The Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves find themselves in similar positions shortly into the 2024-25 NBA season.
For starters, neither team is off to the start they would have liked. Milwaukee is just 1-3 and look like they are incredibly discombobulated, while Minnesota has also been up and down with a 2-2 record. Perhaps part of this slow start ties into another similarity, which is that both teams added guards in the 2024 NBA Draft and haven't utilized them much thus far.
Bucks, Timberwolves added projects over win-now pieces
Given the contending status of both squads, they were each expected to select players who could be of use sooner rather than later if they kept their draft picks. Minnesota actually traded into the top ten to select Rob Dillingham from Kentucky. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks waited their turn to select AJ Johnson with the 23rd pick. Johnson wasn't a first-round projection in many mock drafts.
Each team added a 19-year-old who was viewed as more of a project.
Early in the season, that has proven true. Dillingham has yet to play a single minute for Minnesota, and Johnson has totaled six minutes in three matchups. Johnson was recently assigned to the G-League, showing that the Bucks believe he's better served down there for the time being. Although each team certainly believes in their respective player, it's unclear how soon they can help the franchise.
With both teams looking to contend for a title in the present, drafting young players who are raw and not ready to be in the current plans is pretty questionable.
Of the two teams, this issue is certainly amplified for Milwaukee, given the ages of their stars, such as Giannis Antetokounmpo (29), Khris Middleton (33) and Damian Lillard (34). Meanwhile, Minnesota star Anthony Edwards is still just 23, so one could argue that they are better equipped to draft a possible project player like Dillingham. Still, they could have added an immediate impact player with the pick.
For the Bucks, their struggles defensively are not a new issue, so it was surprising to see them not address this in the draft, especially with Ryan Dunn, who was called the best defender in this draft, still on the board. Meanwhile, Minnesota traded a 2031 unprotected first and a protected 2030 pick swap to get Dillingham when they could have moved those picks in a different trade to help now.
Both teams still have plenty of time to get back on the right track, as their title hopes are certainly still alive despite the slow starts. However, if things do not get better as the NBA season progresses, draft night could be an event that fans and analysts alike look back at for these two teams. At the moment, these are two significant gambles between the Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves.
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