Bucks draft Rashad Vaughn No. 17 overall, acquire guard Greivis Vasquez in trade
ST. FRANCIS, Wis. -- Addressing their need for shooting, the Milwaukee Bucks selected UNLV shooting guard Rashad Vaughn with the No. 17 pick in Thursday's NBA Draft.
Milwaukee didn't stop there in adding shooting ability to its perimeter, as it also acquired combo guard Greivis Vasquez from the Toronto Raptors.
The Bucks sent a 2017 lottery-protected first-round pick and the draft rights to No. 46 pick Norman Powell of UCLA to the Raptors in exchange for Vasquez.
"There was a real need for shooting on our roster," Bucks general manager John Hammond said. "With Rashad Vaughn with the 17th pick, we looked at him as the best player on the board for us, in particular because of his ability to shoot the basketball."
Vaughn worked out for the Bucks on Monday at the Orthopaedic Hospital of Wisconsin Training Center and left an impression that put him at the top of Milwaukee's draft board.
"I didn't know," Vaughn said on if he left Milwaukee thinking the Bucks would take him. "Man, I had no idea. I just know I came in there and had a good workout. But I didn't really have a clue they were going to draft me."
The second-youngest player in the draft, Vaughn was initially thought of as a second-round pick when he declared following his freshman season at UNLV.
Vaughn shot up draft boards over the past few weeks due largely to an impressive showing at a workout in Los Angeles held by agent Sam Goldfeder and Excel Sports Management.
"Rashad shot the ball extremely well in that workout," Hammond said. "I think he got a lot of people's attention there. Then he was in our last workout here on Monday and shot the ball extremely well for us again. He has nice size at 6-foot-5.
"He'll grow into that prototype NBA two-guard body. We think he has a chance to be a good player."
Vaughn, the Mountain West Freshman of the Year, averaged 17.8 points while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 38.3 percent on 3-point attempts. He suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee in February, which limited him to just 23 games and forced him to miss the NCAA tournament.
Three months post-surgery, Vaughn is not limited by the injury.
"The knee is 100 percent," Vaughn said. "I have no concerns at all about it. Everything is good."
After spending the first three years of his prep career at Cooper High School in Robbinsdale, Minn., Vaughn averaged 19.9 points and 4.9 assists at Findlay College Prep in Las Vegas.
Vaughn doesn't pattern his game after one specific player, but instead studies the top shooting guards in the NBA in order to pick up on things to add to his game.
"I think I'm going to be a steal," Vaughn said. "I'm going to come in and I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can. I'm glad they gave me this opportunity and I'm not going to upset them."
Milwaukee was seventh in the NBA in 3-point percentage (36.3 percent) last season but only four teams attempted fewer 3-pointers than the Bucks.
The Bucks passed on University of Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker, who went one pick later to Houston, in order to address this area of need on their young and athletic roster.
"We liked Sam," Hammond said. "We talked about (taking the) best player on the board. For us with the need of shooting and with our roster as is with Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Jabari (Parker), to add a forward at Sam's position may not have been the best for us. It may not have been the best fit for Sam. I think he ended up in a great place in Houston. I'm sure he will have a great career."
Vasquez averaged 9.5 points and 3.7 assists while shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc in 82 games for the Raptors last season. The 6-foot-6 guard is a career 35.6 percent 3-point shooter.
"We had a discussion with Toronto probably a couple of weeks ago and talked about the potential of possibly doing something like this," Hammond said. "We really like Greivis. We always have. I know (Bucks coach) Jason (Kidd) has been a big fan of his.
"To add what we call a veteran point guard, he's only 28 years old, but he has playoff experience. He really can see the floor. He's turned himself into a high quality 3-point shooter. We like a lot of things that he's bringing to our team."
Selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 28th pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, Vasquez has played for four teams in five seasons.
Vasquez was traded from Memphis to the then New Orleans Hornets for Quincy Pondexter in December of 2011. He then was shipped from New Orleans to Sacramento in July of 2013 as part of a three-team trade that also involved the Portland Trail Blazers.
After playing 18 games with the Kings during the 2013-14 season, Vasquez was traded to Toronto with Chuck Hayes, Patrick Patterson and John Salmons for Quincy Acy, Rudy Gay and Aaron Gray.
The 2017 first-round pick Milwaukee is sending to Toronto was acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in the August 2013 trade that brought Jared Dudley to the Bucks in exchange for Carlos Delfino and Miroslav Raduljica.
"The pick is protected," Hammond said. "It was a good asset for us when we had it. It is a protected first-round pick. I think to add a quality player like Greivis with that pick, I think it is a good opportunity for us."
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