Bucks' Painful Moves Show Consequences of Flawed Draft Strategy
The Milwaukee Bucks must abandon their draft strategy of taking project players while in win-now mode.
Over the last three years, the Bucks have taken five players in the NBA Draft: Tyler Smith, AJ Johnson, Chris Livingston, Bogoljub Markovic, and Andre Jackson Jr. Only one, Jackson, remains on the roster for the 2025-26 season, with three years of college experience.
The rest had just one year of experience combined, making it tough to develop them while contending for a title. As a result, the Bucks have cut, traded, or stashed the other four, including AJ Johnson, a 2024 first-round pick, who was sent to the Wizards in the Kyle Kuzma deal.
drafting project players when contending for a title is tough to do because there isn't a clear-cut pathway to develop them
Author's summary: Bucks must change draft strategy.