Bucks Have a Draft Target at No. 13 and He Might Have Just Confirmed It

The Milwaukee Bucks are sitting on two lottery picks in this year’s NBA Draft. That’s a weird sentence to type a year ago, but here we are after the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade shook the league Monday. They have No. 1 overall and, thanks to that same deal with Miami, they also own No. 10 overall. But according to intel gathering over the last few weeks, the front office might not be looking at both selections the same way.

The name to know right now is Labaron Philon Jr. The Alabama point guard has been climbing boards and, more importantly, has been climbing the Bucks’ internal list. NBA insider Jake L. Fischer reported that Philon worked out for Milwaukee multiple times. That alone isn’t unusual. Lots of guys work out for teams multiple times. But Philon apparently told Fischer directly that the Bucks were the only team he went back to for a second look. That’s the kind of detail that gets front offices nervous in a good way.

Where Philon Actually Lands Is Still a Question

Fischer’s sources say the Bucks are high on Philon and that the most realistic spot for him is No. 13 overall, the pick they got back from Miami in the Giannis package. If they take him there, that leaves No. 10 open for something else. Maybe a wing. Maybe a trade-down. Maybe a swing on a higher-upside guy who dropped. The team hasn’t confirmed anything obviously. They never do this early.

ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel had Philon going to the Bucks at No. 13 in his latest mock draft. Siegel’s projection also noted that Philon’s draft range is wider than most. Some boards have him going as high as the late lottery. Others have him slipping to No. 21 where Detroit could grab him. That range means Milwaukee might not need to reach. But working out a guy twice usually means they want him bad enough to not risk losing him.

What This Says About the Bucks’ Post-Giannis Direction

This is the first real post-Giannis draft for Milwaukee. The franchise hasn’t picked this high in years and now they have two cracks at it in the same night. That’s a rare kind of reset lever. Taking Philon at 13 would give them a ball-handling guard who can play on and off the ball. He’s not a finished product but he’s the kind of piece you build a second unit around or, down the line, slot next to whoever becomes the next face of the franchise.

Whether Philon is that guy or not, the fact that the Bucks are this locked in on him this early says something. They’re not just collecting picks. They’re aiming at specific players with specific skill sets. That’s how rebuilds work when they’re run by people who know what they’re doing.