Best Milwaukee Bucks Draft Picks: Number 10, Michael Redd

Hi Bucks’ fans! Welcome to the all-time top Bucks’ draft picks, power ranked by the fan’s yourselves. We are counting down all the way from #12 to #1, and today we are moving on to the longest tenured Buck, Michael Redd at number 10. Don’t forget to vote below for who is number 9!

THE SELECTION
Michael Redd was the 43rd selection in the 2000 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, out of Ohio State University (I refuse to add the article to that college). According to basketball reference, Michael turned out to be the 4th best player in that draft based on win shares, trailing only Hedo Turkoglu, Mike Miller and Jamal Crawford.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Redd was an All-Star in 2004, and also made the All-NBA third team that season. From 2004 thru 2009, Redd averaged over 20 points per game, including two seasons over 25 points per game. A similarity score from basketball reference that is still playing is Kemba Walker. Knowing and remembering both, I think that’s a fair comparison.

CAREER SUCCESS AND “WHAT-IF’S”

Michael Redd had a six or seven year window in the 2000‘s where he was an All-Star player (or should have been if we had better teams), and was definitely a great scorer. Looking through the seasons that he was a member of the team, the Bucks were sometimes in the postseason as a seventh or eighth seed, but sometimes had 26 wins. Regardless of the team’s success, Michael had his moments where he was fun to watch.

For instance, Michael Redd held an NBA record for 13 years, which was most three-point field goals in a quarter (8) until Klay Thompson broke it in 2015. He’s also put up a few 50+ point games, including a 57-pointer. Defense was never his strong suit, but he was as good of a scorer as most of the players in the NBA. Think a slightly better offensive version of Khris Middleton, who was significantly worse at defense.

Still, if you think of 2000‘s Bucks, who else do you think of? I’ve randomly name dropped over my articles in the past players like Carlos Delfino, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Dan Gadzuric*, but when it comes to who was the best Buck of that decade, I think it comes down to Michael Redd, and maybe Andrew Bogut. Nobody else had the tenure that they both did, so the choice is obvious. We had some guys like Richard Jefferson, John Salmons and Corey Maggette who had good seasons, but Redd was the only one who was at least on the roster the entire time (or even most of it).

I phrase it that way because, well, Redd suffered through quite a few injuries during latter portion with the Bucks, and that’s where the “what-if’s” come to play. Redd’s last three seasons with the Bucks saw him play a combined total of 61 games and 44 starts, and the 2007-08 season when he averaged 26.7 PPG, he only played in about 50. That was an early end to a pretty good career prior to those injuries, and as someone who remembers those years I remember feeling sad that Redd was hurt again. He was my favorite player for a while, not much to choose from but still; he was very good and could have likely stayed in the league possibly another six or seven years longer had he not been injured as often. Redd finished his career playing in Phoenix for one season.

Perhaps if Redd had not gotten injured, the Bucks might have made it out of the first round of the playoffs once or twice. I can only assume he made it through the 2012 season, but if we put him on the team in 2009(?) with John Salmons as the best player, that team might have beaten that Joe Johnson-led Hawks team. The rest of the roster just was never good enough for Redd to make a large impact in the postseason.

BUCKS’ LEGACY

I think Redd’s legacy comes down to this. He was the guy who the franchise leaned on in the second worst decade in franchise history. Had he not gotten injured so often, he possibly could have been an All-Star again. He was also the last Buck who was an All-Star prior to the arrival of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Finally, he is also the player who has spent the most seasons with the Bucks, ever, with 11*. To sum up, don’t sleep on Michael Redd’s career, he was a very talented player on teams that never won more than 46 games (aside from his rookie season).

*Dan Gadzuric trails only Redd, Junior Bridgeman (10), Sidney Moncrief (10), Giannis (9) and Khris Middleton (9) and is tied with Jon McGlocklin, Paul Pressey, and Brian Winters, who all have 8, as the longest tenures with the Bucks ever.

There you have it, Michael Redd. Who’s next at #9?

Not who’s best, but who should be next on this list counting down to number one? Vote and comment below!