On SaturdayJackson wrote about how Tyler Smith was reported to be the final cut from Milwaukee’s 15-man roster, which needs to be finalized in just under a half hour. Earlier todayMichael Scotto of HoopsHype mentioned that this weekend, the Bucks “gauged the trade market on Smith” but have yet to find any interested parties. The 33rd overall selection of the 2024 NBA Draft only appearned in 23 games last season and will most certainly have to establish himself as an NBA player elsewhere.
Keith Smith of Spotrac mentioned that this is an example of “why teams exhaust trade possibilities before simply eating contracts,“ but the cost of simply waiving Smith won’t be onerous to Milwaukee. He’s in the second year of a four-year, minimum contract with just under $2.0m due his way in guaranteed money, but his third and fourth years are non-guaranteed. That means if the Bucks do waive him today, they’ll only have to pay him his 2025–26 salary and no more. While it’s possible a team will make a claim on him since Smith earns less than the minimum salary for a player with one year experience, more likely teams will not want to use a roster spot on him if they aren’t interested in trading for him outright. He seems like a better candidate for a two-way deal if and when he hits the market.
If somehow the Bucks are able to find a trade partner, I expect very little will come back in the deal. I’m skeptical a team would give up even a top-55 protected second round pick for a borderline guy like Smith, and more likely if he is traded, the Bucks would get only cash considerations. Even if they do have to eat Smith’s deal, they’ll have nearly $14m in breathing room beneath the luxury tax (more if Amir Coffey is waived before January) so this would not be a financially prohibitive move.
UPDATE: Scotto reports that Smith has officially been waived as the Bucks could not find a trading partner.
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