NBA Preview: Milwaukee Bucks Look to Develop Youngsters Jabari Parker, Giannis Antetokounmpo

The Milwaukee Bucks never had a player of Jabari Parker's caliber since the days of Kareem Abdul Jabbar. The team had some success in the past years, qualifying for the playoffs but never in its history did it have a ceiling this high. The team is moving on from the mediocre years of going 6^th or 8^th seed and being eliminate din the first or second rounds of the playoffs, this time it has legitimate building blocks, thanks to the lottery gods.

After the worst record in franchise history last year at 15-67, the team is hoping to turn its fortunes around. Last year was a nightmare to watch from newly extended center Larry Sanders mixing controversy with injury to a weight-challenged O.J. Mayo reporting to camp, and veteran Ersan Ilyasova regressing despite being locked up long term to a new contract. There was some silver lining as the Bucks got the steal of the draft in Giannis Antetokounmpo, a 6-10 position-less player who can handle point guard duties and power forward slots. Despite the promise, the Bucks still showed its youth last year even with Brandon Knight showing some improvement from his Detroit Pistons days.

With everything shiny in the beer capital of America from new ownership to new roster to new coaching staff, the Bucks are hoping that a rejuvenated squad aplomb with potential and youthful exuberance can surprise some teams in the conference.

Milwaukee Bucks Roster/Depth Chart (in bold are the starters)

Point Guard: Brandon Knight, Kendall Marshall, Jerryd Bayless

Shooting Guard: O.J. Mayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nate Wolters

Small Forward: Jabari Parker, Khris Middleton, Jared Dudley

Power Forward: Ersan Ilyasova, Zaza Pachuila

Center: Larry Sanders, John Henson

Offseason Additions:

Jabari Parker, Kendall Marshall, Jerryd Bayless, Jared Dudley, Jason Kidd (coach)

Offseason Losses:

Carlos Delfino, Larry Drew (coach)

Season Outlook:

The Bucks along with Philadelphia 76ers and the Orlando Magic are expected by most analysts to share the league's doormat yet again. There is cause for optimism for the third-youngest team in the NBA given they snatched the most likely rookie of the year of his class in Jabari Parker. During the pre-season, Parker has been looked upon by the team as the first option and at times has shown that he has the NBA-ready body to absorb contacts during drives and finish at the rim. His defensive tendencies and ability still leaves a lot to be desired but that aspect can always be fixed with proper coaching. The kid who is always compared to Carmelo Anthony will have to rely on other young players such as Brandon Knight who led the team in scoring last year and Larry Sanders who has the potential to turn in a defensive of the year performance if motivated and properly guided.

The Bucks can still surprise some people given that its young prospect Antetokounmpo has reportedly grown to 6-11 and is being tasked by newly installed head coach Jason Kidd to experiment at point guard duties during the off-season. O.J. Mayo has also shed some 20 pounds coming into training camp and that is a positive sign that he is looking to prove detractors wrong. With a weak Eastern Conference, the Bucks has a fighter's chance to pull off a playoff spot if any of these things happen: Mayo gets his confidence back, Parker explodes in a big way and Sanders morphs into a defensive stalwart. If those things never come into fruition, expect Milwaukee to look at another year of chasing ping-pong balls and wins in the vicinity of 20 to 30 games.