After another early playoff exit, the Milwaukee Bucks turned their focus to the future. With two more years of Damian Lillard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Khris Middleton under contract, the Bucks must aggressively build a team for playoff success before their championship window closes.

The 2024 NBA Draft was an important window for Milwaukee to obtain young, affordable talent to complement its big three — especially considering the franchise enters the 2024-25 season with minimal cap space.

There was considerable speculation about who the Bucks would take in the draft, but the team's needs were clear: three-point shooting, athletic wing defenders with the ability to guard multiple positions, and a mobile big man with the athleticism and defensive prowess to supplant Brook Lopez.

The Bucks took a risky route in the draft, selecting a pair of 19-year-olds: guard AJ Johnson of the Illawarra Hawks and forward Tyler Smith of the G-League Ignite. Will these projects pay off for the Bucks? Here are our Bucks draft grades.

AJ Johnson (Guard, Illawarra Hawks)

“Youth and promise.” Those are the buzzwords Bucks writer Eric Nehm of The Athletic used to describe Milwaukee's first-round pick AJ Johnson, the 23rd overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. At just 19 years old, Johnson is one of the youngest and rawest prospects in the draft.

The 6-4, 167-pound guard played with the Illawarra Hawks in 2023-24, forgoing his previous commitment to the University of Texas. He averaged 2.9 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.7 APG, 37% shooting while playing just 7.7 MPG. Johnson has offensive upside and great quickness, but there are serious concerns about his lack of strength and ability to defend given his extremely slender frame.

With years of development ahead of him, Johnson was a consensus second-round pick in mock drafts — and a risky one. He likely would have been available at pick number 33. Considering Milwaukee's narrow championship window, it is difficult to see how Johnson will help bring another NBA title to the Cream City.

While the youngster had a strong showing at the NBA Combine, he is still a few years away from contributing at the NBA level. The Bucks needed players who could make an immediate impact and increase the team's championship odds. Instead, they take a low-floor, high-ceiling project that does not fill their need for size, defense, or three-point shooting.

AJ Johnson could be a future star, but will it even matter once Giannis, Middleton, and Lillard are gone? Selecting a player who could be worth five wins on a mediocre team is useless when the Bucks need someone who can help them win those one or two big games in the playoffs now. This pick is a swing-and-miss for the Bucks.

Grade: D-

Tyler Smith (Forward, G-League Ignite)

As with Johnson, Tyler Smith was another five-star recruit who did not go the college route, instead choosing to spend the 2023-24 season with the G-League Ignite squad. Things did not go well for these youngsters as they faced much older and more mature professional competition, finishing just 2-32 on the year. But the team produced a pair of lottery picks (Ron Holland and Matas Buzelis) plus a second-round selection in Tyler Smith.

Smith was a very productive offensive player in his G-League stint, averaging 13.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 1.3 APG while shooting 36.4% from deep in just 22 minutes per contest. Expand those totals to 36 minutes per game, and Smith averages an impressive 21.9/8.3/2.1.

Scouts are most excited about the 6-9 forward's ability to score from inside the arc and behind the three-point stripe, drawing Smith comparisons to current Bucks forward Bobby Portis and, for the older audience, former Bucks big man Charlies Villanueva. The 19-year-old's current skillset best suits him in a sixth-man role as a source of quick offense off the bench.

Smith's defensive ability, or lack thereof, will determine his ceiling. While he has a 7-1 wingspan and good athleticism, the youngster lacks off-ball awareness and basic defensive instincts. There are also concerns about his toughness.

Like Johnson, Smith is a talented player but, above all, a developmental project. Bucks GM Jon Horst recognized this challenge, saying, “He (Smith) is a player that we feel — and we have some great coaches that are really good development coaches — he will be a talent for us, and we will be able to utilize that talent.”

Smith is a step or two ahead of Johnson, but it is still unclear when he will become a contributor for this Bucks squad. Given Milwaukee's urgency to win now, Tyler Smith's fit in this Bucks team is tenuous at best.

Grade: C+