Poll: Which Available Player Would You Have Taken At 17?

[DavidDunn21]

Funny, I was always mad at Kohl for not drafting Finley. My vote was for Dekker, although like everyone else, I'm warming up to Vaughn.

[Fotis St]

Jerian Grant ... He would be the perfect backup for MCW . Size, playmaking,scoring, 3pt catch n shoot. NBA ready body... He is raised to be confident cause of the Grant family former NBA players. This is important to a players attitude, just watched 2 sons Curry n Thompson won NBA title. Too bad for the Bucks ... The Knicks traded Tim Hardaway Jr to get him... + we would not trade for Vasquez so that would save + 6.6m + draft picks. Don't know if Vaughn is gonna be a good shooter. 3pt line in nba is deaper and 69%,FT is alarming. He is just a Mayo backup, 3 option sg.Good luck to him and for the Bucks.

[WeekapaugGroove]

I said it on draft night and still would have taken Portis or grant. But I don't love college basketball and don't watch much outside the tournament so really don't know a ton about these prospects. After watching some highlights of Vaughn I'm cool with the pick.

18 yr old with good 2 guard size who can shoot. seems good to me. I really like booker as a prospect and Vaughn seems similar so I shouldn't discount him because I'm just less familiar with the dude. Hope he kills it and I laugh at myself for ever liking Portis or grant more.

[Buck Yeah]

I would've taken Portis without any hesitation really. BPA in my mind and as a stretch 4/5 could carve a nice role for years on the Bucks.

I was never a fan of taking Vaughn or Hunter.....with Middleton penciled in at the 2 for the forseeable future, I just didn't see a big need there. I also view Vaughn and Hunter as the biggest "bust" risks. Their 3pt shooting just might not translate....happens all the time....and that is really what they were drafted for. Ultimately, I've always advocated going BPA.....so I guess I just didn't view Vaughn in that light. I sure hope I'm dead wrong on that.

[Aaron It Out]

I hope 14 of you picked Dekker to trade him, cause it was pretty apparent he had 0 interest in playing here.

[pe_it72]

Portis is who I thought we were for sure drafting. Would have liked him.

Also love how we swing for the fences when we pick middle of the draft. Hate picking mid draft.

Was hard to enjoy the pick knowing we gave up 6 mil in cap space as well as the clips pick. Thought that could have been done for far less.

I predict we trade Bayless for Hibbert or Lopez.

[Bucks2585]

Many non Wisconsin fans were surprised Dekker was still around when we picked. Most mock drafts had him going above our pick. That makes him theoretically a value pick.

I liked Dekker more than most neutral people, disliked Kaminsky more than most neutral people (had Dekker 9th, Kaminsky 16th, and they about flipped). There is a balance. Being a Badger had nothing to do with my opinion of him as a prospect personally. He'd have been among 3 I'd have strongly considered for the pick, along with Grant and Portis. But I would have taken Grant, while hoping Dekker could be snared (for Henson) with another pick around the same range. Once again, he was perceived good value by the neutral analyst, and I liked him as a prospect independently.

What skill does he have that translates? Possibly every one. Every single one. At one point or another during his college career for an extended period he did something well, be it driving, cutting, shooting, passing, rebounding, or defending. Driving, cutting, versatile defense, and offensive rebounding are all things an NBA team could count on him for because he did them pretty consistently his final two years and has the physical tools to translate. Now it's a matter of putting everything he's shown at different points altogether if he wants to be really good. And I'm confident he'll add consistent shooter to his traits given how he shot before the growth spurt, now he needs to adjust to that, and it appears he's doing so. Muscle memory takes time develop after physical growth. See our very own Giannis. You're probably throwing Dekker under the bus to some degree to make the guy we did ultimately take look better.

Only thing I agree with you is he's a questionable fit. But so is Vaughn, if Middleton is back. How would he improve our shooting/team discernibly if he takes our one really good shooter in Middleton off the floor or has him move up to bump Giannis/Parker out? And it's not like he's reasonably ready to step in to the starting lineup to temporarily replace Jabari while he recovers. At least Dekker had that potential going for him. Then you could have possibly flipped him if a log jam was created, after he hopefully proved he can be a viable starter in this league.

