2015 Draft

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There was a time when teenagers weren’t deemed  ready to compete in the NBA.

Basketball-Reference.com documents that since  1963-64, 107 individuals who had yet to reach their 20th birthday  had appeared in at least one regular-season NBA game. Rashad Vaughn could soon  be joining that exclusive group.

Vaughn, who won’t turn 19 years old until Aug. 16,  2015, was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 17th overall pick  in the 2015 NBA Draft.

The 6-foot-6-inch guard out of the University  of Nevada-Las Vegas was named the Mountain West Conference’s Freshman of the  Year, Honorable Mention All-Conference and Second-Team NABC All-District 17 in  2014-15 after averaging a team-high 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists  per game while shooting 44.7 percent from the field, 38.4 percent from 3-point  range and 70.2 percent from the free throw line.

Vaughn started all 23 games in which he appeared for the Rebels  before suffering a season-ending torn meniscus in his left knee. At the time of  the injury, his scoring average ranked third nationally among freshmen.

When Vaughn met the Milwaukee media for the first time June 26, he  reviewed the whirlwind his life became when he sustained his knee injury during  the final minute of UNLV’s Feb. 10 game against Fresno State. It carried him through  surgery, rehabilitation and all the way to his introductory NBA presser, seated  between Bucks Head Coach Jason Kidd and General Manager John Hammond.

“I didn’t think this was  possible,” Vaughn said. “I didn’t know what to think when I got injured. I  didn’t know what I was going to do. To be where I’m at right now … it’s just a  blessing to be here, to be in Milwaukee sitting next to these two guys, being  picked with the 17th pick. It’s just a blessing.

“It was a long journey,  starting from rehab and trying to get back into condition and trying to work on  my skill set, from not touching a basketball. It took a lot of hard work, and  going from workout to workout and from city to city, it took a lot of hard  work, but it all paid off.”

Vaughn’s selection marked the  third consecutive draft in which the Bucks chose a teen with their top pick,  following up their landing of Giannis Antetokounmpo with the 15th  choice in 2013 and Jabari Parker with the second pick in 2014.

Hammond made it clear that  the Bucks got the man they wanted.

“When we talked about the  needs for our team going into this offseason, we talked about shooting, we  talked about trying to get more size and maybe the backup point guard spot,”  Hammond said. “And I think as I said last night, every time we’ve talked about  that, I think we’ve mentioned it in that order – shooting first. That was such  a need for us, we thought as a team.

“I can say this: The guy  sitting between Jason and I has a beautiful jump shot. I think he’s going to  turn into a great shooter in this league; not that he can’t do more things. I  think he’s going to be a capable ball handler. I think he’s going to be grow  into a great NBA ‘2’ guard prototype body. But what we liked about him best was  his ability to make shots and shoot the ball and shoot the ball with a great  rhythm and great form. We’re all looking for that.

“When we walk into a gym from  a scouting standpoint, the first thing we’re looking for is a shooter. We’re  really excited to have Rashad Vaughn as a part of this organization moving forward.”

Kidd expressed enthusiasm  over the selection of Vaughn as well.

“You talk about a  competitor,” Kidd said. “You look at the boxes, he fits our age group. He’s  young. There’s no pressure on him coming into this situation, for him to learn  the game at the highest level.

“Being able to talk to him  during his workout, he’s a great kid. He comes from a great family. One of the  things that we needed was someone who can shoot the ball straight. At 18 years  old, we felt that he could do that.

“I think for John, he was on  their board. No matter what rumors or what was speculated of him shooting up,  his stock had gotten better with each workout he attended. When we saw him, we  liked what we saw. John and those guys do a lot of work before the guys come  in, watching film, going out to watch them play. Again, we felt that he fit  here in Milwaukee. He was there. He was the first guy we wanted, he was there  and they had the opportunity to take him.”

Vaughn sensed that he made a  positive impression on the Bucks’ brass when he worked out for the team three  days prior to the draft.

“I knew, just by the workout,  I thought I had a great workout,” he said. “Just the positive vibes I was  getting when I got here, I knew they were interested in me. I wanted to come  here as well, how it looked here, being a great fit for me. I just wanted to  come in here for my workout and try to impress them and get picked.”

Draft night was an intense  experience for Vaughn and his family.

“Leading up to the point, it  was just nerve-wracking because I had no clue, no idea,” he said. “My mind was  just racing. I was pacing. I couldn’t sit down. I just had my family there and  we just all watched it together. We were all nervous. Once my name was called,  we just went crazy. We were happy, very emotional.”

