Despite their roster being rather concrete at the moment, the Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly still scouring the market for talent.
According to JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors, the Bucks recently held a free agent minicamp and had some recognizable names in attendance. The list of player participants includes Antonio Blakeney, Chris McCullough, Josh Gray, and Allonzo Trier. Aside from McCullough, who is a power forward, it appears that the Bucks might be looking to shore up their guard depth further after adding pieces like Grayson Allen, George Hill, and Georgios Kalaitzakis through trade, free agency, and the draft this past offseason. You can never have too many guards in today’s league.
While this news is interesting, all of these participants currently face an uphill battle in trying to make the roster. As Shaw noted in a separate tweet, the Bucks have 19 players under contract heading into training camp, with 13 of them being guaranteed while four of them are not. Both of the team’s two-way slots are occupied, with the first belonging to Sandro Mamukelashvili, the 54th overall pick by the Bucks in the 2021 NBA Draft, and then Justin Robinson, the guard that was recently brought aboard. The Bucks would have to shift things around to bring any of these players onto the roster, but any of the four could be interesting candidates.
Could the Milwaukee Bucks eventually sign any of these four free agent minicamp participants?
Out of these four players, Trier is certainly the most interesting candidate to potentially earn a spot on the roster before the 2021-22 season. The shooting guard spent two seasons with the New York Knicks from 2018-20 and put up solid numbers in that span by averaging 9.7 points on .454/.384/.801 shooting splits, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game. He could provide another second unit scorer that is a capable floor spacer alongside a revamped group with Bobby Portis, Rodney Hood, and Semi Ojeleye. At 25-years-old, Trier is still rather young and could give the team quality minutes at the guard position in place of Jrue Holiday and Donte DiVincenzo.
While Trier is the most notable candidate, the other three rumored participants also pose interesting cases to what they could bring to the Bucks. Blakney averaged 7.5 points over two seasons with the Chicago Bulls between 2017-19 and could help bulk up their wing depth even further. Gray would truly have to shine to get signed because the Bucks already recently signed their third-string point guard in Robinson, but he could be interesting regardless. McCollough would help add some size to the frontcourt. Some have argued that size could be problematic for the Bucks this coming season, and McCollough could help bolster that rotation.
All in all, none of these players will be game-changers for the Bucks at the end of the day, but it is interesting to see them looking around for some talent. This team has a knack for finding hidden gems, and perhaps this minicamp could help them strike gold once more.
Only time will tell if the Bucks saw something they liked in this minicamp that would be deserving of a contract.