Milwaukee Bucks: 5 options for pick No. 17 in 2018 NBA Draft
3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG — Kentucky
Coming into the season, college media and NBA scouts were focused on a number of players on the Kentucky Wildcats, as they always are every season. Kevin Knox was in the discussion as a top-10 pick, one of the top-ranked players in the class. Hamidou Diallo and his leap-out-of-the-gym athleticism was a hot prospect. Nick Richards and Jared Vanderbilt were both thought of as potential first round picks.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was not heralded as a top prospect, ranked just 35th in his 2017 class, sixth among freshman on his own team. As the team sputtered through the season, and top prospects in Richards and Diallo waxed and mostly waned, it was Gilgeous-Alexander who stepped up.
After breaking out for 30 points against Vanderbilt in late January, the point guard scored in double figures in 14 of the next 16 games, including 10 straight to finish the season. He became indispensable to the Wildcats, clearly standing out as their best player over the second half of the season.
Gilgeous-Alexander projects as an excellent pick-and-roll ball-handler, able to make quick decisions and punish slow-footed bigs with an explosive first step. Once inside the paint he has shrewd passing vision, as well as the toughness and touch to finish inside. His 6’11” wingspan will help soften the learning curve for NBA defenses.
Like last year’s Kentucky point guard, Gilgeous-Alexander will need to develop his outside shot to be a high-end starter in the NBA. While he hit 40 percent of his 3-pointers, he only shot them on 15 percent of his possessions — very low for a guard. He needs to grow into taking that more often to keep defenders honest.
Milwaukee will have decisions to make next summer with starting point guard Eric Bledsoe and backup Matthew Dellavedova. Adding a young point guard in Gilgeous-Alexander could prepare the Bucks for the future and bring in one of the top talents in the draft. It’s likely he will dominate workouts and rise up draft boards, but if he falls this far, the Bucks should strike.