How former Milwaukee Bucks are faring with their new teams this year

How are former Milwaukee Bucks Jeff Teague and “The Trenches” performing this season?

Time to do a bit of rapid-fire here with some of the Bucks deeper bench players (self-nicknamed as “The Trenches”) as well as backup point guard Jeff Teague.

Teague came to the Bucks off the buyout market after spending time with the Boston Celtics earlier last season. Teague became the de facto backup point guard after they traded D.J. Augustin to the Houston Rockets (for Tucker).

The 33-year-old is a free agent but could surely provide some ball-handling as an extra guard for a team in need of a veteran. We’ll always have Teague’s great performance in Game 6 against the Atlanta Hawks and his incredible reaction to winning the title.

Sam Merrill

Merrill spent his rookie season with the Bucks after being selected in the second round, played in 30 games, and even started a couple when the Bucks rested their starters. He was moved to the Memphis Grizzlies in the Grayson Allen trade.

The sophomore has played in six games for the Grizzlies so far, averaging 4.2 points but only shooting 30.4 percent from three on nearly four attempts per game in around 10 minutes a game. He has also played in two G League games for the Grizzlies affiliate, averaging over 22 points, five rebounds, and five assists while shooting over 46 percent from three.

He is dealing with an ankle injury, so hopefully, he can return to action soon. Here is a nice moment between him and Jordan Nwora from the preseason.

Elijah Bryant

Bryant was signed as an international free agent near the end of the regular season last year and ended up having to play in some playoff games when the Bucks needed ball-handling in a pinch. I expected him to make the team this year, but he was cut before the season started.

Bryant went back overseas and has fared relatively well. He plays for Anadolu Efes of the Turkish Super League and EuroLeague. He has played four Super League games, averaging 13 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists while shooting around 60 percent from the field.

He has also played in eight EuroLeague games, averaging 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds, but only shooting 21.1 percent from three on 2.4 attempts per game. Bryant seems to have found his niche overseas and good for him on winning a ring in his first NBA foray.

Mamadi Diakite

Out of the four players listed in this section, Diakite was easily the loss that fans were most upset about. The Bucks are notably thin in the frontcourt this season and there were still fans during the Bucks’ struggles early this year that thought it was a mistake to let go of Diakite because of that.

Diakite has yet to find a team this season, in the NBA, G League, or overseas. He was waived by the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 16th and there has been little news on him since. While I hope Diakite can catch on somewhere, it does not appear as if this is another Christian Wood situation as some fans thought (seriously, people actually said this!).

There isn’t anyone that the Milwaukee Bucks lost who is performing so well that it would make me regret losing them if I was in the Bucks front office. Nevertheless, I wish these former Bucks well and hopefully, the ones not on a team can find a home soon.