Everyone knows the Milwaukee Bucks' long-standing inability to add and develop youth is coming back to bite them right now. This team can still turn the tide, but they have to actually provide the youngsters minutes to fuel their development. Whether it's the youth Milwaukee has or players they can find this summer, it will be up to Doc Rivers to lean on them more.
Bucks must find, develop, and utilize their youth in the modern NBA
Last season, the Bucks clearly had some frontcourt issues. Brook Lopez had a tough time keeping up with quicker, more agile bigs. The team desperately needed a dose of athleticism in that regard, and a possible solution was rookie big man Tyler Smith. A 6-foot-11 marksman who also rebounds and can switch defensively, it would have been nice to see what the Bucks had in Smith as a rookie.
Would Smith have been perfect? Absolutely not. In fact, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writer and Bucks reporter Jim Owczarski recalled a time when he watched Khris Middleton eviscerate Smith in a drill in practice. Smith might have gotten eaten alive against other opposing bigs, but it would have been a worthy exercise to get his feet wet rather than keeping him glued to the bench every single night.
Smith isn't alone. Andre Jackson Jr. finally got his chance to play legitimate minutes last season, and there were unsurprisingly flaws. Rivers not only took Jackson out of the starting five, but he benched the youngster entirely. Chris Livingston, the richest final pick of a draft ever, hasn't even sniffed a key role for the Milwaukee Bucks since signing that contract.
These players are all basically unknown enigmas. When the Milwaukee Bucks are spending valuable draft capital on them and then not developing them, it stings.
Plenty of Bucks fans have pitched the idea of the front office trading the 2031 first-round pick for two picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, but would it be worth it? Would the Milwaukee Bucks actually change the narrative and lean on two rookies? It would undoubtedly be a major gamble.
No matter who is on the team, Rivers must find a way to incorporate youth and not keep them on such a short leash. The days of the Milwaukee Bucks adding veterans for the sake of name-brand players are over. In today's NBA, you need youth. Tyler Smith can give them that. Andre Jackson Jr. can give them that. Perhaps who they take 47th overall in the upcoming draft can give them that.
If the Milwaukee Bucks want to overcome their lack of reliable young contributors, not only must they find them, but they must also play them. There will be mistakes, but players can grow from them.
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