No NBA team made a more  dramatic climb during the 2014-15 season than Milwaukee, which finished 41-41  to exceed its previous season’s victory total by 26.

Vaughn was monitoring the  developments from afar with interest.

“Just watching them play, for  them to be that young and to be in the playoffs and be playing as well as they  were playing, that really impressed me,” Vaughn said of the Bucks. “Just how  young the team is, it really impressed me where this team is headed. I think  the sky’s the limit to how far this team can go.”

The aforementioned 107  teenage players who have played NBA basketball since 1963 have met with  wide-ranging levels of success.

LeBron James played 108  regular-season NBA games before he reached 20 years of age and scored 2,362  points in those contests. That total puts him atop a list that also includes  Kobe Bryant (second, 1,759), Carmelo Anthony (third, 1,725), Kevin Durant  (fourth, 1,624), Dwight Howard (fifth, 1,243), Tracy McGrady (sixth, 909), Josh  Smith (seventh, 851), Kevin Garnett (eighth, 835) and Andrew Wiggins (ninth,  826).

Of that group, James, Bryant,  Howard, McGrady, Smith and Garnett came directly out of high school to the NBA.

The league’s youth movement  was showcased Nov. 26, 2014, when four teens played in the same game, a first  for the NBA. The matchup pitted Antetokounmpo and Parker of the Bucks against  Wiggins and Zach LaVine of the Minnesota Timberwolves. All were 19 years old  when the game was played – and won by Milwaukee 103-86.

Teenage NBA players have gone  on to build an impressive resume of All-Star appearances in their later years.  Bryant leads the way with 17, followed by Garnett with 15, James with 11, Chris  Bosh with 10, and Anthony and Howard with eight apiece.

Other teens who have achieved  All-Star berths later in their careers include Tracy McGrady (seven times),  Tony Parker, Jermaine O’Neal and Kevin Durant (six times each), Kyrie Irving  (three times), Stephon Marbury, Rashard Lewis, Luol Deng and Anthony Davis (two  apiece), and Tyson Chandler and Gerald Wallace (one each)

Current and former Bucks dot  the list of NBA teenage achievers. Antetokounmpo ranks 13th on the  107-player scoring list with 761 points. He is followed by Ersan Ilyasova (41st  with 402), Parker (47th with 307), Shaun Livingston (54th  with 222), Tobias Harris (56th with 208), Zaza Pachulia (66th  with 145), Corey Maggette (88th with 40) and Jamal Sampson (106th  with 0).

Vaughn is anxious to take his  best shot when his time of reckoning arrives.

“I’m real excited just to  come in and just start working,” he said. “I know they have great skill guys,  great people to help me work on my body. I’m excited to come in and learn under  Coach Kidd. That’s what I’m really excited about, just to get here and become a  better player, get as good as I possibly can.”

“Just to come in and just try  to find my niche, just to come in and work as hard as I can, do whatever the  team needs me to do and try to learn as much as possible,” he responded.

Before Rashad Vaughn knows  it, class will be in session.

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Bucks' Latest Teen Intends to Join Exclusive Fraternity

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One-on-One with Rashad Vaughn

For the first  time since they picked Collis Jones in 1971, the Bucks have drafted a player at  #17 overall in the draft. Here are some other things to know.

1. Precisely zero of the 50 mock  drafts that I surveyed over the past few weeks predicted Rashad Vaughn to the  Bucks at #17.

So even more  than usual, we need a quick catch-up. Let us hop to it.

2. He was the second youngest player  in the draft.

Vaughn was  born in 1996. Apparently that type of thing now makes you 18 (or 19) years old.  He played just one season at shooting guard for UNLV, and is young for his  class. He was four years old when the Bucks went to the Eastern Conference  Finals in 2001. He is now the youngest player on the Bucks.

3. He was a McDonald’s All-American  and consensus top 20 recruit coming out of high school.

While not a  household name during the college basketball season to the casual fan, or even  in the early summer leading up to the draft among draft enthusiasts, Vaughn  certainly did not come out of nowhere. He played in both the McDonald’s  All-American Game and Jordan Brand Classic during his final year of high school.  And based on the recruiting rankings noted in his Draft Express profile (which you should probably read/watch  in its entirety), he was a top 20 prospect coming out of high school according  to ESPN, Scout, and Rivals… and was “labeled as one of the best prospects in  high school basketball from a very early age.” If you like pedigree, you could like  Vaughn.

