Instant reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks waiving DeAndre’ Bembry

Though the 2022 NBA Playoffs are right around the corner, the Milwaukee Bucks are not yet done making some tweaks to their roster.

First reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania early Thursday morning, the Bucks have waived DeAndre’ Bembry, who recently underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL and MCL. Bembry suffered the unfortunate injury last month after appearing in just eight contests with the Bucks, and his short tenure with the team has now come to an end.

Reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks waiving DeAndre’ Bembry Thursday morning

First and foremost, we wish Bembry all the best moving forward. He played promising during his brief time with the Bucks, and it was incredibly fortunate to see him go down. As he recovers from this injury, we will all be rooting for him to be back on the floor as soon as possible.

Many have wondered if this decision to waive Bembry had anything to do with the Bucks’ recent signing of Luca Vildoza. To be clear, it does not. The Bucks had an open roster spot to fill prior to the signing of Vildoza, and he brought the roster up to 15 players. With Bembry waived, the Bucks now have an open roster spot they can fill once again. The biggest question is who they may look to fill this now-vacant roster spot, as it would make sense for them to do so rather than leave it vacant heading into the playoffs.

The most obvious candidate would be rookie Sandro Mamukelashvili, who is signed on a two-way right now. The Bucks could convert his contract to a standard deal, similar to what they did to one of their own last season with Mamadi Diakite. It would be a nice gesture, and with the potential he has shown throughout his rookie season, it would make sense to give Mamukelashvili this spot.

Looking at possible external options for the 15th man, there are not too many players that come to mind for the defending champions. Though they did show interest in Tyreke Evans recently and took a closer look at him with the Wisconsin Herd, the guard suffered an ankle injury that cut his tenure with the team short. There are some other household names still on the free agent market like Ersan Ilyasova, Glenn Robinson III, and others, but it would be somewhat surprising to see the Bucks bring in a free agent, though not impossible.

For now, only time will tell what general manager Jon Horst has up his sleeve with three games to go until the 2022 NBA Playoffs. As previously mentioned, that final spot will likely be rewarded to Mamukelashvili as a sort of promotion, but that is not set in stone just. Stay tuned to see how the defending champions continue to tweak their playoff roster in the coming days before they begin their highly-anticipated title defense.

Once again, we all wish Bembry the best and a speedy recovery as he battles through this tough endeavor. Thank you, DeAndre’!