On Saturday, Jackson wrote that Tyler Smith would be the final member of Milwaukee’s 15-man roster, which must be finalized in just under a half-hour. Earlier today, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype mentioned that this weekend the Bucks “evaluated the trade market on Smith” but have yet to find any interested parties. The 33rd overall selection in the 2024 NBA Draft only played 23 games last season and will almost 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 up contracts,” but the cost of simply waiving Smith won’t be onerous for Milwaukee. He’s in the second year of a four-year minimum contract with just under $2 million in guaranteed money, but his third and fourth years are non-guaranteed. This means that if the Bucks waive him today, they will only have to pay him his 2025-2026 salary and no more. While it’s possible that a team could make a claim on him since Smith makes less than minimum salary for a player with one year of experience, it’s more likely that teams won’t want to use a spot on him if they aren’t interested in trading for him. He appears to be a better candidate for a two-way deal if and when it hits the market.
If the Bucks can find a trade partner, I expect the deal to yield very little. I’m skeptical of a team that would give up even a protected top-55 second-round pick for a borderline guy like Smith, and more likely if he is traded the Bucks would only get cash considerations. Even if they have to take Smith’s deal, they’ll have nearly $14 million in wiggle room under the luxury tax (more if Amir Coffey is waived before January), so it wouldn’t be a financially prohibitive move.
UPDATE: Scotto reports that Smith was officially waived because the Bucks were unable to find a trade partner.
