With the 17th Pick in the NBA Draft the Milwaukee Bucks Select D.J. Wilson
With the 17th Pick in the NBA Draft the Milwaukee Bucks Select D.J. Wilson
The 1st round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft for the Bucks is Michigan's D.J. Wilson.
The 1st round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft for the Bucks is Michigan's D.J. Wilson.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected D.J. Wilson, a 6'9" 220 lb forward from the University of Michigan. The 21-year-old played 3 seasons for the Wolverines, however, his first 2 years saw him play less than 30 games (5 and 26 respectively).
Watching D.J. Wilson, you can see he knows how to get open by moving without the ball. He is a good shooter for a power forward (53.8% FG, 37.3% 3PT), and watching highlights you can see his ability to dunk through contact. He is also quick on the court, so he can get in defensive positioning quickly.
His main weakness seems to be his lack of play. He played just 31 games his first 2 years in college, and then made the jump to 38 total games in his junior (and final) year at Michigan. He seems to shy away from contact, which is usually a mental thing that can be worked on. Whether it's on the Wisconsin Herd G-League team or limited minutes with the Bucks, we should see D.J. Wilson improve over time. He is 21, so don't expect him to develop brand new aspects to his game. The thing for someone at that age now is to play to their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. If D.J. can work on the mental part of the game, he can become a solid player for the Bucks.
In his junior year, Wilson averaged 11.0 PPG on 53.8% shooting from the field (37.3% from 3). He averaged 5.3 RPG as well. His free throw percentage is a solid 83.3%, so should we find ourselves in a situation where we need to hit free throws in a playoff elimination game (I'm describing it like it's happened before) he can be reliable. Like I said before, the biggest thing for D.J. is to get playing time. Unless he absolutely shines in the Summer League, I would like to see Wilson on the Wisconsin Herd for a little while so he can get used to the NBA game and rules. Once he gets acclimated to those things, we can see where he fits on the Bucks.
Since the pick was confirmed I have seen a question come up on social media: What does this mean for Jabari Parker? I don't believe Milwaukee picking Wilson says anything about Jabari. Had the Bucks traded up to get a power forward, then you could question Jabari's status here. If anything this says more about Michael Beasley or Mirza Teletovic. Teletovic underachieved (that's an understatement) this year and the Bucks could look to move him, even if they don't get much in return.
Time will tell whether or not this was a good pick. Wilson, like every rookie, has his strengths and weaknesses. If he can make himself better by working on the mental part of the game, Wilson has a lot of upside.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected D.J. Wilson, a 6'9" 220 lb forward from the University of Michigan. The 21-year-old played 3 seasons for the Wolverines, however, his first 2 years saw him play less than 30 games (5 and 26 respectively).
Watching D.J. Wilson, you can see he knows how to get open by moving without the ball. He is a good shooter for a power forward (53.8% FG, 37.3% 3PT), and watching highlights you can see his ability to dunk through contact. He is also quick on the court, so he can get in defensive positioning quickly.
His main weakness seems to be his lack of play. He played just 31 games his first 2 years in college, and then made the jump to 38 total games in his junior (and final) year at Michigan. He seems to shy away from contact, which is usually a mental thing that can be worked on. Whether it's on the Wisconsin Herd G-League team or limited minutes with the Bucks, we should see D.J. Wilson improve over time. He is 21, so don't expect him to develop brand new aspects to his game. The thing for someone at that age now is to play to their strengths and improve on their weaknesses. If D.J. can work on the mental part of the game, he can become a solid player for the Bucks.
In his junior year, Wilson averaged 11.0 PPG on 53.8% shooting from the field (37.3% from 3). He averaged 5.3 RPG as well. His free throw percentage is a solid 83.3%, so should we find ourselves in a situation where we need to hit free throws in a playoff elimination game (I'm describing it like it's happened before) he can be reliable. Like I said before, the biggest thing for D.J. is to get playing time. Unless he absolutely shines in the Summer League, I would like to see Wilson on the Wisconsin Herd for a little while so he can get used to the NBA game and rules. Once he gets acclimated to those things, we can see where he fits on the Bucks.
Since the pick was confirmed I have seen a question come up on social media: What does this mean for Jabari Parker? I don't believe Milwaukee picking Wilson says anything about Jabari. Had the Bucks traded up to get a power forward, then you could question Jabari's status here. If anything this says more about Michael Beasley or Mirza Teletovic. Teletovic underachieved (that's an understatement) this year and the Bucks could look to move him, even if they don't get much in return.
Time will tell whether or not this was a good pick. Wilson, like every rookie, has his strengths and weaknesses. If he can make himself better by working on the mental part of the game, Wilson has a lot of upside.