Sometimes, a hidden gem is staring a team in the face, just like it was last season when two-way guard Ryan Rollins burst onto the scene with the Milwaukee Bucks. As they look to find another diamond in the rough any way they can, Milwaukee's front office should take a closer look at a young talent they already had on the payroll this past season in Stanley Umude.
The Bucks should take a closer look at young wing
When Umude first signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency, there was plenty of excitement. What's not to like about an energetic, lengthy wing who shoots the long ball and plays defense? Yet, despite his potential, Umude appeared in just 22 regular-season games for a total of 86 minutes, making fans realize that perhaps their expectations were far too high.
Umude didn't impress in his limited minutes, averaging 0.7 points while shooting a whopping 19.2 percent from the floor, but it's hard to impress when all of your minutes come during mop-up duty. He can now enter free agency again, and his future remains incredibly uncertain. Teams won't be banging down his door once NBA Free Agency opens up, to say the least.
The Milwaukee Bucks would be wise to bring Umude back on a two-way deal. Get him some reps in the Summer League and preseason to see if he impresses. Just like with Rollins, who quickly leaped into the rotation and eventually became a starter who should firmly be in the team's long-term plans, sometimes, all a player needs is an opportunity to showcase what they can bring to the table.
At this point, the Bucks don't have much to lose. If next year is indeed a "gap year" as the team waits for Damian Lillard to get healthy, they should constantly be evaluating young talent to see who might be worthy of sticking around long term. Stanley Umude has the physical traits to be a nice wing at the NBA level, but Milwaukee must find out whether or not he's legitimate.
The first order of business involves keeping him on another two-way contract and then going from there to see what's next. At 26, Umude isn't as young as Rollins was when he broke into the mix, but he hasn't earned a legitimate shot during his first three NBA seasons, so there may be some potential still waiting to be unearthed.
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