Scripting the perfect 2026 NBA Draft for the Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks have officially entered the post-Giannis Antetokounmpo era, or at least will do so in July when his trade to the Miami Heat becomes official. Ensuring this next chapter isn't a tough read will require Bucks general manager Jon Horst nailing at least one and ideally both of the Bucks' lottery selections in the 2026 NBA Draft - a scary proposition for Bucks fans.

Given the importance of this draft to the Bucks, the age old question comes up: should Milwaukee consider fit when picking at 10 and 13 overall, or simply take the best players available? Generally most analysts feel BPA (best player available) is almost always the correct call. I think of the debate as a sliding scale wherein it's more reasonable to take a somewhat lesser player who fits better the closer your roster is to championship contention.

The Bucks roster post-Giannis trade is not close to championship contention. So Horst and the Bucks front office should take the best available players, right? Well, to an extent. The fit that really matters for Milwaukee has more to do with the two selections than the rest of the roster.

There is no one player on the Bucks roster who merits shaping a draft strategy around. Ryan Rollins had an extremely promising season and is still just 23 years old, but also only has one guaranteed season left on his contract. New Bucks Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. also could hit the open market after the season (although Jaquez Jr. will be a restricted free agent at least). Kel'el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis are good prospects, but neither special enough to turn down a potentially transformational player in a promising lottery.

The Bucks' most loaded position currently is either center (with Myles Turner still around, Ware acquired, and Jericho Sims holding a player option to return next year if he chooses) or guard, with Herro, Rollins, Jakucionis, plus Kevin Porter Jr. and Gary Trent Jr. both holding their own player options.

In a vacuum, that shouldn't matter and the Bucks should take a center if they feel the best prospect available at 10 or 13 a big man. But NBA teams do not draft in vacuums, and we don't have to discuss the 2026 draft in theoretical terms. It's a guard-heavy class somewhat light on wing players and big men around the late lottery range when Milwaukee is picking.

I don't see a real case for Aday Mara or Jayden Quaintance to be a tier above the guards and wings who should be available when the Bucks are on the clock, and thus wouldn't want Milwaukee to select either of them. It's not that Ware and Turner preclude any center from making sense for the Bucks, but moreso that none of the available centers are intriguing enough to make the fit of the roster worse pending future trades.

On the other end of the positional spectrum, I really hope the Bucks do walk away from Tuesday night with a talented guard as one of their two picks. The Bucks could enter the season with their current crop of guards and field the position just fine, but any of Darius Acuff Jr., Kingston Flemings, Keaton Wagler, Labaron Philon Jr., Mikel Brown Jr., or Brayden Burries would be a good swing for Milwaukee to take a player who can fit with most of their existing guards and also have longer runways in Milwaukee than any of them.

The wing position is still mostly open in Milwaukee and thus clearly any good wing prospects available both satisfy BPA and fit principles. Unfortunately this just isn't a great wing class outside of the top four picks. Yaxel Lendeborg is extremely polished but that's because he's already 23 years old himself and seemingly more of a complementary piece than a foundational one in the NBA.

I'm lower than consensus on Nate Ament, who may be picked before the Bucks are first on the board anyway, but would welcome a swing on Cameron Carr, Hannes Steinbach (almost a center, but could pair nicely with Ware as a big frontcourt), Dailyn Swain, or Morez Johnson Jr. for Milwaukee's second pick.

The closer we get and the more Ament at 10 buzz I hear the more I continue to wonder what exactly about Jon Horst and this front office’s drafting record leaves ownership confident in them making the most important Bucks pick(s) since 2014 next week.
— Ti Windisch (@TiWindisch) June 18, 2026

Given my unabashed love for Labaron Philon as a prospect, my ideal draft would be the Bucks coming away with Philon at 10 and really any of Carr, Steinbach, or Swain at 13. Johnson Jr. is a fast riser in the draft cycle but I'm a little higher on the other three forward prospects.

It's not necessarily Philon or bust for me, as much as I like him. Milwaukee getting one of the talented lead guards and a forward to match definitely works -- Mikel Brown Jr. and Steinbach or Kingston Flemings and Carr would be exciting too.

Grabbing a guard and forward combo to fill out the roster and form a new Bucks core is the ideal draft outcome in my opinion. Those rookies could slide in both with the existing roster in Milwaukee and pair well together, setting up a new core to build back toward playoff contention.

As much as the Bucks have signaled they're rebuilding under culture builder coach Taylor Jenkins by taking the Heat offer, the Bucks won't have a first round pick at all in 2027 or 2029 and don't control their own pick in 2028 or 2030. While reaching for the best players still matters, it behooves the Bucks to have a real team in place right away to build winning habits and better develop those prospects, with no benefit awaiting them for being a terrible team.

Milwaukee shouldn't worry too much about veteran pieces like Tyler Herro or Myles Turner, but ensuring their young players can thrive together does matter heading into the biggest Bucks draft day in over a decade.

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