Milwaukee Bucks: 5 options for pick No. 30 in 2019 NBA Draft

4. Grant Williams

For most draft prospects, the analysis has to do with weight and height, wingspan, benchpress, points per game, shooting stroke, defensive tools and Player Efficiency Rating. In understanding Grant Williams, the evaluation will likely include accolades and anecdotes, the latter of which includes linguistics, chess, jazz music and Settlers of Catan.

For anyone doing their homework, Grant Williams leaps off the page as a unique prospect — in many regards. The 6’7” junior forward chose Tennessee over Ivy League schools, speaks three languages, plays six instruments and is a self-described nerd with interests including Harry Potter and niche board games. Williams plays basketball, but he is not defined by it.

His intelligence translates onto the court, where he was one of the highest-IQ defenders in the nation. The Tennessee Volunteers, replete with barely-recruited players, banded together behind Williams to put up two dominant seasons. In each of the past two seasons, Williams won SEC Player of the Year, an award generally reserved for powerhouses in Lexington and Gainesville.

Concerns about Williams’ athleticism and explosion have shoved him down draft boards, as has his lack of a knockdown 3-pointer. Critics wonder what he will do well at the next level. Supporters will note that he has improved each year at Tennessee, to the point he was a dominant two-way force in one of the nation’s tougher conferences. His free throw shooting is solid, a good indicator he will improve as a shooter, and he should be a plus defender from the start.

The Bucks love smart defenders, emphasizing that trait over others in acquiring players over the years. With Nikola Mirotic likely to move on, the Bucks could find a place for Williams in the rotation with D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova behind Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. If Lopez moves on and Wilson moves into the starting lineup, then Williams would fill an even larger role.

Mock drafts have Williams all over the place, and it’s likely at least one team recognizes his ability and takes him before pick No. 30 rolls around. If they focus on upside and athleticism, then it is possible the Bucks find a lottery-level player available to them at the very end of the round. Williams should be first among these five players on the Bucks’ big board, but will most likely be gone by the time they pick.