The Milwaukee Bucks are facing tough decisions about the future of small forward Tony Snell, who played extremely well this season in his new role as a 3 and D guy.
Snell contract situation
The Bucks entered the offseason riding on a strong momentum despite falling short to the Toronto Raptors in their best-of-seven first-round series. Milwaukee is projected to be around $13 million under the cap but could create a purchasing power of up to $11 million if Spencer Hawes and Greg Monroe opt-out of the final year of their deals.
The Chicago Bulls traded Tony Snell to the Bucks in exchange for Michael Carter-Williams during the pre-season.
At that point, head coach Jason Kidd just wanted to use Snell as a temporary replacement to Khris Middleton, who was ruled out for six months after suffering a left hamstring injury.
However, Snell blossomed into one of the team’s finest perimeter defender and actually improved his three-point shooting clip from his previous seasons. He averaged 11.6 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists while shooting 52.5 percent from the field – including a 53.5 percent clip from beyond the arc.
In the postseason, Snell showed how much he has grown as a defensive player by limiting DeMar DeRozan’s output to 8 points on 0-for-8 shooting in Game 3 of the series. And although DeRozan went on to average 23.5 ppg in the first-round matchup, Snell managed to keep him under 43 percent, 3 percent below his regular-season shooting clip of 46 percent.
The skinny
The Bucks love to keep their budding shooting guard in town and it’s not even a secret. According to Bleacher Report columnist Adam Fromal, the Bucks’ first wish is to keep Snell before looking for upgrades on their wing. The organization wants him to be part of their young core, but the front-office is also aware that teams are going to line up for his service this offseason.
“In this case, that's actually a good thing for him. Much as the team might like to retain his services and let him grow alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thon Maker, Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton, he'll be a restricted free agent this summer and should draw plenty of attention from talent-starved, cap-rich teams such as the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers,” said Fromal, who also thinks Monroe’s contract situation could also affect the Bucks’ decision on Snell future.
Monroe will have a chance to hit the free-agency market this summer, but sources close to situation reported that the Sixth Man of the Year candidate is leaning towards opting into his final year of his contract that pays him $17.8MM. Monroe is another player the Bucks want to keep because of his increased production during the regular-season and the playoffs.
