Giannis the Greek

The 2013 NBA Draft will be a defining moment for the Milwaukee Bucks franchise. Experts are not expecting this draft to rival the star studded draft of 2003; this draft is merely a group of solid, if unspectacular, players. This draft is not vital to the Bucks organization because of the importance of striking gold in a prospect. Instead, this was the draft for owner Herb Kohl and general manager John Hammond to determine if the franchise would begin the long and agonizing rebuilding process, or try to make a win now move. If the Bucks first round pick was any indication of their intentions, the Bucks are going to start from the bottom.

Going into Thursday night's draft, everyone anticipated the Bucks selection to be a guard. Various mock drafts predicted the Bucks to take Georgia's Kentavious Caldwell Pope or Germany's Dennis Schroeder. Either of these would have made sense, given the Bucks uncertainty in the back court. JJ Redick and Monta Ellis, the only shooting guards on the roster, are unrestricted free agents and will be testing the market.

As the first round got under way, Bucks fans couldn't help but notice the drop of Kansas shooting guard Ben McLemore. The widely heralded two guard has drawn comparisons to Ray Allen (which should make veteran Bucks fans cringe) and considered to be the surest bet star of anyone. McLemore was projected to be a top three pick, but slid to Sacramento, who took him with the seventh overall selection. One can seriously hope that Hammond was not asleep at the wheel, and did actually make an attempt to trade up. For whatever reason, though, the Bucks held on to their 15th selection.

With the 15th pick in the Draft, Milwaukee selected the 6'9" forward out of Greece, Giannis Adetokunbo. Giannis is only 18, and won't turn 19 until December. Amid much speculation about where he will play for the next several years, Hammond confirmed that Adetokunbo will be on the Bucks roster come October.

Adetokunbo is described by scouts as being exceedingly raw. He has a very slight frame, and looks like he is running on toothpicks. That being said, others compare his body type to Kevin Durant. His 7'4" wingspan resembles that of Mr. Incredible. Draft Express reports say that he can go from basket to basket in four dribbles, which speaks to his incredible length. His ball handling skills are unheard of considering his height, and he can use his athleticism to succeed on both ends of the floor.

The knocks on Bo are, quite frankly, out of his control. Scouts and GM's two complaints are that he is super raw, and he has not gone up against strong competition. With age, he should overcome the raw aspect of his game. His freak athleticism should mask a lot of that anyways. If two words describe Adetokunbo, they are "project" and "potential". If you need more incentive to like Bo, though, read this excerpt from a column by Andrew Sharp of Grantland:


"However it happened and whatever it means, we need to mention Giannis Adetokunbo here, because he should probably be everyone's favorite player for the next few years. For one thing, he looks like he's 13 years old. For another, he's built like Kevin Durant and has apparently only scratched the surface of his talent, so, hey, who knows what happens from here?

But mostly, it was his answer after a reporter asked about his family's struggles in Greece, and what getting drafted means to them: "This moment I'm very happy. And I think in the past, make me sad. We struggled a lot in the past to have a better life, and now that I get drafted in the NBA, for sure we're going to have a better life. And I think now my mother and my father at home, they will be very happy to see me drafted, because four years in sadness and poverty is very difficult. Maybe after four years, maybe today it's the happiest day of their life to see me drafted, to see all that work and effort that they gave then, he work out. He worked out, a good thing." Seriously, that kid is just the greatest. Go Bucks.


The Bucks did not move up to select a guard early in the draft. They did not flip any pieces for established guards. After a trade they ended up with South Dakota State guard Nate Wolters, though he is not the starting guard that they so desperately needed. Kohl and Hammond, it seems, have acknowledged that rebuilding is the right way to take the franchise.

The rebuilding process might might not be as daunting as it would be for some other franchises though. It is crucial for small market teams to hit on first round draft picks, and the last four years have resulted in very solid player. Larry Sanders will hopefully anchor the defense for years to come; point guard Brandon Jennings is the point guard of the future; Tobias Harris looked like the small forward that the Bucks needed, before being flipped for several months of Redick; and John Henson showed a lot in limited minutes last season. If the Bucks struck gold on Adetokunbo like they did on Sanders, it is reasonable to think that the Bucks could be solid contender in 3-4 years.