What You Can Get at #17 in the Draft

For the third time in franchise history — and for the third time since 2015 — the Bucks have the #17 overall draft pick. (Third time is the charm?)

You can look at this a few different ways. You can look at who the recent #17 picks have been (what happened). You can look at who has turned out to be the 17th best player in drafts (what happens on average). And, you can look at the players who turned out to be the best who were available at #17 (what could happen).

What you cannot do is reasonably expect a team to take the player who turns out to be the best one on the board. The odds are always stacked against that. But every time the Bucks have turned into an important team throughout franchise history, it has been a direct result of them striking gold in the draft: Kareem at #1 in 1969, Marques at #3 in 1977, Moncrief at #5 in 1979, Pressey at #20 in 1982, Allen (in a trade) at #5 in 1996, Giannis at #15 in 2013.

Actual #17 pick: D.J. Wilson
Actual 17th best player: Sterling Brown, maybe?
Best players available at #17: John Collins, Kyle Kuzma, OG Anunoby

Actual #17 pick: Wade Baldwin
Actual 17th best player: Hmm, maybe Patrick McCaw
Best players available at #17: Malcolm Brogdon, Dejounte Murray, Pascal Siakim

Actual #17 pick: Rashad Vaughn
Actual 17th best player: Someone like Norman Powell or Justise Winslow
Best players available at #17: Josh Richardson, Larry Nance, Jr., Montrezl Harrell

Actual #17 pick: James Young
Actual 17th best player: I don’t know, Elfrid Payton
Best players available at #17: Nikola Jokic, Clint Capela, Gary Harris

Actual #17 pick: Dennis Schroder
Actual 17th best player: Going to go with Nerlens Noel here
Best players available at #17: Rudy Gobert, Allen Crabbe, Andre Roberson

Actual #17 pick: Tyler Zeller
Actual 17th best player: Mike Scott perhaps
Best players available at #17: Draymond Green, Khris Middleton, Jae Crowder

Actual #17 pick: Iman Shumpert
Actual 17th best player: Might be Brandon Knight or Markieff Morris
Best players available at #17: Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas, Tobias Harris

Actual #17 pick: Kevin Seraphin
Actual 17th best player: Not Kevin Seraphin!
Best players available at #17: Hassan Whiteside, Eric Bledsoe, Lance Stephenson

Actual #17 pick: Jrue Holiday
Actual 17th best player: Possibly James Johnson
Best players available at #17: Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Danny Green

Actual #17 pick: Roy Hibbert
Actual 17th best player: Could be Mario Chalmers
Best players available at #17: DeAndre Jordan, Goran Dragic, Nicolas Batum

Actual #17 pick: Sean Williams
Actual 17th best player: Nick Young, NBA champion
Best players available at #17: Marc Gasol, Jared Dudley, Marco Bellinelli