Wooden Award winner Frank Mason III is not expected to be selected until late in the first round at the earliest, other top point guards will go early in the lottery.
Washington point guard Markelle Fultz is expected to go with the first overall pick, which is currently owned by the Boston Celtics but could be sent off in a package by the time things are all said and done. Fultz’s combination of size and skill make him an ideal first pick.
Lonzo Ball lit up the scoreboard and the excitement of fans across the nation, and it seems likely he will get to play in his hometown of Los Angeles next season, going from UCLA to the Lakers with the second overall pick.
Dennis Smith, Jr. of NC State and Kentucky’s De’Aaron Fox are also expected to go in the first half dozen picks, with the New York Knicks probably representing the floor for the pair. While the Philadelphia 76ers will probably not go with a point guard at No. 3, the Kings (No. 5), Magic (No. 6) and Knicks (No. 8) are all likely to take a point guard. It’s unlikely both will last until No. 9.
Live Feed
A Royal Pain
The holders of the ninth overall pick are the Dallas Mavericks. Although uncovering Yogi Ferrell last season was a great move, he is best deployed as a backup at the point, leaving an open spot for the Maverick to fill. If either Fox or Smith fell to them, they would probably be the pick for the Mavs.
Otherwise the Mavericks have been linked for months to French point guard Frank Ntilikina, whom Dallas has scouted more than perhaps any other NBA team. His length and skill set would be a perfect long-term fit for the Mavericks. He also represents the last point guard before a massive drop-off. No other lead guard is projected as a potential lottery pick, and most prognosticator don’t have another until the very end of the first round.
If the Mavericks had leapt into the top three, it is possible Ntilikina could have dropped past ninth and then hit a small free fall, and maybe made it to the Bucks at No. 17. Not likely, but possible.
Now if Milwaukee decides it wants an upgrade at the point they must look elsewhere. Frank Jackson, Frank Mason or Juwan Evans would all seem like reaches at 17th. While the Bucks have reached before and often been right, they may want to move in a different direction during the draft.
One of the aforementioned players, or someone like Edmond Sumner or Monte Morris could be a third point guard option in the second round. The Bucks did find value in the second round last year when thy drafted Malcolm Brogdon, and shoring up their rotation there again is not a bad proposition.