Milwaukee Bucks: Reactions to waiving Tremont Waters and three others

Following their preseason finale Friday night, the Milwaukee Bucks were bound to begin cutting down on their roster.

Sure enough, according to the NBA’s transaction log, the Bucks waived four players on Saturday, with Wenyen Gabriel, Jalen Lecque, Javin DeLaurier, and Tremont Waters all being let go. DeLaurier and Waters both played in the preseason with the Bucks, but it never seemed like either would be able to carve out a role to stick around. With DeLaurier, the Bucks clearly like what they saw with their frontcourt depth, which made him expendable. Waters was always viewed as a long-shot to make the roster as he was battling alongside Justin Robinson in the preseason as Milwaukee’s third-string point guard, and Robinson had the upper hand with a two-way contract.

As for Lecque, he did not appear in the preseason, and he was just signed to a training camp deal the other day. Most fans did not even know that the Bucks had Gabriel on the team, which makes sense considering he was both signed and waived today. These moves by the Bucks might seem strange, but it looks like they have a plan in place to keep these players around in Wisconsin, just not with the Bucks down in Milwaukee.

After being waived by the Milwaukee Bucks, these players could be candidates to join the Wisconsin Herd

With the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G-League affiliate, officially set to return after a year off due to the pandemic, they have been putting together a team recently. The Bucks took a similar approach earlier this week by signing and waving both Jemerrio Jones and Rayjon Tucker, two players that have previously played for the Herd. These four players would also help bolster the roster alongside those two ahead of the new season. They are all still fairly young and could aim to get another shot at the NBA level by playing through the Herd, who were on the map prior to being shut down.

All four players that were waived by the Bucks are interesting. While Waters has struggled to find time in the NBA, he brings some experience that could help continue the Herd’s recent success of strong guard-play, which included having the top two G-League MVP candidates on their roster simultaneously. DeLaurier did not shine in the preseason, but there were moments where he did show some untapped potential that could come out while seeing a more prominent role with the Herd. Lecque has plenty of prior G-League experience under his belt, and he has proven to be an electric scorer in the backcourt. As for Gabriel, the big man has not managed to find steady time in a rotation during his two NBA seasons, having played for three teams. Still, there have been times where he looks promising, and he could add some depth to the mix for the Herd.

Only time will tell how things transpire, but that is where this entire thing is seemingly heading after waiving these four players. Honestly, it would be wise to do.

Be sure to stay tuned for the latest updates on these four and the team’s other roster moves before the 2021-22 season kicks off Tuesday night.