2011 Milwaukee Bucks Draft Picks

With all the trades that usually occur during the NBA Draft it is really hard to marry pick, player, and team correctly. As a result let's focus on the spot of where guys were drafted to see how well I did with my "mock draft" of the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. Unfortunately I only nailed the exact draft number of five picks* out of 30 in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. Although that seems like I did a horrible, I correctly predicted 25 out of 30 players** that went in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft. Of the five guys*** that I incorrectly predicted would go in the first round, I only missed badly on one of my predictions (damn you Josh Selby...I should always remember to keep Jayhawks in their proper place) while the rest went early in the second round.

With all that out of the way, let's take a look at what Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond did after his big three-team draft day trade with the two draft picks that the Bucks had in the 2011 NBA Draft:

1st Round (19th Overall): Tobias Harris
Position: Power Forward
Age: 18
Birth date: July 15, 1992
Birthplace: Dix Hills, NY
School: Tennessee
Class: Freshman
Height: 6'8"
Weight: 223 lbs
Reach: 8'8"
Wingspan: 6'11"
ESPN Player Traits: Basketball IQ, Ball Handling, and Motor
Analysis: Welcome to the Milwaukee Bucks the love child of Marcus Haslip and Joe Alexander. May be I am overacting a little bit. This is not so much that I dislike Harris; it has more to do with the fact that I love Kenneth Faried so much. With Faried still on he board, I am salty that the Bucks passed on my reasonable 2011 NBA Draft crush. Stat heads struggle with projecting college performance to pro performance but one stat that translates is rebounding and Faried was arguably the best rebounders in college basketball last year. Harris is the youngest draft eligible guy so he will need a few years much like their 2010 first round draft pick Larry Sanders. At some point the Bucks have to stop building for the future and win now. Clearly you can see that I think John Hammond should have drafted Faried aka sane Dennis Rodman instead of Harris. As if you are not depressed already. Keep an eye on Jimmer Fredette, Klay Thompson, Alec Burks, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris, Kawhi Leonard, Nikola Vučević, Iman Shumpert, and Chris Singleton. For John Hammond's sake I hope none of those guys turn out to be an all-star because the Bucks gave up the chance to take all the aforementioned players by trading the 10th pick for the 19th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft as a part of their big three-team draft day trade.


2nd Round (40th Overall): Jon Leuer
Position: Power Forward
Age: 22
Birth date: May 14, 1989
Birthplace: Long Lake, MN
School: Wisconsin
Class: Senior
Height: 7'0"
Weight: 223 lbs
Reach: 8'10"
Wingspan: 7'0"
ESPN Player Traits: Shooting, Basketball IQ, and Size
Analysis: Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. The Milwaukee Bucks have not had a ton of success drafting Wisconsin Badgers in the past. All four guys they previously drafted**** never played for the Bucks. In fact the only Badger to suit up for the Milwaukee Bucks is Paul Grant who has played fewer minutes in the Bradley Center for the Bucks than Jon Leuer played in the Bradley Center for the visiting Wisconsin Badgers...yikes. Since the Bucks were looking to add more guys to their already bloated front court, it is too bad that Jeremy Taylor went one pick before the Bucks took Leuer because I always thought the Bucks should target guys like him in the second round as a boom-or-bust pick. Since Taylor was not available, a few guys that I liked that were still on the board when the Bucks picked were Charles Jenkins (SG, Hofstra) and Malcolm Lee (PG, UCLA). Jenkins is a flat out scorer while Lee has a huge frame for a point guard, the anti-T.J. Ford if you will. Although I would have taken Jenkins over Leuer, I really like the Leuer pick. I hope I am wrong but I think Leuer aka the American Ersan Ilyasova will be a better pro than Harris.

The Bucks roster looks dramatically differently than it did a week ago following the big draft day trade and the 2011 NBA Draft. Check back on Wednesday for my thoughts on the updated roster.


Footnote:
* = Kyrie Irving (PG, Duke) went 1st, Derrick Williams (PF, Arizona) went 2nd, Enes Kanter (C, Kentucky) went 3rd, Jan Vesely (SF, Czech Republic) went 6th, and Donatas Motiejunas (PF, Lithuania) went 20th.

** = I missed on Nolan Smith (PG, Duke) went 21st, JaJuan Johnson (PF, Purdue) went 27th, Norris Cole (PG, Cleveland State) went 28th, Cory Joseph (PG, Texas) went 29th, and Jimmy Butler (SF, Marquette) went 30th.

*** = Josh Selby (PG/SG, Kansas) predicted 21st went 49th, Tyler Honeycutt (SF, UCLA) predicted 26th went 35th, Justin Harper (PF, Richmond) predicted 27th went 32nd, Davis Bertans (SF, Slovenia) predicted 29th went 42nd, and Kyle Singler (SF, Duke) predicted 30th went 33rd.

**** = Joe Franklin in 1968, John Schell in 1969, J.J. Weber in 1987, and Rashard Griffith in 1995.

2011 NBA Draft First Round Preview for John Hammond

It is 99% guaranteed that Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams will be the first two picks of the 2011 NBA Draft. After that, anything is possible. My draft crushes that will most likely be gone when the Bucks pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft are Bismack Biyombo and Tristan Thompson. Both Biyombo and Thompson look like the ideal power forward the Bucks have been searching for since Vin Baker drank his way out of Milwaukee...no small feat with how much Cheeseheads like to booze.

Players that will most likely be available when the Bucks pick in the first round are:

Kenneth Faried (PF, Morehead State, 6'8", 225 lbs, 21 years old): Rich Man's Ben Wallace 2.0 is my reasonable draft crush of the 2011 NBA Draft. Faried may never make an all-star team but he will do all the dirty work that the Bucks hope Larry Sanders and Drew Gooden will do at some point.

Klay Thompson (SG, Washington State, 6'7", 206 lbs, 21 years old): The big bodied scorer the Bucks were hoping that John Salmons would continue to be looks like the boom/bust prospect that teams love to take in the lottery ahead of a known commodity with a lower ceiling like Faried.

Alec Burks (SG, Colorado, 6'6", 193 lbs, 19 years old): Much like the aforementioned Thompson, Burks is an interesting shooting guard prospect that could help the Bucks put the ball in the basket...something they struggled to do last season.

Marcus Morris (PF, Kansas, 6'9", 230 lbs, 21 years old): Please do not take Marcus, he looks like just another version of Sanders and Gooden.

Markieff Morris (PF, Kansas, 6'9", 241 lbs, 21 years old): See discussion of his brother above, I feel the same way.

There are a ton of other prospects that are in play for the Bucks when they pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft but the aforementioned guys look like the most likely players that John Hammond and company are honing in on. Check back tomorrow for my 2011 First Round NBA Mock Draft.