NBA Draft: Every team’s least popular pick ever

Milwaukee Bucks – Robert Traylor (1998)

If we’re being fair, it was the Dallas Mavericks that officially selected Robert Traylor out of Michigan with the No. 6 pick in the 1998 NBA Draft. However, he was promptly traded to the Milwaukee Bucks who wanted the big man and essentially moved up from No. 9 with the trade to get Traylor. So by all technicalities, the Bucks really took Traylor in the draft. Of course, that only makes them look worse considering the player that they sent to the Mavericks that was taken with the No. 9 pick was a young German by the name of Dirk Nowitzki.

While Dirk is a no-doubt Hall-of-Famer, an NBA Champion, and an absolutely beloved player in this league, Traylor never amounted to much in regards to his NBA career. The bulky big man played only 93 games over two seasons with the Bucks and averaged a meager 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game over that time. It was clear quite early on that his future in the NBA was limited as he bounced around before not returning to the NBA after the 2004-05 season.

Traylor sadly passed away of a heart attack while playing professionally internationally back in 2011. While he died far too young and his death is a tragedy, it’s still inescapable that who he was traded for and what he did for the Bucks doesn’t exactly make Traylor a popular pick in Milwaukee.

Next: Minnesota Timberwolves