First-round picks too scarce

0 Comments | USA TODAY, January, 2008 | by Mike Dodd

MILWAUKEE -- The number of first-round draft choices on a roster is not a surefire barometer of success in the NBA -- the New York Knicks have 12 -- but it can indicate depth of talent. The NBA average is nine, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Milwaukee Bucks' four is fewest in the league: Yi Jianlian (2007), Andrew Bogut (2005), Charlie Villanueva (Toronto Raptors, 2005) and Desmond Mason (Seattle SuperSonics, 2000). A combination of trades and picks that didn't pan out account for the Bucks' low stockpile. A look at their recent first-round picks:

2007: Yi, out of China, starting for Bucks.

2006: Traded with Mason to the New Orleans Hornets for Jamaal Magloire, who played one season in Milwaukee.

2005: Bogut, out of Utah,...