The Milwaukee Bucks have been busy making some roster moves over the past few days with the start of 2021 training camp quickly approaching.
According to The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, the Bucks released Elijah Bryant on Sunday in a move that should not be too surprising. After coming aboard near the end of last season, Bryant appeared in one regular season game with the Bucks and caught some eyes after finishing with a 16 point, six rebounds, and three assist performance in a 118-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls. The guard would then appear in 11 playoff games for the Bucks, but he was certainly not a key cog in the rotation with just 4.5 minutes per contest.
As they began trimming down the roster, the team released fan-favorite Mamadi Diakite in what was a shocking move. Following that decision, the writing was on the wall that Bryant would be next in line to hit the open market, and that has now ultimately come to fruition. Although they seemingly liked Bryant enough to pay the fee for him to get a buyout from Maccabi Tel Aviv last year and then immediately give him a two-year deal, his stint with the Bucks come to an end far sooner than one might have once anticipated. Still, this move will undoubtedly not pull at the heartstrings for Bucks fans like it did when the team waived Diakite recently.
What comes next for the Milwaukee Bucks after waiving Elijah Bryant?
Despite cutting Bryant, the Bucks still have quality depth at the two-guard position. Headlined by names like Donte DiVincenzo, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, and Rodney Hood, losing Bryant will not be too seismic of a change to head coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation. He was likely not going to see much time this coming season anyway, making this move all the more reasonable as the Bucks gear up for training camp.
The most interesting part of this move is that the Bucks will now have an open roster spot to fill, which could be done in the coming days. One area that the team could use some added depth in is the center position, which has been a recurring topic of discussion around here later. With a spot freed up, perhaps the front office could look to scour the market for remaining free agents to give Milwaukee some much-needed closure at the position alongside Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis. That would genuinely be the best move for the team rather than keeping a guard that scarcely saw any game action outside of mop-up duty.
Only time will tell if the team decides to utilize that roster spot, but this move creates a pathway for general manager Jon Horst to flex his creativity some more. With training camp approaching and Milwaukee’s Media Day set to take place tomorrow, it is an exciting time for Bucks basketball. There could be more fireworks ahead depending on how things transpire over the next few days.
Stay tuned here for the latest updates and roster moves.