4. He is roughly the same height and  weight as Bradley Beal was coming out of college.

Just to give  you an idea of Vaughn’s stature (which is solid and pretty average for a two  guard in the NBA). At the combine, Vaughn measured 6-5 (in shoes) and 199  pounds, with a 6-7 wingspan. Back in 2012, Beal, a pure two guard, measured  6-4.75 and 202 pounds, with a 6-8 wingspan. Beal was also a couple years older.  Coincidentally, Vaughn also told the media after he was picked that he has  watched a lot of Beal.

5. He is projected to play shooting  guard (as opposed to point guard and shooting guard).

Positionless  basketball is a trendy phrase of late, particularly in light of the Finals, when  the Warriors benched old friend Andrew Bogut in the decisive games to close out  the series. And the Bucks have a few prominent players (namely Giannis  Antetokounmpo) who can fill in at different positions, both offensively, and as  John Hammond recently stressed to me, even more importantly, defensively.  Vaughn, by most indications is a straight shooting guard. Of course, at just 18  years old, he could certainly develop into a combo guard, and he has always had  the ball in his hands a lot, but most projections slot him clearly at the two  for now.

6. He only played 23 games in college  for UNLV.

We are  working with a pretty small college sample size with Vaughn, who played 23  games for UNLV before missing the rest of the season with a knee injury. But  there are no lingering concerns about his knee following a strong series of  pre-draft workouts, and he still managed to win Freshman of the Year honors in  the Mountain West despite his abbreviated season.

7. He had a big (though very imperfect)  game in an upset win over Arizona.

‘Tis the  season to watch Draft Express videos, like this one, where they go into detail about his  game against the toughest opponent of his life (so far, and not for long).  Vaughn put up 21 points, five rebounds, and three assists in the win over the  Wildcats (a championship contender that came up just a bit short, as Wisconsin  fans may recall). He only turned the ball over twice, but it took him 21 shots  (9-21 from the field) to get the 21 points, as Arizona keyed on Vaughn  defensively (noted defensive specialist and fellow first round draft pick  Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who spent some time on Vaughn, fouled out of the  game). Drawing too much from one game is a very bad idea, and his role will  change vastly in the NBA, but if you are going to watch college highlights, this  one is worthwhile.

8. He is (and always has been) a  scorer.

Vaughn made  his name in high school foremost as a shot-maker and scorer. More of the same  at UNLV, where he was the second-leading freshman scorer in the country. As noted by Draft Express, he “averaged over  22 points per-40 minutes at the age of 18, which is something only 29 players  in the last 15 years of college basketball can boast.” Though he scored  slightly more points per minute as a freshman than Frank Kaminsky did as a  senior, Vaughn’s shooting efficiency numbers do not stack up so favorably. But  for an 18 year-old with a high usage, that 38.4 percent mark on threes is  encouraging, and you have to hope that specializing in his role (rather than  being the star of the team) in the NBA will bring up his efficiency.

9. He has an aesthetically-pleasing  jumper.

Some things  just look nice (see: video below).

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

10. He has lots of room (and time) for  improvement.

Vaughn is a naturally  gifted basketball player (almost no awkwardness in his game, by the first look)  who has been near the top of his age class for most of life. We are not talking  about a project here. But he might be the second-youngest player in the NBA  next season, so even if this works, it will take time. In particular, he must  improve his shot selection, passing, and defense (these are major things).  Based on the way players played for Jason Kidd last season though, that feels  possible.

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10 Things to Know about Rashad Vaughn

The Milwaukee Bucks tonight selected guard Rashad Vaughn with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. The team also acquired guard Greivis Vasquez from the Toronto Raptors in exchange for the draft rights to Norman Powell – the 46th overall pick in tonight’s draft – and a protected 2017 first round pick that originally belonged to the L.A. Clippers.

Vaughn, a 6-foot-6-inch guard out of UNLV, was named the Mountain West Conference’s Freshman of the Year, Honorable Mention All-League and Second Team NABC All-District 17 in 2014-15 after averaging a team-high 17.8 points, along with 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. He started all 23 games in which he played for the Rebels before suffering a season-ending knee injury, and at the time of the injury, his scoring average ranked second in the MWC and third in the nation among freshmen. Vaughn scored in double figures in 21 of his 23 games, including in each of his last 19 contests. He registered 20 or more points nine times and 30 or more two times. He scored a season-high 31 points vs. Utah State on Jan. 24, 2015, which tied the league’s freshman class single-game record for most points scored against a conference opponent. As a high school senior out of Findlay College Prep (Henderson, Nev.), Vaughn was a McDonald’s All-American and played in the Jordan Brand Classic.

