With plenty of NBA draft chatter around, let’s look at the best and worst Bucks first round draft picks since 1985. This is, not coincidentally, the start of the Herb Kohl era in Milwaukee. This is based on their time in Milwaukee only, not their entire careers.
Best:
1) Ray Allen (1996 – 4th): The Bucks actually drafted Steph Marbury and immediately traded him for Allen. Ray Ray was a multiple time all-star who averaged about 22 ppg in Milwaukee. Apparently, he was too good of a player/person for the Bucks organization, and was thus promptly traded. This is how that trade ended up.
2) Glenn Robinson (1994 - 1st): Yeah, they should have taken Grant Hill (until his feet exploded) or Jason Kidd…and no, he didn’t play any defense. But say what you want…all he did was drop in 21 a night, every night, for 8 years.
3) Vin Baker (1993 - 8th): Don’t laugh. Vinny was a low post stud (3 All Star games) in Milwaukee, on some brutal teams. They traded him a precisely the right time.
4) Drew Bogut (2005 -1st). This represents how bad the Bucks have drafted rather than how good Bogut is…because, well, he’s a poor #1 overall pick.
5) TJ Ford (2003 – 8th). Never liked the guy, but he wasn’t too bad.
Best:
1) Ray Allen (1996 – 4th): The Bucks actually drafted Steph Marbury and immediately traded him for Allen. Ray Ray was a multiple time all-star who averaged about 22 ppg in Milwaukee. Apparently, he was too good of a player/person for the Bucks organization, and was thus promptly traded. This is how that trade ended up.
2) Glenn Robinson (1994 - 1st): Yeah, they should have taken Grant Hill (until his feet exploded) or Jason Kidd…and no, he didn’t play any defense. But say what you want…all he did was drop in 21 a night, every night, for 8 years.
3) Vin Baker (1993 - 8th): Don’t laugh. Vinny was a low post stud (3 All Star games) in Milwaukee, on some brutal teams. They traded him a precisely the right time.
4) Drew Bogut (2005 -1st). This represents how bad the Bucks have drafted rather than how good Bogut is…because, well, he’s a poor #1 overall pick.
5) TJ Ford (2003 – 8th). Never liked the guy, but he wasn’t too bad.
Honorable Mention: Nobody. *Special note: Mike Redd was a great 2nd round pick.
Worst:
1) Tractor Trailer (1998): Not only was Trailer a fat POS, they traded Dirk Nowitzki (9th pick) and Pat Garrity (19th) to get him. Hell, Garrity alone was a better pro than Tractor. This is probably the worst trade in Wisconsin sports history and one of the worst in the history of the NBA.
2) Marcus Haislip (2002 – 13th): He could jump high, that’s about it. A terrible, terrible pick.
3) Scott Skiles (1986 – 22nd): After being billed as “a shorter Larry Bird” by Bucks management, Skiles had a terrible rookie year with Milwaukee and was traded.
4) Drew Bogut: Yeah, he makes both lists. You just expect more with the #1 pick, especially a 7-footer. Look at the other recent centers drafted first: Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem, Ewing, The Admiral, Dwight Howard, etc. Unfortunately, Bogut is more Pervis Ellison than those other guys.
5) Eric Mobley (1994 – 18th): P….O….S…
Worst:
1) Tractor Trailer (1998): Not only was Trailer a fat POS, they traded Dirk Nowitzki (9th pick) and Pat Garrity (19th) to get him. Hell, Garrity alone was a better pro than Tractor. This is probably the worst trade in Wisconsin sports history and one of the worst in the history of the NBA.
2) Marcus Haislip (2002 – 13th): He could jump high, that’s about it. A terrible, terrible pick.
3) Scott Skiles (1986 – 22nd): After being billed as “a shorter Larry Bird” by Bucks management, Skiles had a terrible rookie year with Milwaukee and was traded.
4) Drew Bogut: Yeah, he makes both lists. You just expect more with the #1 pick, especially a 7-footer. Look at the other recent centers drafted first: Shaq, Duncan, Hakeem, Ewing, The Admiral, Dwight Howard, etc. Unfortunately, Bogut is more Pervis Ellison than those other guys.
5) Eric Mobley (1994 – 18th): P….O….S…
Honorable Mention: Todd Day, Jeff Grayer, Jerry “Ice” Reynolds. I have no clue who Kevin Brooks is…he never played a minute with the Bucks.
Here’s the entire list.
8 comments:
No wonder this team sucks...Allen, Big Dogg and a bunch of garbage. Nice drafting Bucks!
I think you have to put Redd in the top 3 definitely ahead of Gin Baker....He is one of the top players in the assocaition and he was an absolute steal in the 2nd round.
Not to mention I have some fond memories of Sydney Moncrief and Paul Pressey....solid choices.....Also I didnt realize Chopp's favorite all-time player Speed Bump Mokeski was a first round pick back in the day....He should be in the top five just for the pure entertainment value gave us over the years.
Htiek....Redd is easily top 3, but I was ranking 1ST Round picks only. Mokeski was sweet. The Mo/Breuer twin towers was unstoppable!
Shawn Respert's gotta be in there too, no?
Dirk was never going to be a Buck. This trade was in place prior to the draft. At the time, everybody thought Dallas was reaching for Dirk at the Bucks spot.
I couldn't believe when they traded Jesus Shuttlesworth...didn't he take them to within like a game or two of the NBA Finals one year before losing to A.I.? Awful...i'm a Knicks fan, so I know what awful management is...
Shorty - I know they Knicks have made some awful decisions over the years. However, I think some of the things the Bucks have done rival that. The difference here is, outside of New York being the media center of the world and Milwaukee being, well, Milwaukee, people in New York actually care about basketball and get pissed when the Knicks do something stupid, while in Milwaukee, half the city doesn't realize we have an NBA team thus, vocal, disgruntaled fans are few and far between.
Having said this, Milwaukee will support a solid product. Look at the 2001 team. The city was crazy about the Bucks. We all know how that turned out. Also, about 505 of the rosters turns over every year, so that doesn't help.
Goldy, you can count me in with the other half of the city that doesn't care. The NBA is a joke. 16 teams make the playoffs, and that would be like 16 baseball teams (rather than 8) going to the postseason or 18 (rather than 12) NFL teams playing in January. Can you imagine the Pack being a #9 seed in the NFC?!?! HOW THE HELL DOES OVER HALF THE LEAGUE MAKE THE POSTSEASON?? HOW THE HELL DOES THE POSTSEASON LAST 2 MONTHS??? People complain that the Super Bowl coverage is way overboard and the NFL postseason is like 4 weeks long; with a week off 5. Baseball is 1 month. It's the exclusiveness of the postseason that makes it exciting and worth watching, by the time the NBA wraps its stupid season you have no recollection of the regular season at all, and rampant indifference to the final matchup. When coupled w/ the moves that BC listed, I hope the Bucks (mis)fortunes continue, and maybe put some sweet new condos were the Bradley center is(was).
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