Milwaukee Bucks: 3 veteran free agents who could “ring chase” with team

Free agent Ish Smith could chase a ring with the Milwaukee Bucks

Another former Milwaukee Buck could make his return if he wants to chase a championship.

Ish Smith played just 16 games for the Bucks in the 2012-13 season (as well as four playoff games!) after coming aboard in the same trade that brought in Redick. He has since played for six different teams. Most recently, Smith played for the Washington Wizards where he averaged 9.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists per game while shooting a career-high 36 percent from 3-point range.

The 33-year-old has played in just 19 playoff games, with a five-game playoff run this past season being the longest of his career. He could be looking to make the first real deep playoff run of his 11-year career, and the Bucks would be a good fit. Second unit guard Jeff Teague is an unrestricted free agent for the Bucks, and Smith would be an upgrade over Teague in filling the backup point guard role.

Smith has become somewhat of a model for reliable backup point guard play in recent years. Over the last five seasons split between the Wizards and Detroit Pistons, Smith averaged 9.6 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game. Last season was the first year of that five-year stretch where he didn’t average at least nine points, but according to NBA.com/stats, his usage rate also dropped to 15.5 percent, which can be attributed to playing with a high-usage Russell Westbrook in the backcourt.

Smith absolutely could get back to a nine point, three rebound, four and a half assist season average, which would be a welcomed addition after the backup point guard play the Bucks got last season. That role was never really filled reliably at all last year between D.J. Augustin and Teague, which became exasperated when Donte DiVincenzo got injured in the first round.

If the Bucks want a reliable backup point guard who could also come in relatively cheap, they could certainly do worse than Smith.