Who should the Bucks target with the 10th pick in the NBA Draft?
For the first time in a decade, the Milwaukee Bucks have the rights to a lottery pick.
As with everything this offseason, though, the organization needs to decide what to do with two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo before knowing how to use the 10th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. If co-owner Jimmy Haslam’s self-imposed deadline is to be believed, the Bucks will answer that question — Will they keep Antetokounmpo or trade him? — before the draft gets underway on June 23.
No matter what they decide, though, the Bucks will need to be ready for the draft. And no one knows the draft better than The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie. So I asked Sam to join me to help Milwaukee fans get a better understanding of this year’s draft and who the Bucks might consider at No. 10.
Nehm: I know you’ll reveal what tiers you see these players on when your draft guide comes out, but in my opinion, two tiers should matter to the Bucks at No. 10.
The first tier is made up of Duke’s Cameron Boozer, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darren Peterson and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson. Those are the four players (listed in alphabetical order) who won’t be available to the Bucks because they will be the top four picks. The second tier features Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr., Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr., Arizona’s Brayden Burries, Houston’s Kingston Flemings and Illinois’ Keaton Wagler. From my understanding of this draft, those guards — because of their age, potential, skill and talent — are the next five best prospects.
Once you get past those two groups, it gets a little murkier.
Do you agree with that assessment? And while it is certainly possible that other players might hop above that group because of the preferences or evaluations of other teams, do you think the Bucks should just take one of those guards if they fall to No. 10?
Vecenie: I would throw Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg into that tier with the guards, but from a general standpoint, that would be accurate. Some teams might throw Michigan center Aday Mara in there. Some teams might throw Washington’s Hannes Steinbach or another Wolverine, Morez Johnson Jr., in there depending on what they need. Tennessee’s Nate Ament is a polarizing prospect who some teams would include in that window of players. But the guards are the players that teams largely agree on regarding this draft.
And, yes, I think the Bucks should certainly take Wagler, Acuff, Brown or Flemings if any of them fall to No. 10. Burries is a slightly more complicated conversation, because part of what makes his game so special is how complementary he is to playing next to great players. If Milwaukee moves on from Antetokounmpo, it might make less sense to go with Burries, but I think I would probably still take him anyway.
Nehm: Do you feel like any one of those five guards would fit best in Milwaukee or be a best-case scenario for the Bucks to get at No. 10?
Vecenie: I rank Acuff first, followed by Wagler, Flemings, Burries and then Brown. For the Bucks, I would probably flip Brown and Burries, but keep the order the same.
I don’t think there is much of a chance of Acuff getting to No. 10. He’s an offensive driver who is about as polished a lead guard as I have seen at his age in terms of his shooting, footwork, passing out of ball screens and ability to find his shot. I also would be fairly stunned to see Wagler there. He just led the No. 1 offense in the country to the Final Four as a 6-foot-5 lead guard who is an elite ball-screen playmaker with tremendous feel for the game and elite shooting ability off stepbacks. There are many reasons to be excited about him.
Among the other three, I like Flemings best, because I think he’s the best athlete and decision-maker of the group. Flemings plays fast while making rapid, on-the-fly choices and also has a strong center of gravity with strength. The jumper looks funky, but he’s a terrific midrange shooter and knocked down his 3s even if they didn’t come in bunches this season. He’s also regarded as an extremely thoughtful player who is mature and a hard worker.
You can make the case that Brown has the highest ceiling of everyone if it comes together, but I do worry about his lack of strength, which holds him back from scoring within 15 feet of the rim right now. His lack of a floater game or interior finishing ability is a massive area he has to work on; otherwise, he might be resigned to taking too many difficult shots. His defense is also a significant work in progress.
Nehm: Watching the guards on the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals makes me feel like you’d better be at least 6-foot-4 and strong if you want to play high-level playoff basketball. Most of these guards don’t fit that criteria. How much concern do you have about the size of the players in that group, and does it stand out as a huge issue for any of them?
Vecenie: To me, basketball is a game of tradeoffs. Your strengths need to outweigh your weaknesses. Draymond Green’s shooting is less of a problem in the playoffs because he’s arguably the best postseason defender of his generation. On the other side, Jalen Brunson’s defense can be worked around because he’s outscoring you on the offensive end. The key is that what you’re good at needs to be better than what you’re bad at.
