When John Hammond and Jeff Weltma travel to Secaucus, N.J. for Tuesday night's NBA Draft Lottery, it'll virtually be an exercise in futility.
Hammond, the Bucks’ general manager, and Weltman, the team’s assistant GM, realize as well as anyone that the odds of the Bucks moving up from their current 10th position in the draft are slim to none.
Just how slim?
How about a miniscule one percent?
The odds of getting the No. 2 or No. 3 picks aren’t good, either. They’re 1.19 and 1.43 percent, respectively.
So, Hammond’s and Weltman’s jaunt to the East Coast figures to be a waste of time. Of course, there’s also a perception that having a second-round to the draft is a waste of time, too..
After all, most second-round draft choices don’t even make the roster.
Yet, the Bucks have done an amazing job of unearthing not only roster players with their second-round picks but eventual starters and even a star.
Last year, the Bucks chose Luc Mbah a Moute in the second round. He went on become a part-time starter and is already one of the best defenders in the game.
In previous years, then GM Larry Harris and his right-hand man, Dave Babcock, who is still the team’s player personnel director, struck gold with several second-round selections.
One of those was Ramon Sessions, who is now the Bucks’ starting point guard.
Another was Rafer Alston, now the starting point guard for the Orlando Magic, who are now in the Eastern Conference finals.
Another Bucks' second-round pick, forward Ersan Ilyasova, played well in Spain this seasonand led FC Barcelona to the Euroleague Final Four.
There is a reasonably good chance Ilyasova will be on the Bucks’ roster next season and could wind up as the team’s starting power forward.
Of course, the Bucks’ best second-round pick was shooting guard Michael Redd, one of the NBA’s high-octane scores who became an All-Star.
Hammond and Co. will get a better handle on this year’s potential second-round picks this week.
Starting Wednesday, the Bucks will audition around a dozen second-round prospects.
While Buck officials haven’t released the names of those players, a little snooping revealed the following players will be in attendance:
- Shooting guard Wesley Matthews of Marquette. (An unselfish, team-oriented player who made a favorable impression on NBA personnel by playing solidly at last month’s Portsmouth Invitational Tournament).
- Small forward Marcus Landry of Wisconsin. (An undersized but heady power forward. His brother, Carl, was a key contributor off the bench for the Houston Rockets this season).
- Point guard Dominic James of Marquette (Caught the attention of NBA scouts with a dynamic freshman season but then saw his game inexplicably slip the next three seasons).
- Guard Lester Hudson of Tennessee-Martin (High-volume scorer. Averaged 27.5 points a game last season. He had 33 points, 12 points and seven rebounds against Auburn in first round of NIT).
- Forward-guard Joe Ingles of the South Dragons in Melbourne, Australia (A versatile swingman who was a teammate of Bucks center Andrew Bogut on the Australian Olympic team last summer).
- Point guard A.J. Abrams of Texas (Quality perimeter shooter who was Longhorns’ leading scorer last season at 16.6 points a game).
- Point guard Jack McClinton of Miami, Fla. (Exceptional 3-point shooter and big-time scorer: To wit: McClinton lit up national champion North Carolina for 35 points and scorched Duke for 34 points).
- Forward Luke Harangody of Notre Dame (He posted a double-double of 23.3 points and 11.8 rebounds this season and raised eyebrows with a scintillating 32-point, 17-rebound performance against Louisville).
- Point guard Jeremy Pargo of Gonzaga (The younger brother of Chicago Bulls guard Jannero Pargo has a nice all-around game).
- Forward DeMarre Carroll of Missouri (Almost had double-double in an NCAA Tournament victory over Marquette, finishing with 15 points and eight rebounds).
Additionally, the Bucks have shown more than a passing interest in shooting guard Jerel McNeal of Marquette, shooting guard Jermaine Taylor of Central Florida, shooting guard Greivis Vasquez of Maryland, small forward Tasmin Mitchell of Louisiana State and forward Jeff Pendergraph of Arizona State.
All are expected to work out for the Bucks next month.
* The NBA has invited 52 players to Chicasgo for its annual draft combine. It is expected the vast majority of the players extended invitations to Chicago will be drafted.
The combine is set for May 28-29.
The only player with Wisconsin ties invited was McNeal.
* The Draft Lottery will begin at 7:30 p.m. It will be televised on ESPN.
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