Overall Grade
The Bucks are in a really tough spot. They’ve very recently been burned by bad contracts and buyer’s remorse on free agent acquisitions, and they’re still carrying the burden of some of those questionable decisions to this day.
Still, in approaching this year’s free agency that left important distinctions to be made. Having overpaid role players in the past should absolutely be cause for caution in approaching similar dealings, but it shouldn’t be a reason to let the right role player walk away due to past mistakes.
It seems the Bucks feel Snell is the right role player, and considering his significant role throughout last season he’s proven more than many of their flops of free agencies past that he could continue to excel in Milwaukee in the coming seasons.
Milwaukee will still have to find ways to get off of some of their previous errors to avoid paying the tax — and that may well lead to further uncomfortable deals — but in the moment Snell has to be viewed as a separate issue.
If the Bucks had let Snell walk, how were they using that money? They still would have been well over the cap, potentially facing a host of uninspiring options for next season, and without even gaining further flexibility of any real significance for the future.
Re-signing Snell should help the Bucks to stay on a steadily upward trajectory in an increasingly weak Eastern Conference, where they already have arguably the second best player. If the Bucks can ever come out the other side of their challenging cap situation, it’s important they ensure they’re still good enough to then take advantage of space.
Milwaukee is still not a major destination, but as the Rockets proved earlier this week, a good team with a superstar already in place can develop its own appeal. Snell will play his part in ensuring the Bucks don’t slip back, and the rest in terms of building this roster to take the next step now falls to general manager Jon Horst and the rest of the Bucks’ decision-making team.
Next: Milwaukee Bucks: 20 realistic free agent options for the Bucks
In the end, this isn’t an immediately troubling overpay. In fact, it’s a deal that brings back a useful contributor who should just be entering his prime, and who also fits in perfectly with the team’s personality and work ethic.
Overall Grade: B+