With this year’s draft considered one of the weakest in recent memory, there are many fans clamoring for their favorite team to trade out of the lottery. While all indications point to Milwaukee keeping their pick and choosing a prospect at 10, there is a possibility the team could make such a move.

NBA teams trade draft picks for one of three reasons. Either they use the pick to acquire a veteran, to accumulate more draft picks or to dump salary. For the purposes of this article, I am going to investigate the success of trading a lottery pick to acquire a NBA veteran in the last 10 NBA drafts.

Using a lottery pick to acquire a veteran player is probably the most fan-friendly move you can make if the decision is made to trade out of the lottery. Fans do not have to wait for a rookie to develop. Instead, they get a player that has already had some success in the NBA. General Managers trade a lottery pick for a veteran because they hope it mitigates a lot of the risk involved with the draft. As all Bucks’ fans know, landing a star, or even a serviceable player, in the lottery is not guaranteed. Rather than gambling that a prospect will pan out, GMs trade the pick for a player they know can play at the NBA level. Whether that player is able to fit in on his new team is a different matter.

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Enemy: Red 94

Point Guard
Brandon Jennings vs. Kyle Lowry

Lowry is a muscle bound, defensive type of point guard, annually one of the league’s leaders in charges taken.  He’ll certainly turn the ball over some, that’s where the Bucks could really win this matchup.  Milwaukee is good at forcing turnovers, just not so good at scoring off them.  Jennings has a history of harassing opposing point guards as they bring the ball up the court and at the half court line; he may be able to get an easy bucket or two this way.  Milwaukee will need Jennings to rediscover his touch after a rough game against Indiana in which he made just two of five shots from 10-15 feet.  Jennings in between game often helps to make or break the Bucks.

Advantage: Bucks Read more…

It was easy to forget, considering the madness that was ensuing off the court with regard to the trade deadline, but the Bucks had a game Wednesday.

Actually, it’s important to check with sources at this time of the year.  So … let me … okay …

Yes … yes  I’m getting confirmation from numerous people close to the situation that the Bucks did indeed play on Wednesday night.

They just didn’t do it very well.

Possibly a bit rattled from speculation that each and everyone of them was about to be heading in a different direction, though don’t tell Scott Skiles that (more later), the Bucks took a snowball of a lifeless defensive second quarter and turned it into an avalanche of defenselessness in the third in an embarrassing 127-99 home loss.

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