Milwaukee Bucks add undrafted players to Summer League roster

While the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t add any players in the second round of the NBA Draft, they’ve signed undrafted players for their Summer League roster and potentially beyond.

The truly notable moves for the long-term future of the Milwaukee Bucks may have started and ended with Donte DiVincenzo in the 2018 NBA Draft, but there were other deals made by Jon Horst and his front office colleagues.

As is tradition for NBA teams, immediately after the conclusion of the draft, the flurry begins to sign the best available undrafted free agents.

The Bucks didn’t necessarily add a host of players in that capacity with an obvious path to sticking with the team longer-term, but at the very least they’ve taken a punt on a handful of players who will suit up for Milwaukee at Las Vegas Summer League, and one in particular who may have a chance at a longer-term stay in Milwaukee.

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In addition to DiVincenzo, and in all likelihood D.J. Wilson and Sterling Brown, previous reports had revealed T.J. Cline, Perry Ellis and Travis Trice will all be in Vegas for the Bucks at the start of July.

Reports from various sources on draft night suggest that Ohio State’s Jae’Sean Tate, Mizzou’s Jordan Barnett and UNLV’s Brandon McCoy will be joining them.

Not only may that pave a path for a training camp invite with the Bucks, but of course there’s also a chance that these players could be longer-term members of the organization via the Wisconsin Herd in the G League.

Sports Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo was the first to report the addition of Tate, a 22-year-old small forward and native of Ohio.

Tate picked up All-Big Ten Second Team honors last season, but likely failed to garner any meaningful draft attention due to his shooting troubles.

In spite of solid averages of 11.7 points and 6.0 rebounds for his four seasons as a Buckeye, Tate’s 55.2 percent field goal clip is not complemented by his three-point shooting. His 27.7 percent from deep on an average of just a single attempt a game doesn’t seamlessly mesh with the picture of a modern NBA wing.

Still, Tate was highly thought of at Ohio State, and possesses a sturdy frame for an athlete whose first love was football.

Next up came news from Yahoo’s Alec Lewis of the addition of Barnett, a 22-year-old who impressed with the Missouri Tigers, but likely didn’t have his NBA hopes boosted by a DWI arrest in March which led to him missing Missouri’s sole tournament game through suspension.

As the Tigers dealt with the absence of Michael Porter Jr., Barnett was a key contributor as both a scorer and rebounder. Having started his college days with the Texas Longhorns, Barnett really turned his career around upon transferring in 2016.

Barnett’s averages of 13.9 points and 5.7 rebounds as a senior are solid, but his outstanding three-point shooting is what stands out most of all — 41.4 percent on 6.2 attempts per game.

Lastly, Yahoo’s Shams Charania reported the addition of McCoy, a 20-year-old big man out of UNLV.

With the departure of Rashad Vaughn, McCoy can fill the Runnin’ Rebel void for the Bucks on UNLV’s home court this summer, and he has the potential to impress.

It’s worth noting that Charania didn’t specify McCoy as a Summer League signing, and considering many expected him to be drafted, there is a possibility he could be a player who will stick around until training camp at least.

McCoy just turned 20 years old this month, having declared for the draft after his freshman season in college and is only a year removed from being a McDonald’s All-American.

At 7’1″, 250lbs and with a 7’2″ wingspan, McCoy certainly has legitimate center size, and looked relatively mobile for that frame during his time in college. McCoy can offer rim protection defensively, can score with his back to the basket on the other end, and even showed glimpses of shooting touch.

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With averages of 16.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game at UNLV, McCoy certainly stands out as one of the more intriguing undrafted prospects this year, and one who will be worth tracking throughout the coming weeks, and maybe months, with the Bucks.