MILWAUKEE BUCKS

The Badwolf Way

For anyone who has been around Badwolf in the NLL, there’s really only one asset going around that really puts the lead in his pencil, and that’s rookies. So, it was no surprise that he bypassed a plethora of concrete All-World talent to take a swing at the most hyped rookie since LeBron James in Zion Williamson. Against difficult and very improbable odds, Badwolf has been able to build an empire of under-25 year old, super talented players from the first to the last roster spot in the NLL. It is just staggering how much burgeoning and exploding talent he has.  He currently hasn’t won an NLL title, but his catalogue of assets is what absolute fantasies are made of. To be more accurate, what fantasy fantasies are made of.

While he isn’t alone in ‘froffing’ over first round picks and just enjoying them slowly or rapidly develop, his management and prowess differ to most others in two critical areas; one, his ability to select guys that whether they are hyped or not, always exceed the general expectation and become great players and two, his ability to cut bait at the absolutely precise moment before that player’s value begins to tumble downward. If you have been in the league with him for a while, it is truly remarkable. Years ago I would watch from afar and ponder…

“Gee, that’s strange for Badwolf to move a good young player like that, only in his third season! Oh, he got another first… risky move, there”

3 months later

*So, that young player he moved that looked great actually can’t play at all and he drafted Trae Young at pick 47*

Also, it seems like even the least-inspiring of firsts that he acquires, usually future picks, end up becoming good picks. The original owning team of the pick goes bankrupt, loses their star to a season-ending injury or just absolutely shits the bed. 

Rinse, repeat. That is the Badwolf way. He parts the seas and reads the futures market like Neo reads the Matrix. If he is still part of the NSL league, and I am yet to see proof but I am very hopeful, watch him move almost any of his players for a pick that he sees potential in to become a lottery pick. If it isn’t Zion, they’re able to be moved for some future first round picks.

It’s marvellous. Make sure you watch and learn!



Choosing Zion

Most called it, but it was still surprising to see All-NSL guys surpassed for the tantalising upside and power and prowess of Zion The Destroyer (I don’t know if that is his nickname or not, but it seems fitting). He is the most explosive and devastating athlete maybe ever; he is 6’7’ and weighs more than almost all of the current NSL players (besides Boban and maybe now Tacko Fall). However, he moves around the court like particles in a Hadron Collider and just explodes into existence on a fast break or drive. What he lacks in height in his finishing he makes up for with his sheer mass and ability to not only move bodies, but gracefully contort and manoeuvre around opposing bodies with guile and gusto.

“But he’s fat. His knees won’t take it”

He isn’t fat. He is heavy as fuck, and that is a lot different when a huge majority of that mass is rippling, dense fast-twitch fibre muscle. A fat guy doesn’t explode to the rim the way he does, or bound down the court like a gazelle. To quote a character out of a Will Ferrell movie (I think)… ‘He’s so fast, he makes other fast guys not look so fast’. Pretty sure that’s paraphrasing, but you get the drift; he is a truly phenomenal athlete and one of the most unique I can remember. 

However, injuries occur in professional sports all the time, and while I haven’t quite got my MD in the mail, I have to wonder if a guy that heavy and that high off the ground isn’t going to suffer a few devastating injuries. No player deserves it, so this is an objective take, and I hope he never has a serious injury (despite already tearing his meniscus in pre-season play). Sometimes injuries are caused by pure chaos and bad luck. And I can’t help but worry about a guy that causes so much unrest when he cannons into the paint, 40 inches off the ground and moving at 30 miles an hour and that he might have a few horrific landings in his time. 

He is so tantalising and he is so great to watch, so I hope for Zion and Badwolf that he fulfils all his potential and the hype. However, if he doesn’t’, watch Badwolf flip him for the next Zion.


The Direction

Well, to no surprise, Badwolf only really target players that were very young. He is hoping to, through his patience, and lack of urgency thus far in the NLL, make it a slow burn and enjoy the fruits of his labour in seasons to come when he has another list of 25-something. Who did he take with his first eight picks in the draft? Williamson, Lavine, Gilgeous-Alexander (!!!), Bridges, Kurucs, Exum, Hutchison, Diallo. 

Is anyone over 25 years old? No. All guys with upside, not as suited for win-now teams? Yes. Lavine is one of his guys and Gilgeous-Alexander looks like an All-Star after being traded in the NBA (how does he do it!?), but his team looks like it will struggle mightily this inaugural season and that’s probably ideal for Badwolf. With each resounding loss, his own first round pick will become more valuable. Watch him not take on any older players this season and just blood his youngsters and raise their profiles. This NSL Bucks team is the antithesis of his NLL team, so I would feel that he will be less aggressive and more patient with this squad, if that’s possible for a guy addicted to watching young players fulfil their potential under his watchful gaze.

Ls = Ws