The Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly exploring ways to move on from sophomore Tyler Smith, one of which involves moving him via trade. That is according to HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, who reports that the Bucks gauged Smith's value on the trade market over the weekend. Outright cutting Smith is also on the table, but the Bucks would surely prefer to trade him.
Bucks looking to cut sophomore forward
Milwaukee is in this predicament due to their current roster crunch. Wanting to keep Amir Coffey and Andre Jackson Jr., the Bucks needed to clear adequate room. They started the process by releasing Chris Livingston, and now, they are exploring all options to get off Smith, it seems. No matter how the team goes about it, Smith's days in Milwaukee seem to be over.
To be clear, a trade for Smith would not net the Milwaukee Bucks anything significant. While Smith is a nice, potential-filled player, teams aren't beating down the door for him, especially when they are well aware that the Bucks will just cut him if he's not traded. If the Bucks were to land a top 55 protected draft pick, that would be a win for them, helping prevent them from eating more dead money.
The Bucks are already on the hook for Damian Lillard and Chris Livingston, who were both cut this summer, so keeping Smith off the books financially, even if it's not a significant amount, could help.
If the Milwaukee Bucks are unable to trade Tyler Smith, they will release him, where he will garner much more interest. Even if teams are without any legitimate roster spots on the eve of the season, they could still clear out a two-way spot. For a player who was picked 33rd in the draft a year ago, there are plenty of teams who would take a swing at him.
That's why Milwaukee has to hope that someone likes him enough to make an offer to prevent other teams from having a chance.
The way things are trending, Smith looks like another draft miss for the Milwaukee Bucks. It wasn't all his fault, as he was never given a legitimate chance, and the Bucks are clearly prioritizing experienced players over him. However, that's the nature of a team contending for a title. Still, that doesn't make it any easier to accept that they used an early second round pick on him a year ago.
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