What could the Milwaukee Bucks roster look like in 3 years?

Possible Draft Picks

The Milwaukee Bucks will likely only have three draft picks before the 2022-23 season. They will be the Indiana Pacers first-round pick in the 2020 draft, their own pick in 2021, and their own second-round pick in 2022. However, I am not even going to attempt to predict a 2022 second-round pick that is probably currently a junior in high school.

First up is the Pacers pick in the 2020 draft. This is their best chance at adding talent through the draft as they likely, and hopefully, won’t have a pick in the teens for quite a few years unless they trade for one. Right now, the Pacers would have the 20th pick in the draft, so we’ll look at some players that are around that range on draft rankings.

We’ll start with a pair of power forwards that could fill Ilyasova’s minutes if he’s cut before next season starts. The first is Saddiq Bey of Villanova who is currently ranked 19th on ESPN’s board. This season, he averaged 16.1 points per game while shooting a fantastic 45.1 percent from behind the arc. This is my best-case scenario. He has great athleticism, can shoot the three, and play defense in a positionless system.

The other power forward in the Bucks draft range is Jaden McDaniels. He’s got great handles for a guy of his size at 6-10 and a huge wingspan, but his frame resembles Thon Maker and while he is a more fluid player than Maker, drafting McDaniels may yield a similar result.

Next are two point guards that will probably need to play the two early in their careers as they share the court with Bledsoe and Hill, but they could develop into starting point guards. The first is Jahmi’us Ramsey.

The major knock on Bledsoe is he can’t hit threes in the playoffs, so I’m looking for an outside touch. Ramsey brings that with 42.6 percent from long range last season and a silky smooth release. He isn’t accomplished as a facilitator, averaging only 2.2 assists last season, but he has good size at 6’4″ and athleticism that lets him block more shots than most guards at 0.7 per game.

Kira Lewis is the other and he did it all at Alabama last season averaging 18.5 points, 5.2 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game.

Now for the 2021 Draft. For this portion, I will be picking prospects that are ranked at the back end of the first round or top of the second round. Be mindful that a lot can change in these rankings between now and then. The Bucks could go after any type of player based on who they draft and retain this offseason so I’ve outlined two wings, one point guard, and a center that could fit their mold.

First are the two wing players starting with Landers Nolley II. He was on track to be drafted after this season but didn’t produce at Virginia Tech as he’d wanted. Touted as a major three-point threat, he shot only 31.6 percent from downtown and only 37 percent overall.

Then we have D.J. Jefferies from Memphis. Last season, he averaged 10.8 points per game on 39 percent shooting from deep and 51.3 percent overall. He is 6’7″ with a 6’9″ wingspan and that makes him capable of guarding multiple positions.

The potential point guard is Jeremy Roach who is committed to Duke for the 2020-21 season. He has great speed and athleticism and can finish in plenty of different ways at the rim, but he’s a high school player so his production is still unpredictable.

Finally, there’s center Armando Bacot. This season at North Carolina he averaged 9.6 points and 8.3 rebounds. He needs to fill out his frame a little bit, but he isn’t so lanky that he’s unplayable. He has a 7’1″ wingspan which allows him to finish above the rim and block shots that others might not get to.