{"id":889257,"date":"2026-06-24T10:31:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/889257\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:31:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:31:12","slug":"bucks-begin-post-giannis-era-by-taking-burries-and-ament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/889257\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucks begin post-Giannis era by taking Burries and Ament"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chicago Bulls tried to strike gold in North Carolina again and the Milwaukee Bucks started their post-Giannis Antetokounmpo era in the first round of the\u00a0NBA draft<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Both the Bulls and Bucks had two top-15 picks Tuesday to highlight the first night of the draft in the Central Division. That represented a major change from last year, when the only Central team with a first-round pick was Chicago, which\u00a0took Noa Essengue<\/a>\u00a0at No. 12 overall.<\/p>\n

Chicago selected North Carolina forward\u00a0Caleb Wilson<\/a>\u00a0with the fourth overall pick and took Texas forward Dailyn Swain at No. 15. Milwaukee took Arizona guard Brayden Burries at No. 10 and Tennessee forward Nate Ament at No. 13. The other Central team to add a player Tuesday was Detroit, which traded for Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie after he went 17th.<\/p>\n

Wilson becomes the third North Carolina player the Bulls have drafted in the first round. The Bulls selected Michael Jordan third overall in 1984 and Coby White seventh in 2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always going to do whatever it takes to get better,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI want to be the greatest player of all time, man. Y\u2019all got one of the GOATs in y\u2019all\u2019s history right now. So it\u2019s time for another one. I\u2019m hungry. I\u2019m hungry to be the greatest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson\u2019s lone college season ended prematurely when he broke his right thumb in a non-contact drill while trying to come back from a fracture in his left hand. He still earned second-team\u00a0Associated Press All-America<\/a>\u00a0honors while averaging 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel great, better than ever,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBeen working on my hand strength, so I\u2019ll never have to go through something like that again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bucks had much at stake as they began to\u00a0rebuild their roster<\/a>\u00a0a night after news broke that they were\u00a0trading Antetokounmpo<\/a>\u00a0to the Miami Heat. Burries said he didn\u2019t feel any extra burden from heading to Milwaukee just as the Bucks adapt to life without the two-time MVP forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s pressure,\u201d Burries said. \u201cI\u2019d say I\u2019m just going to go there and be me and try to be the best version of myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burries, a 6-foot-4 guard, had 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game while shooting 39.4% from 3-point range his lone season at Arizona to help the Wildcats reach the\u00a0Final Four.<\/a>\u00a0The Bucks took Ament with the extra first-round pick they got in the Antetokounmpo trade. He averaged 16.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists as a Tennessee freshman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are big shoes to fill over there in Milwaukee, and I think that it\u2019s just a tremendous opportunity for me and Brayden,\u201d Ament said. \u201cIf anything, I see it as an opportunity and not pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ament often was linked to Milwaukee in mock drafts, perhaps in part due to Bucks co-owner Jimmy Haslam\u2019s Tennessee ties. Haslam is a Tennessee alum who announced this month he is\u00a0donating $130 million<\/a>\u00a0to the school.<\/p>\n

Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n

Needs: The Bucks could use help everywhere as they retool their roster without Antetokounmpo. Losing Antetokounmpo and forward Bobby Portis, who also is headed to Miami, makes the frontcourt the biggest concern.<\/p>\n

Who they drafted: Burries\u2019 all-around game made him a safe pick at No. 10. He could be a reliable part of Milwaukee\u2019s backcourt for years to come. Ament will need to develop strength, but he has a high upside.<\/p>\n

NBA comparison: Burries has drawn comparisons to Derrick White, a well-rounded performer who can play either guard spot. Auburn coach Steven Pearl\u00a0has compared<\/a>\u00a0Ament to Jabari Smith Jr., a former Auburn star.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n

Needs: Size, along with help in the backcourt. The Bulls acquired 6-foot-11 center\u00a0Nic Claxton<\/a>\u00a0as part of a three-team trade in the run-up to the draft, but more size is needed after the team struggled defensively last season.<\/p>\n

Who they drafted: Wilson upgrades Chicago\u2019s overall athleticism. When\u00a0Bryson Graham<\/a>\u00a0was introduced as the team\u2019s executive vice president of basketball operations in May, he mentioned the acronym SLAP \u2014 size, length, athleticism, physicality \u2014 and the 6-9 Wilson fits right in. The 6-7 Swain averaged 17.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists last season with Texas.<\/p>\n

NBA comparisons: Wilson has been compared to Chris Bosh and Kevin Garnett, but a more likely possibility is Indiana\u2019s Pascal Siakam, albeit with more athleticism. Swain\u2019s NBA comps include Herb Jones, Kelly Oubre Jr., and Naji Marshall.<\/p>\n

Cleveland Cavaliers<\/p>\n

Needs: Cleveland has an abundance of guards, but they still need some depth in the front court or a center who can shoot from the perimeter when the Cavaliers want to play five-out on offense. A rookie contract would also help the franchise\u2019s bloated salary cap, with Donovan Mitchell due for an extension and James Harden on a player option.<\/p>\n

Who they drafted: The Cavaliers took UConn forward Alex Karaban at No. 29, but they were trading him to Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Detroit Pistons<\/p>\n

Needs: Outside shooters and ball-handlers. Detroit\u2019s weaknesses were exposed in the playoffs, putting them on the brink of elimination in the first round as a top-seeded team and leading to their\u00a0second-round exit.<\/a><\/p>\n

Who they drafted: Okorie was drafted at No. 17 and acquired in a trade.<\/p>\n

NBA comparison: Okorie draws comparisons to Dennis Schr\u00f6der, who has been a solid NBA player for more than a decade. The 6-1, 186-pound combo guard can create his own offense off the dribble or set up teammates for shots.<\/p>\n

Indiana Pacers<\/p>\n

Needs: Indiana filled its biggest need \u2013 center \u2013 with a midseason trade for\u00a0Ivica Zubac.<\/a>\u00a0The problem was the Pacers sent a protected first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers and lost it in the draft lottery, leaving them with no draft picks. The good news: All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton is expected to return from his\u00a0torn Achilles tendon<\/a>\u00a0in the fall.<\/p>\n

Who they drafted: Nobody.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Sports Writers Jay Cohen, Josh Dubow, Larry Lage, Michael Marot and Joe Reedy contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chicago Bulls tried to strike gold in North Carolina again and the Milwaukee Bucks started their post-Giannis…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":889258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[343797,3368,3130,162567,1260,2629,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-889257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-brayden-burries","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-nate-ament","tag-nba","tag-nba-draft","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116804628450802955","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=889257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}