The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

After the Richard Jefferson trade, I thought for sure that it meant the Bucks would go in a different direction than Joe Alexander. I was hoping that Kevin Love would slip all the way to 8, and when Jerryd Bayless turned out to be the player to slide, I thought that would be the direction the Bucks would turn.

But now … small forward has become a glut, and suddenly we really need a power forward.

When it’s all said and done, Alexander should turn out to be a good pick. Players like Bayless and Anthony Randolph will slide for one reason — because teams think there is either something wrong with their heads (not a question about either Bayless or Randolph) or their games. My guess is that the Bucks never even had Bayless in for a workout in the first place (since he was supposed to go either #4 or #6). So when the RJ/Yi trade came down the pipe, the Bucks weren’t ready to look in another direction.

Here’s my thoughts about Alexander. He doesn’t grade out all that well in my draft rankings, but the optimist would point out that his numbers improved dramatically as the season went along. He graded out as one of the best athletes and strongest players at the NBA predraft camp. In interviews he sounds like a believer in making himself the best player he can be and in (channeling Larry Brown) playing the “right” way. Scott Skiles and Andrew Bogut should love playing with him.

I’ve said before that when assessing small forwards, I like to think of the answer to: “What would happen if he has to guard LeBron James for a whole game?” Since the best athletes play small forward, in order to be a good one you have to be able to stick the best athletes.

Obviously, you can’t stop LeBron. But would he make you look bad or would he make you look laughably bad?

I can see Alexander, with his combination of size and strength, being able to at least make LeBron work hard. Compare that to Yi — LeBron would score 100 on him.

I hope the Bucks aren’t thinking that Alexander will eventually become a power forward, because that would waste his open-court skills.

Alexander will be 22 years old, so while he may not necessarily have the ceiling to become a star, that may not be a bad thing at all. The Bucks have two cornerstone type of players in Bogut and Redd, so maybe a career dirty-work role player is what they are really looking for here.

I am not excited in the least about Luc Richard Mbah a Moute in the second round. Not at all. His numbers were very poor — a 0.57 IPM is simply pathetic. He’s supposed to be a defensive specialist, but he’s going to have to play small forward at the NBA level, as he only measured out at 6′5 3/4 without shoes at the predraft camp. He is shorter and lighter than Joe Alexander … and he’s going to have to change positions after playing power forward in college.

On the bright side, he is actually a prince in his village in Cameroon, so at least we can say we got Prince Akeem from “Coming to America”.

Oh, and about Richard Hendrix — he is taller than Mbah a Moute and was exactly twice as productive last season. And Hendrix doesn’t play the same position as your first round pick or the guy you just traded for. Unbelieveable.

If you really wanted to draft for defense and didn’t want Hendrix, then why not take Kyle Weaver, who went with the very next pick? For a guy who supposedly is only good for defense, Weaver was efficient enought offensively to rank as my #11 prospect. I see Weaver as a player who has a good chance to become a taller Charlie Bell (but the 04-07 version, not last seasons).

I can’t believe that I’m going to bed tonight angry that the Bucks blew their second round draft pick. What’s wrong with me?