Milwaukee Bucks: Casting attention overseas to fill out the roster?

As reports emerge of interest in overseas players, the Milwaukee Bucks may be open to a new approach to fill out their roster this summer.

With the attention of the wider NBA, and indeed most discussion around the Milwaukee Bucks, currently centered on the NBA Draft, recent days have also provided a couple of interesting nuggets of information which could hint at a greater strategic adjustment for the franchise.

While the Milwaukee Bucks’ roster has been jam-packed with players from a vast array of countries across the globe over the last decade or so, the majority of those made their way to Milwaukee via the draft or following successful spells elsewhere in the NBA.

Other teams, most notably the San Antonio Spurs, frequently look to add free agents directly from leagues overseas too, which is a potential market inefficiency the Bucks have shown little interest in trying to exploit. That could be about to change, though.

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Australian international Ryan Broekhoff reportedly visited the Bucks, among other teams, for an interview and workout this week. Meanwhile, on Friday, news emerged from international basketball reporter David Pick that T.J. Cline of Israel’s Hapoel Holon will join the Bucks’ Summer League roster.

These moves may be little more than due diligence, but considering the changing shape of the organization, there’s real reason to believe it could be something more too.

With the change from John Hammond to Jon Horst as general manager, the Bucks’ scouting team also underwent major changes. Long-time scouting director Billy McKinney left the team, with Matt Bollero joining from the Minnesota Timberwolves, much like assistant general manager Milt Newton, to take that position.

Such changes lead to new ideas and it is, perhaps, noteworthy that the team statement announcing Bollero’s appointment made reference to his experience and pedigree in basketball on a global scale beyond the NBA.

"“Bollero helped coordinate basketball scouting efforts for Team China in the 2012 Summer Olympics and participated as a team director and assistant coach at EuroCamp in Treviso, Italy, in 2010 and 2011.”"

Also worth considering in a potential change to the Bucks’ interest in players plying their trade professionally overseas is the hire of Mike Budenholzer as head coach.

Not only did Budenholzer earn his stripes in the game in the Spurs system so famous for shrewd additions from overseas, but it was a trend that carried over to his tenure with the Atlanta Hawks too. Over the years, the Hawks added rotational players such as Pero Antic and Malcolm Delaney based on their high level of play in Europe.

Getting back to recent rumors, Broekhoff could certainly be a candidate to follow a similar route to the NBA.

The 27-year-old spent last season playing at the EuroCup level with Lokomotiv Kuban in Russia, further building on the credentials he laid out with an impressive showing for Australia during the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Broekhoff is a deadeye shooter, who knocked down 48.9 percent of his three-pointers last season while attempting 4.1 triples per game.

At 6’7″, Broekhoff also has good size for a wing, and in the final year of his contract with Lokomotiv he should provide an option without costly buyout trouble for NBA teams.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Broekhoff’s name has been mentioned in regard to the Bucks as Matthew Dellavedova spoke about encouraging the organization to sign his international teammate last summer. For the record, Broekhoff made no secret of his interest in joining the Bucks either.

As for Cline, the 23-year-old big man impressed in his first professional season having gone undrafted out of Richmond last summer.

After starting the year out with Galatasaray in Turkey, Cline made the move to Israel where he helped Hapoel Holon to the Israeli Finals as well as winning the Israeli Cup.

Cline averaged a modest 4.4 points and 2.3 rebounds on 53.3 percent from the field in just over 10 minutes per game across 46 contests in his first pro season, but his role increased with Israel as the season progressed.

Cline certainly isn’t an unknown in NBA circles either, as his mother is Sacramento Kings assistant coach, former WNBA player and coach, and Basketball Hall of Famer, Nancy Lieberman.

A Summer League invite for an overseas player may mean nothing, as it did for Achille Polonara last season, but the timing of the news off the back of Broekhoff’s workout is certainly intriguing, begging the question of whether the Bucks are widening their net ahead of their summer decisions.

Next: NBA Mock Draft 2018: Who should the Milwaukee Bucks pick at 17?

Considering the need to add talent to the rotation while working with very limited cap space, that would be a worthwhile strategy for the Bucks to consider. Whether they do so under their new regime remains to be seen, though.

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