Why don’t the Milwaukee Bucks have a 1st-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft?

Without a first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft, the Bucks need to find clever ways to improve their roster this offseason.

Despite a regular-season romp to the #1 seed in the league, the Milwaukee Bucks are fresh off another disappointing playoff exit at the hands of the Miami Heat. Milwaukee had the oldest roster in the league last season (they were the only team with an average age greater than 30), and without a first-round pick or much financial flexibility, the Bucks will need to get creative to improve the roster.

Why don’t the Milwaukee Bucks have a first-round pick?

The Bucks emptied their draft capital in the early 2020s to build a contender around Giannis Antetokounmpo. They paid a heavy price… but it worked, as their shiny 2021 championship rings can attest.

That spring, right before the trade deadline, the Bucks sent out their 2023 first-round pick (and a bevy of players) for PJ Tucker, Rodions Kurucs, and their 2022 first-round pick. Milwaukee then used the 2022 pick to select MarJon Beauchamp.

It’s hard to argue with the results. Tucker played an enormous role for the Bucks during their title run, including guarding the incandescent Kevin Durant in an epic seven-game battle against the Brooklyn Nets in the second round. Tucker proved to be the perfect fit in Milwaukee. He spaced the floor from the corners for Giannis on offense, attacked the offensive glass, and even played small-ball center.

Tucker played the fourth-most minutes on the team in Milwaukee’s comeback against Phoenix in the NBA Finals, proving his worth on the biggest stage. But Milwaukee owner Marc Lasry balked at paying a massive luxury tax bill to retain Tucker, and he left in the offseason to join the Heat for the 2021-22 season.

The Bucks do have the last selection of the second round in 2023, No. 58 overall (two teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls, forfeited their second-round picks due to tampering), so they’ll be making at least one pick during the NBA draft, barring more trades.

The Bucks’ future draft capital is meager

Thanks to the Jrue Holiday deal, the Bucks owe the New Orleans Pelicans first-round swaps in 2024 and 2026, and they’ll give NO their picks outright in 2025 and 2027. They do not currently have second-round picks in 2025, 2026, 2028, and 2029.

Brook Lopez is an unrestricted free agent and Khris Middleton holds an expensive player option for this season. So there could be a lot of change for a Milwaukee squad that struggled, again, to make pivotal postseason adjustments.

It’s hardly all doom-and-gloom for Bucks fans, however.

New coach Adrian Griffin was the first card to be played, and he’ll hope to have a galvanizing effect on the discouraged squad. Despite Milwaukee’s age, they still looked like the championship favorites at the beginning of the playoffs, and there’s no reason to think they can’t replicate that success in the 2023-24 season. With Antetokounmpo still in the fold, the Bucks’ title window remains wide open.

Additionally, draft picks for contenders are largely overvalued; picks in the high-20s rarely turn into starter-caliber players. (Beauchamp was never given much of a chance to make an impression; the Bucks hope he can become a rotation-worthy player as soon as this coming season.)

Although Milwaukee’s outlook in the late-2020s may be grim, when the lack of youth might catch up to them, it’s hard to feel too bad for a team that will vie for the crown yet again next year.

Check out The Step Back for more news, analysis, opinion and unique basketball coverage. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and subscribe to our daily email newsletter, The Whiteboard.