New Bucks owner rules out team drafting Joel Embiid at No. 2
One of the new Milwaukee Bucks owners, Marc Lasry, spoke to the Rotary Club of Milwaukee over breakfast on Monday morning and unexpectedly revealed key information about the team's draft plans.
Speaking about the possibility of taking center Joel Embiid with the No. 2 pick, Lasry basically shot down the possibility, because the team doesn't feel comfortable drafting a player who could miss four-to-six months following surgery on his right foot.
Lasry is ruling out Bucks taking Embiid. "Our decision got a lot easier, mainly because Embiid got hurt."
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) June 23, 2014
"It's hard to take Embiid," Lasry said. "We want somebody who is going to help us on Day 1."
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) June 23, 2014
While the logic is easy to follow, the injury alone perhaps shouldn't be enough to scare Milwaukee off. This is a team lacking in elite talent and with a longer timeline than some other rebuilding squads, so being patient with a potential franchise-changing player wouldn't be the worst idea.
Of course, we have no access to his medical information, and the Bucks could have been higher on Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker or Dante Exum, anyway. Even still, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to be so forthcoming with information that can be valuable to other teams.
The Bucks have also reportedly received several offers for the pick, though they're unlikely to deal it.