This is the first in a 15-part series running Wednesdays and Fridays profiling each Milwaukee Bucks player leading up to the start of the NBA season.
The Milwaukee Bucks feel they drafted a future All-Star in the first-round of June's NBA Draft, but 18-year-old Giannis Antetokounmpo may take longer to develop than it will for fans to learn how to pronounce his name.
Antetokounmpo certainly has the talent and body frame to become a special player down the road, but how much will he contribute in 2013-14? Not only does the young Greek forward have to adapt to playing against grown men in the NBA, but he also must acclimatize to living in an entirely new country.
Before eaving Greece with the national team this past summer, Antetokounmpo had never left his home country. Now his immediate family is moving with him to Milwaukee as he begins his NBA journey.
2012-13 stats (Filathlitikos in Greek A2 League): 9.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 46.4 FG %, 31.3 3PT %, 72.0% FT % in 26 games
2013-14 salary: $1,792,560.
Last year: The 6-foot-9 inch small forward spent last season playing with Filathlitikos in Greece's second-tier professional basketball league. In his first season in professional basketball, Antetokounmpo showed he can fill a stat sheet in a variety of ways.
Other than the overall numbers and a few videos, the casual basketball observer hasn't seen much of Antetokounmpo on the basketball court. He wasn't able to play for the Bucks this summer due to his commitment to the Greek National Team, but Milwaukee feels he faced very good competition in the U-20 European Championships.
Antetokounmpo averaged 8.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the tournament, helping Greece to an 8-2 record and a fifth-place finish. He wasn't pleased with the way he played or his team's finish, signaling a player hungry to get better.
This year: With the Bucks looking to compete for a playoff berth, Antetokounmpo is unlikely to play a major role in 2013-14. He's not physically strong enough to go through the grind of an NBA season quite yet, but Antetokounmpo is talented enough to provide something to Milwaukee this season. It would make sense for the Bucks to send him to the D-League for some part of next year, but general manager John Hammond expects Antetokounmpo to stay with the Bucks for the entire season.
The coaching staff couldn't wait to get their hands on the 18-year-old and will likely enjoy watching his development throughout the season. The acquisition of Caron Butler to start at small forward further pushes Antetokounmpo down the depth chart. When he's healthy, Carlos Delfino will see the majority of the backup minutes at the position with Khris Middleton also in the mix for playing time. Bucks coach Larry Drew will face the challenge of finding playing time to further Antetokounmpo's development while still competing for the playoffs.
One thing is certain: Antetokounmpo's development on and off the court will be one of the more interesting storylines to follow this season.
From the front office: "There were safer picks on the board for us. There's no question there were safer picks, but nothing with this kind of upside. Nothing close to this. That's the real key component of what we have here. Who is our next All-Star? I don't want to put that on this kid's shoulders; he has the skill set to become that if it all comes together for him." – Bucks general manager John Hammond
"I remember watching him the first day and just seeing what he was capable of; his skill level is pretty amazing. A kid this young, physically he is not a very strong kid. I am talking about skills, I'm talking about his ability to get in between the lines and do things. This kid has it." – Bucks coach Larry Drew
