Behind the Bucks Pass
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Milwaukee Bucks Looking To Find A Diamond In The Rough This Summer

By Ti Windisch

Jul 2, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond speaks to the press during a news conference featuring new head coach Jason Kidd at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 2, 2014; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond speaks to the press during a news conference featuring new head coach Jason Kidd at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Mandatory Credit: Mary Langenfeld-USA TODAY Sports /
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Most of the moves the Milwaukee Bucks have made early this summer indicate the team is focused on finding talented players through slightly more unconventional means.

A strange bit of Milwaukee Bucks news broke yesterday. With two of 30 teams focused on winning the 2016 NBA Finals and the other 27 focused on preparing for the 2016 NBA Draft, the Bucks were focused on Ronald Roberts.

Roberts is a talented power forward who excelled in the NBA D-League last season, earning an All-Star nod and getting an endorsement from yours truly (I’d hoped the Bucks would use Chris Copeland‘s roster spot on a guy like Roberts. Instead they went with Steve Novak.)

So it’s good that Milwaukee will have him for Summer League. Roberts is a damn good power forward. As Adam McGee wrote yesterday, there’s a good chance he sticks around in the Bucks organization after Summer League is over.

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The news is strange not because of what happened, but when it went down. Most teams outside of Cleveland and Golden State are focused on figuring out the 2016 NBA Draft right now. In the middle of the fever pitch that draft talk is becoming, the Milwaukee Bucks took the time to secure a good player on their Summer League roster.

The Bucks have realized something we’ve been preaching here at BTBP for a while now–Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker are going to cost Milwaukee a lot. Notice the italics and boldface type there.

An NBA team requires a bench and a starting five, as well as a few end-of-the-bench guys. With Jabari and Giannis earning beaucoup bucks, Khris Middleton and John Henson getting paid well, plus an entire roster to fill out around them, Milwaukee needs to find ways to save cash.

That’s why the Bucks strategy for the summer is looking a bit…frugal. Outside of Jakob Poeltl, most of the prospects that have come to work out for the Bucks in Milwaukee have a good chance of going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Related Story: The Bucks Take A Closer Look At Jakob Poeltl

Undrafted prospects that wowed the Bucks in some way at a workout could very well end up joining Roberts on the Bucks Summer League roster. Any of those players who then impress Milwaukee’s staff once more could well end up on the actual roster.

Those players would come cheap. Very cheap. Ronald Roberts, for example, was slated to make around $1.4 million over two seasons before the Toronto Raptors waived him and added him to their D-League affiliate.

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Saving money in one area opens up the budget in others. If the Bucks want to bring in another quality free agent to join their young core, it’ll cost them.

Replacing the production of pricey veterans like O.J. Mayo and Greivis Vasquez (who made around $14 million combined last season) with younger players like Roberts and Sean Kilpatrick (who made around $1.2 million combined last season) provides an obvious monetary benefit.

Of course Kilpatrick has since been snatched up by the Brooklyn Nets, but he’s an example of an unproved player Milwaukee could’ve kept around for a low price if they wanted to.

As Milwaukee learned last season, some veterans are necessary for a locker room to be strong. Even bringing in a guy like Jared Dudley to make sure the Bucks don’t go rudderless this season is easier if some diamonds in the rough can be relied on in some way.

Next: NBA Mock Draft 3.0: Searching For Consensus

Watch for the Bucks to continue to take looks at these fringe players in their NBA Draft scouting. The Bucks have two second round picks this year, which could also turn into cheap production over the next few seasons.

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