3 players the Milwaukee Bucks should avoid acquiring at the trade deadline

Players the Milwaukee Bucks should avoid acquiring at the deadline – #3: Jalen Smith

Again, nothing against the player in this situation, but adding Jalen Smith is, at best, a lateral move for the Bucks,

It wouldn’t take a ton to pry the former lottery pick from a season ago out of the Phoenix Suns’ clutches, but I don’t know how much better it makes the Bucks this season, which is what should matter the most.

He’s played 25 games and around 13 minutes per game in those appearances, averaging 6.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks. He’s a promising 21-year-old but that’s not what the Bucks are in the market for as they look to repeat as champs.

I’m all for adding players in their prime age or younger to help extend the window, but at the deadline when you’re looking to fine-tune your roster in hopes of making that championship push, then these aren’t the types of moves that they should be interested in.

Smith would absolutely provide depth up front, but if Lopez doesn’t return or can’t be relied upon, then having Smith as your lone backup to Bobby Portis would be a disaster. He’s barely shown he can survive in the regular season, let alone in a playoff environment that saw Portis get played off the floor.

I’m not expecting the Bucks to add a Myles Turner-level big man at the deadline, but someone who has a track record such as Robin Lopez or Young as I mentioned earlier would be wonderful. Even someone like Washington that is younger, but has a much better track record of success makes more sense in this scenario.

Smith could turn out to be a very solid role player somewhere down the road. Heck, he could be even better than that, he was a top 10 pick after all, but taking a gamble like that isn’t what the Bucks need to be looking for around the deadline. If you’re that desperate for a big, wait for the buyout market.

The deadline is under a week away now and the rumor mill is churning at rapid speeds with all sorts of players being linked to the Milwaukee Bucks. They would be wise to pass on all three of these guys, however.