Milwaukee Bucks: 5 realistic buyout candidates to target
By Robby Cowles
Troy Daniels
Troy Daniels is another player who hasn’t been bought out yet, but there is a strong possibility that he will be some time soon. The 27-year-old guard isn’t getting much playing time for the hapless Phoenix Suns and may want a chance on another team.
With the Bucks, Daniels wouldn’t immediately step into heavy minutes, at least not at first.
The 6’4″ guard is a sharpshooting specialist, with a career three-point percentage north of 40 percent. Guards like that are always valuable in the NBA.
Especially with the Bucks, who shoot more three-pointers than any NBA team not named the Houston Rockets, outside shooting is a top priority.
It’s also an area the Bucks could improve in. Despite shooting so many threes, the Bucks are just 18th in the NBA in three-point percentage.
The addition of Mirotic should help, and having Giannis covers up a lot of a team’s flaws, but more shooting never hurt anybody.
Daniels likely has the best chance of any current free agent of cracking the Bucks rotation this season and in the playoffs. Right now, the Bucks traditional backup guard depth is essentially just George Hill (although Malcolm Brogdon slides between the two spots regularly), who is a fine defender but shooting just 29 percent from three as a Buck.
Daniels would be the opposite, being a terrible defender and a lethal shooter. That, unfortunately, would be the biggest obstacle to the Bucks signing Daniels and him getting regular minutes.
As impressive as he is as a shooter, Daniels is abysmal on defense. Perhaps being in Budenholzer’s scheme could help Daniels turn it around on that end, but I have a hard time trusting Daniels with big minutes in the playoffs if he can’t guard anybody.
Even so, having a guard on the end of your bench who shoots 40 percent from distance is a nice luxury to have.