You can play in the playoffs if you can do four of these five things well: dribble, pass, shoot, defend and think. If you can handle the ball, make good decisions with it and take advantage of what defenses give you in rotation as a passer, knock down shots, defend in some way, shape or form and make rapid choices faster than other players on the court, you can make it work. That’s why Jose Alvarado has been useful for the Knicks in the playoffs. He can do those five things well, even if his size puts him at a disadvantage. And the same goes for someone like Jared McCain, who is strong but undersized. He’s not a monster defender, but he can dribble, pass, shoot and think.
So all of that is to say, can a player’s strengths outweigh his weaknesses — and can you surround him with players who allow that to happen?
In Acuff’s case, there is an excellent chance he is such an overwhelming offensive player that it works despite his poor defense — and he’s at least strong enough to hold his line when he locks in. Flemings is strong and gives a lot of effort on defense even if the results are mixed. Burries is a terrific two-way player. Wagler is incredibly smart and did a fine job with his off-ball defense when scrambling and in rotation this season, even if he was too skinny to wall up on defense. Brown is the one whom I have the most concerns about if his decision-making doesn’t get ironed out — he’s too much of a home-run hitter who doesn’t take the singles right now — but there’s also a chance his upside offensively makes him worth the pick.
Nehm: Let’s move past those first nine players. In your mock draft on June 8, you reported that the Bucks have interest in Steinbach, the big man from Washington. What do Bucks fans need to know about him?
Vecenie: Steinbach is a massive human who is skilled and coordinated for his size. His hands are elite — he catches just about everything in and around his radius, and that allows him to be incredibly productive. As a freshman this year, he averaged 18.5 points and 11.8 rebounds per game despite playing for a Washington team whose guards were about as poor at getting him the ball in advantageous situations as I can remember for a lottery prospect.
Don’t sleep on the jumper, either. He hit 34 percent from 3 while taking about two attempts per game. I don’t trust him as a shooter right now, but I think there’s a chance he can be a shooter from the corners in a few years.
The key for him is going to be on the defensive end. He’s not a monster rim protector at the five, and I’d love to see him continue to improve in that respect. Additionally, he’s a better mover than you think on the perimeter, but he’s not good enough to guard fours, fight through screens and deal with switches all the time. Essentially, he might be a bit caught between those two roles.
I have him as a clear lottery pick and think it would be reasonable to select him at No. 10, even if it wouldn’t be the highest-upside swing. He’s definitely going to play in the NBA for a decade-plus; it’s just whether he’ll be a difference-maker.
Nehm: As long as I have covered the NBA, I have obsessed over the need for teams to get quality wings. From my perspective as an NBA draft novice though, it doesn’t really seem like there are a lot of wings that would make sense for the Bucks with the 10th pick. Am I misinterpreting that or what do you think of wings that might be available at that spot?
Vecenie: Well, I think the crop of wings in this class is pretty rough. Among the players I’ve assigned first-round grades (I have 25 of those this season), I only have 10 wings or forwards, and that includes guys like Wilson and Boozer, who I think will be better off playing the four as opposed to being a true wing. If we limit things to the wings, I only have three in this class.
The two that stand out in the range just below the Bucks are Baylor’s Cameron Carr and Texas’ Dailyn Swain. They’re almost polar opposites. Carr is skinny and struggles to gain any ground as a ballhandler in half-court settings because it’s hard for him to leverage his opponents. He has high hips. But on the plus side, he’s an awesome shooter with a plus-nine wingspan and is a seriously explosive athlete. His defensive game must improve, but with how valuable shooting is, he’ll go somewhere in the top 20.
Swain is more interesting as an upside swing; he’s a 6-foot-6 wing who can pressure the rim and handle the ball. His handle is loose but under control, and he plays with some sudden slinkiness that allows him to get into the paint regularly to score. The issue for Swain is that his jumper is not good right now, and he has some maddening defensive lapses off the ball despite terrific length and steal production. I have Swain ranked higher than Carr because I think the ceiling is slightly higher thanks to his ability to get to the rim, play with bend and absorb contact. But Swain is far from a finished product and will need to improve to play regular minutes as a rookie.
I also have Tennessee’s Nate Ament in this range. Ament can handle the ball and was an interesting shooter in high school, but he has high hips that don’t allow him to play as physically as you’d like as a driver. If his frame develops and he gets much stronger, you could see a world where he can dribble, pass and shoot at nearly 6-foot-10. But it will take time before he’s ready for NBA minutes as a difference-maker.