The Milwaukee Bucks have been trying to bring in guys who can help them win an NBA title as soon as possible. They have been feeling the pressure of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
He has mentioned multiple times that he will only stay in Milwaukee if they are consistently able to compete for championships and make deep runs in the playoffs.
Because of that, the Bucks have traded away draft picks in order to acquire players who can help them win sooner and not worry about developing a bunch of young guys.
Milwaukee had that mentality coming into this season. They had two rookies for this class and they ended up trading one of them away.
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The Bucks decided to trade away AJ Johnson in the Khris Middleton trade to acquire Kyle Kuzma. That means that they have just one rookie left on their roster.
Bleacher Report was not impressed with what that lone rookie has done. They gave the Bucks a poor grade for their rookie class this season.
They gave the Bucks just a C- for what the rookies have done this year. Their only rookie left on the roster is Tyler Smith, and he hasn’t done much for the Bucks.
Smith has played in just 17 games this season and has spent most of the season in the G League. He just hasn’t been able to give Milwaukee any sort of productivity.
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The Bucks are hoping that Smith can eventually give them some good minutes, but he’s not ready to do that right now. It doesn’t look like that will be this season, though.
With the Bucks as one of the top teams in the East, they can’t afford to give him minutes right now. They have to give those minutes to guys who they think can actually help them win games.
Milwaukee is going to be in win-now mode as long as Antetokounmpo is on the roster. It wouldn’t be surprising to keep seeing them get rid of young guys in favor of more established contributors.
So far this season, Smith is averaging 2.6 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game.
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