Milwaukee Bucks: Tyler Zeller’s fight to keep his roster spot

As the buzz starts to build in anticipation of the start of their training camp later this month, Tyler Zeller will be focused on continuing his stint with the Milwaukee Bucks heading into the 2018-19 season.

For all the fans desperately waiting for the return of Milwaukee Bucks basketball, you’ll soon have your wish.

The offseason, through all of the many roster changes and a headlining coaching change, stands firmly in the rearview mirror and the start of this year’s training camp is set to get underway later this month.

Of course, combing over the various details and features in the exhaustive promotion of the team’s new arena, Fiserv Forum, held us over throughout the dog days of summer, all of which crescendoed with the official fan unveiling at the fourth annual block party late last month.

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All in all, there’s a light sense of rejuvenation in the air when it comes to looking at where the Bucks’ prospects lie in the wake of the changes they’ve made this offeason. Of course, it’s one thing to say that and it’s on new head coach Mike Budenholzer and his staff to make this era feel and look like a fresh start for all of those involved.

In the case of journeyman center Tyler Zeller, however, this year’s training camp represents something far different than a fresh start playing under Budenholzer.

In fact, there’s a very realistic possibility that we may see Zeller’s stint in Milwaukee come to an end in the time between the end of the upcoming preseason and the start of the 2018-19 season.

Now for some, that may have been an expected outcome back when Zeller was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for what would end up being the 45th overall pick in this year’s draft and Rashad Vaughn a few days before last season’s trade deadline in early February.

Considering the jettisoning of Greg Monroe, who was dealt for Eric Bledsoe in early November, as well as the Bucks turning to two-way players such as Joel Bolomboy and subsequently, Marshall Plumlee, from that point on in the year, the team’s center depth was a sore spot on the roster before Zeller came into the fold.

Add in the inconsistencies of then-second year big man Thon Maker and the Bucks only had one traditional center in John Henson to rely on for the first half of last year’s campaign.

Upon arriving in Milwaukee, Zeller did little to transform the team’s center play when his number was called on. To expect such a thing would have been far fetched out of a reserve big man, though, particularly one who serves as more of a throwback option at that.

Nonetheless, slight differences in what Zeller brought to the floor over his counterparts, ranging from his sharp screen setting, increased physicality and deft scoring touch at or around the basket, could be gleamed in the 406 minutes he played with the Bucks last year.

Zeller standing as a net positive in the regular season after joining the Bucks made his wobbly cameos in the Bucks’ playoff series against the Boston Celtics deflating by comparison, all of which opened the door for Maker to help swing the series when it shifted back to Milwaukee starting in Game 3.

The fluctuating contributions the Bucks got out of the center position on the whole last year certainly played a significant factor in them going out and signing veteran big man Brook Lopez on a short-term, cost effective deal in the second weekend of this year’s free agency period.

While that forces the likes of Henson and Maker to be on their toes and jump at every opportunity handed to them starting in training camp now that Lopez is in the mix, it may end up costing Zeller his spot on the roster, given how overstocked the 5-spot has become.

The nature of Zeller’s contract not fully guaranteeing until January 10 next year, per Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, doesn’t do the Tar Heel alum any good in extending his stay in Milwaukee throughout the entire regular season.

All of those circumstances will make Zeller’s individual training camp one to monitor as he’ll be primarily challenged by 25-year-old wing Shabazz Muhammad, who is looking to extend his unsustainable, yet to date fruitful spell with the Bucks in his own right after being brought back on a partially guaranteed deal last month.

Simply put, nothing is guaranteed for Zeller, right down to his salary for the first three months of next year, and any further slips he may potentially experience will put his spell with the Bucks in serious jeopardy.