8. Milwaukee Bucks
The Milwaukee Bucks have co-GMs:
Brian Saunders
Morgan Edwards ,
making the 8th pick in the draft. With that pick, the
Bucks select:
Malcolm Mackey, PF, 6-11, Georgia Tech.
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Team: Milwaukee Bucks 1992-93 record: 28-54
pseudo-GM's: Brian Saunders (saunders@luther.che.wisc.edu)
Morgan Edwards (medwards@cghill.che.wisc.edu)
Picks: 8th in 1rst round (2nd pick is owned by Dallas)
1rst-round pick: Malcolm Mackey, Georiga Tech, 6'11", 250 lb.
General Analysis:
It is more than obvious that the Bucks are a rebuilding team, with Mike
Dunleavy having been penned to a long-term contract before this season,
which ended up one the worst in recent Bucks history. Last year, Milwaukee
did not fare well in the lottery, and hope to get a much better pick this
year.
This year, the Bucks showed a few sparks of life, and saw some talent in
their younger players. Still, they have a lot of needs, especially with
respect to rebounding.
Center - This is the weakest position of the bunch. Power forward Frank
Brickowski started the majority of the season at center, where Anthony
Avent, Brad Lohaus, Danny Shayes, and Fred Roberts also saw some time. If
Moses Malone comes off his injury and returns to the Bucks, he should be
able to provide adequate play in the paint for a year or two, but will be
gone after that. Even then, Moses is not nearly the player he used to be
in the paint. If Milwaukee can't draft a center, they must address this
need via a trade or free agency. Dunleavy has been quoted as saying if
the Bucks can get Shawn Bradley, they will (at any cost).
Power Forward - The Bucks are almost as weak here as they are at center.
All the centers listed played at this spot too, as well as Derek Strong.
Getting Chris Webber or Malcolm Mackey to fill this hole would help
immensely.
Shooting Forward - The Bucks are not too bad at this spot. Blue Edwards
played fairly well here at times last year, and Blue can be moved the the
backcourt to allow Todd Day, Orlando Woolridge (who's probably going to be
gone), or Brad Lohaus to play at this position. If a very good player at
this spot, like Jamal Mashburn, is the best player left available, the
Bucks could draft them and still put them to good use, and then perhaps
trade another sf for a greater need, or at least move Edwards permantly to
the backcourt.
Shooting Guard - This is another adequate position, with Blue Edwards, Todd
Day, and Jon Barry putting up the shots. This year's crop of potential
draftees does not seem to have a superstar shooting guard (unless you put
Hardaway at that spot), so the Bucks should not look for a player here,
unless it is part of some trade package.
Point Guard - Milwaukee seems set at this spot. Eric Murdock had a pretty
good year last year, and it seems that Lee Mayberry is not a bad backup,
either. Milwaukee does not need to draft for this spot, unless it is part
of a more-involved trade package.
Draft pick:
Because of his size, and performance in post-season games, we decided that
the best choice at this point was Malcolm Mackey, a 6'11", 250 lb. power
forward / center. Though this is probably taking a chance, there wasn't a
lot we could do, having been screwed in the lottery for the 2nd year in a
row. At any rate, Malcolm should give the Bucks a power forward capable of
scoring, and more importantly, rebounding. His consistency in college was
somewhat of a question, but as a pro, he should realize that he needs to
produce every night, since it is a job now.
Other players considered:
Acie Earl was considered, because of his defensive abilities and rebounding
strength. However, at 6'10", it was felt he was too small to dominate at
the center spot, and his offensive abilities were somewhat suspect (he got
most of his points very close to the basket). Still, the choice between
Acie and Malcolm was nearly a coin flip.
Bobby Hurley could have been drafted, in order to use for a trade. For
example, if Orlando truly has salary-cap trouble with the addition of
Chris Webber, Hurley and some other player could be dealt to Orlando for
the rights to Webber, who would be the man at Milwaukee.
We also looked at some of the "big" bodies available, e.g. Ed Stokes,
Luther Wright, Ervin Johnson, and Vin Baker. We felt that Stokes and
Wright were just too big of a risk (ala Luc Longley), and that Ervin
Johnson and Vin Baker were not quite what we needed.
Other moves (if we could have traded):
There are teams lower in the draft that want Hurley. Had we offered the
pick to them for a backup center or power forward, we still could have
picked a decent player. We also could have offered the pick and some other
player, and gotten somebody that would have really made an impact.
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Draft Summary:
1. Orlando
GM: Tom@Orlando
Pick: Chris Webber, PF, 6-10. University of Michigan
2. Philadelphia
GM: Dave Meeks
Pick: Shawn Bradley, C, 7-7. BYU
3. Golden State
GM's: Mike Moore
Terry Wong
Pick: Jamal Mashburn, SF, 6-8. Kentucky
4. Dallas
GM: Curtis Hill
Pick: Anfernee Hardaway, SG, 6-7, Memphis State
5. Minnesota
GM's: Kevin Hansen
Toni Morgan
Pick: Calbert Cheaney, SF, 6-7. Indiana
6. Washington
GM's: The Crossjammer
Jim Nagle
Pick: J.R. Rider, SG, 6-5, UNLV
7. Sacramento
GM: TODD FURESZ
Pick: Rodney Rogers, PF, 6-7, Wake Forest
8. Milwaukee
GM's: Brian Saunders
Morgan Edwards
Pick: Malcolm Mackey, PF, 6-11, Georgia Tech
Next Up:
9. Denver
GM's: John Exby
Rick Grubin
Craig Simpson - Usenet Draft Commissioner