The 2024–25 Milwaukee Bucks season is the 57th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). They will look to bounce back from last season's dysfunctional, disappointing ending following their injury-laden first round exit to the Indiana Pacers. It is the second season with Damian Lillard on the roster.
The Bucks entered this draft (which was two days instead of one like it had been since the NBA draft was shortened down to two rounds back in 1989) with a late first-round pick and an early second-round pick they had acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers via the Sacramento Kings.[3][4] Near the end of the first night of the draft, the Bucks would surprise draft pundits by selecting shooting guard AJ Johnson (a player who was projected to either be taken late in the second round or go undrafted by most draft boards) from the Illawarra Hawks of Australia's National Basketball League as the 23rd pick of the draft. On the second day of the draft, the Bucks would select what ultimately became the final player drafted from the now-defunct NBA G League Ignite team of the NBA G League (and their third player drafted in four seasons from that team) by selecting the former Overtime Elite forward Tyler Smith with the 33rd pick of the draft.