The rotating door that is the Milwaukee Bucks‘ second two-way contract slot continues as the team has requested waivers on guard Javonte Smart.
Smart was initially signed from the Miami Heat’s G League affiliate after the team waived guard Justin Robinson. In a corresponding move, the team signed Wisconsin Herd alum Lindell Wigginton to the vacant two-way spot.
Reactions to the Bucks waiving Javonte Smart
Smart played in 13 games for the Bucks (starting one) and averaged 2.4, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in around 12.3 minutes per game. He started out his Bucks tenure pretty well, averaging 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in his first two games with the team. It looked promising for Smart!
https://twitter.com/Bucks/status/1468032747880927233?s=20
Things sort of fell off after that. In the following 10 games, Smart scored a total of 17 points on 6-of-33 shooting which included a 2-of-14 night in his lone start against the Cleveland Cavaliers where he played over 44 minutes on a night where the Bucks were ravaged with injuries and illnesses.
The writing was somewhat on the wall for Smart these last couple of games. The Bucks have been without Jrue Holiday and George Hill for a few games and were in need of a primary ball-handler. There was a big opportunity to be had for Smart, but he played just under four minutes in garbage time.
Ultimately, if they couldn’t trust him with rotation minutes while both point guards were out, it wasn’t a good sign for his long-term future with the Bucks.
I’ll be honest, I liked what I saw from Smart in those first couple of games and thought it was a better use of the two-way spot than using it on Justin Robinson due to Smart’s age and build.
However, it became clear that he wasn’t going to be able to give the Bucks enough as a two-way player and they decided to move on.
No one should lose too much sleep over what the Bucks do with their second two-way spot since they’ll likely continue to cycle through guys that can chip in from time to time when called upon. If they cut Sandro Mamukelashvili from his two-way spot though, then we riot (that’s not going to happen though).
I had relatively high hopes for Smart after his G League performances and, again, his size for his position made him an interesting option to take a flier on in a developmental sense. It didn’t work out, though, and the Bucks moved on.
Smart will likely have interest from a number of clubs for their affiliates after averaging 22 points on 64.5 percent true shooting in five G League games.
It will be interesting to see how the two-way situation plays out for the remainder of the season and if Wigginton can grab hold of the consistent roster spot that Smart and Robinson couldn’t.