With Vaughn, he could easily be looked at as a replacement for Mayo. He's 18, which means that he has a ton of upside, but it's also more than likely he's not ready to play right now. Next year, Mayo, Bayless, and Vasquez are all FAs and we're not bringing all of them back. Let Ennis and Vaughn develop a bit, keep hitting the NBA level strength and conditioning program while they are still young and have growth potential. We can reasonablely see if they are ready to take on the roles of a Mayo, Bayless, and Vasquez without being put in a bind where we have to take a PG/SG prospect next year because we at least have an option to replace the,

[RealBucksFan]

Voted "other," for Looney. Of course, he was medically red-flagged, so that is a case where my ignorance is what would have caused my pick. I do like Vaughn, but he wasn't a guy I had a strong opinion on one way or the other before the draft. I'm glad the Bucks didn't select Portis.

[JayMKE]

so many secret Vaughn fans

[Rendei]

If I were picking I'd have gone with Portis. But I don't hate the Vaughn pick, since it's mostly his knee that scares me about him, and I'll happily defer to the people who've put all the time and resources into making the decision.

I wanted Dekker until it was apparent that he was ready to get out of the state and experience other parts of the country. I only wanted the Bucks to draft him if that's what he wanted. Now I'm hoping that he makes it in the NBA and comes back to Milwaukee in free agency.

[WimpyDeer]

so many secret Vaughn fans

It basically boils down to voting for Vaughn if you agree with the pick or voting Portis if you disagree. And the 15 people who picked Dekker for no good reason.

[Shaffty]

If I were picking I'd have gone with Portis. But I don't hate the Vaughn pick, since it's mostly his knee that scares me about him, and I'll happily defer to the people who've put all the time and resources into making the decision.

I wanted Dekker until it was apparent that he was ready to get out of the state and experience other parts of the country. I only wanted the Bucks to draft him if that's what he wanted. Now I'm hoping that he makes it in the NBA and comes back to Milwaukee in free agency.

exactly, i liked vaughn but I didn't know about his knees, if the Bucks did their due diligence and were satisfied with his health than he was a great pick

[Xanadu]

Portis, I think he ends up being a really good fit for center next to Jabari on Giannis at the forward spots. Think he grows and could easily add 10 to 30 pounds as he ages with a NBA training staff. He has some range and can defend out to the perimeter which works for our switching defense. He will become a plus re bounder eventually to imo if he commits to it.

[El Duderino]

I was never a fan of taking Vaughn or Hunter.....with Middleton penciled in at the 2 for the forseeable future, I just didn't see a big need there.

I totally get some not liking Vaughn as much as other players who were available, but i don't get people saying the Bucks don't have a need for a shooter/scorer at SG just because we have Middleton.

Anyone who watched this team after the Knight trade and in the playoffs should have clearly seen the big need for shooters in general to both score and space the floor, even if it's just off the bench. Time will tell if Vaughn can provide that as he develops over the next year or two, but shooting certainly was a need. Plus, Middleton is big enough to play some SF if Vaughn develops and the Bucks play small for stretches.

[emunney]

so many secret Vaughn fans

Right? Too funny.

[emunney]

I hope 14 of you picked Dekker to trade him, cause it was pretty apparent he had 0 interest in playing here.

He'd have show

[crkone]

There are way, way more people on this board who lurk than those who post.

[Bernman]

There are way, way more people on this board who lurk than those who post.

And they incredibly coincidentally almost all liked Vaughn the most of possible draft picks? Theoretically it should be close to proportional to the sentiments in the pre draft threads, only extrapolated to a bigger sample. The obvious reality is Vaughn is about the only prospect they know because the Bucks picked him or they're rationalizing for that reason.

[Buck Yeah]

I was never a fan of taking Vaughn or Hunter.....with Middleton penciled in at the 2 for the forseeable future, I just didn't see a big need there.

I totally get some not liking Vaughn as much as other players who were available, but i don't get people saying the Bucks don't have a need for a shooter/scorer at SG just because we have Middleton.

Anyone who watched this team after the Knight trade and in the playoffs should have clearly seen the big need for shooters in general to both score and space the floor, even if it's just off the bench. Time will tell if Vaughn can provide that as he develops over the next year or two, but shooting certainly was a need. Plus, Middleton is big enough to play some SF if Vaughn develops and the Bucks play small for stretches.

I never said there wasn't a need. I said there wasn't a BIG NEED. I just think Middleton is the best option at 2 for 35 mpg......he was at 40 mpg in the Playoffs. That PROBABLY leaves just scraps for a guy like Vaughn (and that's with Mayo gone). There were bigger needs, but as I also said, I personally felt that Vaughn was not the BPA and that is what I was gunning for.

[Baddy Chuck]

The obvious reality is Vaughn is about the only prospect they know because the Bucks picked him or they're rationalizing for that reason.

Conversely a guy like Portis is probably getting a ton of votes because something like nbadraft.net or draftexpress told them he was the best prospect.