While the front office wastes time agonizing over Kyle Kuzma's expensive mediocrity, their salvation might already be sitting at the end of the bench. That's because Tyler Smith, while not the flashiest player in the world, might be exactly what the Milwaukee Bucks need.
The sophomore forward's flashes showed us what he could be: a player comfortable spotting up in the corners and rotating defensively without needing constant touches to stay engaged. His 3-point stroke looks NBA-ready, and his 6-foot-10 frame provides the positional versatility Doc Rivers desperately needs in his rotations.
Tyler Smith can fill the role the Bucks needed Kyle Kuzma to play
The Bucks have been looking for someone to play the Kyle Kuzma role for a while now, but that player has always been on the roster (Even past Tyler Smith, you have guys like Andre Jackson Jr. and Chris Livingston also waiting in the wings, but that's neither here nor there).
None of this is to say that Kuzma is a bad player. But his fatal flaw with the Milwaukee Bucks thus far has been his inability to accept a defined role. He still sees himself as a secondary option, leading to contested mid-range attempts and defensive gambles that consistently hurt the team. Smith, meanwhile, understands exactly what Milwaukee needs from their forwards.
The formula is brutally simple: shoot threes, play defense, don't overthink it.
While still largely unproven with a sample size that leaves much to be desired, it's not hard to imagine that Smith could do both better than Kuzma ever has in a Milwaukee uniform, simply because he doesn't expect the role of a star. Pair that with the fact that he costs a fraction of the price while bringing none of the ego or shot-selection headaches, and you have a winning argument for why Smith deserves more playing time in his second year in the association.
Smith won't create his own shot or demand post-ups any time soon, but if he can learn to be a star within his role the way many Milwaukee Bucks before him did, he also won't kill possessions with forced attempts or blow defensive assignments trying to make highlight plays.
For a team built around Giannis Antetokounmpo, that complementary approach is infinitely more valuable than Kuzma's empty calories.
And yes, it'll be tough for the front office to finally admit to themselves that they made a mistake trading their third-best player in Khris Middleton for an experiment that just didn't work out.
Milwaukee is more than likely stuck with Kyle Kuzma on the roster (at least for the time being), but they don't have to stay stuck with him in the starting lineup playing a sizeable role that doesn't work for him.
Rivers just needs the courage to make the obvious choice: give Smith meaningful minutes and let his natural fit with the roster speak for itself.
Sometimes the best answer isn't the most expensive one — it's the one that makes everyone else better.