Milwaukee Bucks: Reviewing previous 17th overall picks in the NBA Draft

What does it mean for the Milwaukee Bucks that they have the 17th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft? Let’s take a look at past production.

The Milwaukee Bucks are very familiar with the 17th overall pick having just selected in this position last year (D.J. Wilson) and in 2015 (Rashad Vaughn). All in all, they have picked at No.17 three times in franchise history and have never landed themselves a major contributor.

Is that typical for the 17th overall pick in the NBA Draft? Let’s take a look at past 17 picks, on both ends of the spectrum, to gauge realistic expectations for whomever Milwaukee decides to select come June 21.

Let’s begin on a high note. Some very good players have come from the 17th overall pick. Shawn Kemp (1989) is probably the best, as he was a six-time All-Star and three-time All-Pro player during his day with the Seattle Supersonics. However, Danny Granger (2005), Jermaine O’Neal (1996), Roy Hibbert (2008), Jrue Holiday (2009) and Dennis Schroder (2013) are a few to name as well.

Query Results Table
							Per	Adva	Adva
Rk	Year	Tm	Player	From	To	G	PTS	WS ▼	WS/48
1	1989	SEA	Shawn Kemp	1990	2003	1051	14.6	89.5	.147
2	1996	POR	Jermaine O’Neal	1997	2014	1011	13.2	66.0	.116
3	1992	SEA	Doug Christie	1993	2007	827	11.2	55.7	.102
4	2004	ATL	Josh Smith	2005	2018	894	14.5	51.0	.084
5	2005	IND	Danny Granger	2006	2015	586	16.8	48.5	.126
6	1994	POR	Aaron McKie	1995	2007	793	7.4	40.0	.100
7	1998	MIN	Rasho Nesterovic	1999	2010	811	6.8	39.9	.107
8	2008	TOR	Roy Hibbert	2009	2017	662	10.0	35.9	.105
9	2009	PHI	Jrue Holiday	2010	2018	585	14.9	33.7	.084
10	1995	CLE	Bob Sura	1996	2005	657	8.6	28.3	.087
11	1976	GSW	Sonny Parker	1977	1982	452	9.9	26.9	.118
12	1980	DET	Larry Drew	1981	1991	714	11.4	24.4	.064
13	2000	SEA	Desmond Mason	2001	2010	643	12.1	23.1	.056
14	2012	DAL	Tyler Zeller	2013	2018	406	7.0	16.8	.112
15	1975	BOS	Tom Boswell	1976	1984	366	7.7	15.2	.104
16	2011	NYK	Iman Shumpert	2012	2018	384	7.3	11.5	.057
17	2013	ATL	Dennis Schroder	2014	2018	352	12.9	10.2	.059

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

It’s certainly possible to find a valuable role player at the midway point in the draft, as many teams have done. Adding a player like this would do wonders for the Bucks. They are capped out at the moment, yet, find themselves needing a couple additional players to add to their roster. Adding a role-player on a cheap, four-year rookie contract would be amazing for their cap situation.

However, the pick is equally likely to bust as it is to pan out. That seems to be the case with Vaughn and Wilson (although it’s only been one season. The 17th pick the past four years has failed to pan out so far (Wilson, Wade Baldwin, Vaughn and James Young).

There are also eight 17th overall picks who have failed to play 100 games in their career. To be fair, three of those players are the ones drafted within the last four years.

Query Results Table
							Per	Adva	Adva
Rk	Year	Tm	Player	From	To	G	PTS	WS ▲	WS/48
1	2015	MIL	Rashad Vaughn	2016	2018	139	3.0	-0.6	-0.017
2	1987	POR	Ronnie Murphy	1988	1988	18	2.0	-0.2	-0.130
3	1979	HOU	Lee Johnson	1981	1981	12	1.4	-0.2	-0.095
4	1973	BOS	Steve Downing	1974	1975	27	2.4	-0.2	-0.060
5	1983	PHI	Leo Rautins	1984	1985	32	1.5	-0.1	-0.030
6	2016	MEM	Wade Baldwin	2017	2018	40	3.6	0.0	-0.004
7	2017	MIL	D.J. Wilson	2018	2018	22	1.0	0.1	.054
8	1997	ORL	Johnny Taylor	1998	2000	54	4.7	0.1	.007
9	1985	DAL	Uwe Blab	1986	1990	235	2.1	0.4	.009
10	1970	NYK	Mike Price	1971	1973	119	3.3	0.5	.021
11	2014	BOS	James Young	2015	2018	95	2.3	0.8	.046

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Milwaukee really needs to hit on this pick and they should have a decent shot to do so. Despite their recent first-round draft woes, the Bucks will have a nice shot at adding a contributor this season.

Whether they do so, will have a huge effect on their season next year.

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