Vasquez joins the Bucks after averaging 9.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in a career-high 82 games (28 starts) for the Toronto Raptors in 2014-15. Last season, he hit a single-season career-high 133 3-pointers, which is 24 more than his previous best for a season, while connecting on a career-best 37.9 percent of his attempts from three. The 6-foot-6-inch guard owns career averages of 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists over 375 games (157 starts) in five seasons with Memphis, New Orleans, Sacramento and Toronto. His best statistical season came in 2012-13 when he averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 9.0 assists in 78 games (78 starts) for New Orleans. His 704 total assists that year ranked first in the NBA, and his assists average of 9.0 ranked third in the league. Vasquez earned his only Player of the Week honor when he was awarded the accolade for the Western Conference for the week of Dec. 30, 2012.

The Venezuelan-born player was selected with the 28th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. He is the first of his nationality to be drafted into the NBA, and only the third Venezuelan citizen to ever play in the NBA. Vasquez attended Maryland and played four years for the Terrapins. In 2010, he earned the Sportsman of the Year Award from the Greater Washington Sports Alliance.

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Bucks Acquire Greivis Vasquez

Milwaukee Bucks

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Welcome to Milwaukee Greivis Vásquez

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Bucks Select Rashad Vaughn #17

In the  hallway the other day (not the Bucks hallway, by the way), in passing, a  colleague of mine asked me who the Bucks were going to pick in the draft.  Reflexively, I gave a “Bobby Portis”. I said it with an inflection that  suggested that this person should have known. (I have no idea.) But some (even  many) writers have decided that they think the Bucks will select Portis. Or  they have no idea, but they saw that other people picked Portis to go to the  Bucks, so then they went that way.

What I am partly  saying is, you should probably watch the draft. Ten different players appeared  at #17 in the 25 mock drafts surveyed on the eve of Draft Night. Portis is the  trendiest pick, while Trey Lyles appeared out of nowhere from last week to become the second-most popular  choice.

Here is the  latest: Bobby Portis (8), Kevon Looney (4), Trey Lyles (4), Montrezl Harrell  (2), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (2), R.J. Hunter (1), Frank Kaminsky (1), Kelly  Oubre (1), Cameron Payne (1), Rashad Vaughn (1).

Bobby Portis – PF –  Arkansas – 20 years old – 6-11 – 246lbs

Frank Kaminsky – PF –  Wisconsin – 22 years old – 7-1 – 231lbs

CAMERON PAYNE – PG – MURRAY STATE – 20 YEARS OLD – 6-2 – 183LBS

Bobby Portis – PF – Arkansas – 20 years old – 6-11 – 246lbs

SportsIllustrated.com | June 23 via Chris Mannix

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson – SF – Arizona –   20 years old – 6-7 – 211

Kevon Looney – PF –  UCLA – 19 years old – 6-9 – 222lbs

SBNation.com | June 22 via Kevin O’Connor

Kevon Looney – PF – UCLA  – 19 years old – 6-9 – 222lbs

Rashad Vaughn – SG –  UNLV – 18 years old – 6-5 – 199lbs

Montrezl Harrell – PF  – Louisville – 21 years old – 6-8 – 253lbs

Trey Lyles – PF –  Kentucky 19 years old – 6-10 – 241lbs

Kevon Looney – PF – UCLA – 19 years old  – 6-9 – 222lbs

R.J. Hunter – SG –  Georgia State –21 years old – 6-6 – 185lbs

Rondae  Hollis-Jefferson – SF – Arizona –  20  years old – 6-7 – 211lbs

BasketballInsiders.com | June 24 via Steve Kyler

BasketballInsiders.com | June 24 via Alex Kennedy

BasketballInsiders.com | June 24 via Joel Brigham

SportingNews.com | June 23 via Sean Deveney

HuffingtonPost.com | June 23 via Jordan Schultz

HuffingtonPost.com | June 22 via Jonathan Wasserman

Kelly Oubre – SF –  Kansas – 19 years old – 6-7 – 203lbs

FOXSports.com | June 24 via Reid Forgrave