Ranking Bucks' off-season moves after splashy Gary Trent Jr. signing
By Dalton Sell
No. 5 - Drafting Tyler Smith
With their second-rounder in the NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected potential-filled youngster Tyler Smith. Coming from the G-League Ignite instead of college, Smith didn't have a traditional path to the league, just like their other pick in this draft, as he's been playing against pro talent for quite a while now. He's an interesting long-term prospect for the Bucks.
Smith's most desirable attributes are his shooting and athleticism. At 6-foot-11, he has a nice stroke from the outside, knocking down 36.4 percent of his triples this past season. He's also a freak athlete for a player of that size, flying all over the court to fight for rebounds and throw down lobs. Both of those are attributes this Milwaukee Bucks team needed more of this off-season.
At 19, Smith is pretty raw and is unlikely to see a prominent role this coming season. Most of his time will likely be spent on the sidelines, picking the brains of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis and Brook Lopez if that trio is still intact when the season begins. If he can keep developing his skills and improve by the day, there's no denying that he has the skill set to leap into this rotation down the line.
At the time of this writing, Smith very well could be Milwaukee's break glass in case of an emergency big man, as they don't have any roster space to add another body in the frontcourt, so it shouldn't be ruled out entirely that he could get on the court at some point this coming season. Of course, having everyone healthy would be the prefered outcome, though.