Milwaukee Bucks: Grading the offseason moves at the halfway mark
5. Drafting D.J. WIlson at No. 17
The Milwaukee Bucks went into the 2017 NBA Draft with the 17th and 46th picks, the kind of mid-tier draft assets a mid-tier team is armed with. For their first round pick, the Bucks selected D.J. Wilson, a 6’10” forward out of Michigan.
Physically, Wilson fits the mold of a Milwaukee draft pick, with a 7’3” wingspan and a healthy dose of athleticism. Six months later there is no reason to call Wilson a bust, but in a year where so many rookies are making an impact, Wilson has been nearly silent. He has appeared in just 13 games, averaging 3.5 minutes per contest; Wilson has only scored eight points all season.
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The rookie has spent time in recent days with the Wisconsin Herd, staying in shape and trying to prepare himself to make an impact at the NBA-level. A Bucks team with multiple injuries at the 4 could use another contributor.
It’s not fair to criticize the Bucks for the success of players taken ahead of their pick at No. 17, and it should be noted that they made it well known their intention to take Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell with the pick should he fall; instead the Utah Jazz traded into the 13th pick to take Mitchell, who is having an incredible rookie season.
But when the Bucks took Wilson at 17 they did so despite the availability of a number of players making an immediate impact for their teams. John Collins from Wake Forest was taken two picks later at 19 by the Atlanta Hawks, and is scoring at will inside. Kyle Kuzma, taken by the Los Angeles Lakers at 27, is showing off a versatile scoring arsenal that was missing from his college days.
The most glaring misstep appears to be on OG Anunoby, a wing out of Indiana passed on by 22 teams before the Toronto Raptors took him later in the first round. Anunoby is 6’8” with a 7’6” wingspan and incredible athleticism, the perfect player for the Milwaukee system. Anunoby has been one of the best players in the league according to on-off metrics, starting for a Toronto Raptors team at 29-11 and second place in the East.
Wilson deserves time to develop into the player he will become, but that shouldn’t be a free pass when other players look so good now and for the future.
Grade: C+