The Milwaukee Bucks are sitting at home watching the playoffs on vacation while their former second-round picks are getting legitimate rotation minutes in meaningful games. We've talked about the importance of youth ad nauseam on the site for months, but the development of Sandro Mamukelashvili and Sam Merrill on their respective teams is the kind of organizational failure that sticks with you.
Milwaukee's former second-rounders are still contributing in the playoffs
The two are facing off in the first round series between Cleveland and Toronto, and contributing in ways Milwaukee never gave them the chance to. Milwaukee, on the other hand, missed the playoffs for the first time in the Giannis Antetokounmpo era and is wondering how they wasted so much talent.
Merrill's been particularly effective for Cleveland. Through four playoff games, he's averaging 7.3 points in 19 minutes while shooting a decent 35 percent from deep. Most notably, Toronto's Jamal Shead is still a scoreless 0-for-4 when defended by Merrill through 35.4 partial possessions according to NBA.com tracking data.
Mamu's providing solid backup big minutes for the Raptors: 16.2 minutes, 4.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game. Nothing spectacular, but that's exactly the kind of reliable depth piece playoff teams need. The Bucks could've had that instead of watching Bobby Portis struggle all season.
This is what happens when you don't invest in developing your young talent while you have them. Milwaukee drafted both these guys, watched them show flashes, then cut them loose before giving them real opportunities to grow. Now they're contributing to playoff teams while the Bucks are home, wondering what went wrong.
To add insult to injury, the Bucks are coming off another season of making the same mistake with Andre Jackson Jr., who Doc Rivers and company refused to play until the dying games of the season. Will Jackson be yet another former Buck who thrives in his next destination?
The painful reminder isn't just that Mamukelashvili and Merrill are playing. It's that Milwaukee has spent years chasing veteran depth instead of developing the young players already in their system. How many second-rounders did they let walk who could've been rotation pieces if given consistent minutes?
The investment in young talent is what separates smart organizations from those stuck in perpetual mediocrity. Cleveland kept Merrill, gave him opportunities, and now he's contributing in the playoffs. Toronto did the same with Mamu.
The Bucks still have another chance to right their wrongs
Merrill's floor spacing is exactly what Milwaukee needed all season. A reliable shooter who can defend well enough not to get hunted. They had him, developed him minimally, then let Cleveland scoop him up for nothing. The Bucks should be thanking their lucky stars they still somehow found Cormac Ryan in the G League.
Mamu's rebounding would've been useful too. The Bucks got killed on the glass all season while their former second-rounder is pulling down 7 boards per game in playoff action. In the same way, the Bucks are lucky they found something in Pete Nance.
All this is to say that the series between Cleveland and Toronto should serve as a reminder of what happens when you let go of players who fill needs you're desperately trying to address elsewhere. And it should push the Bucks to see what they have in guys like Ryan and Nance, who coincidentally play the same positions as Mamukelashvili and Merrill. And what about Bogoljub Markovic, who has yet to play any NBA minutes?
The Bucks' old mistakes are on display right now, getting playoff minutes and contributing to winning basketball. Meanwhile, Milwaukee's planning its rebuild. Maybe this time they'll actually give young pieces a real chance before letting them walk.