The Milwaukee Bucks have attempted to find ways to get creative over the past few years, and it looks like they might be doing that with their 2025 NBA Summer League roster.
According to an announcement from the team, the Bucks will have Keita Bates-Diop on their roster, a 6-foot-8 forward who has six years of NBA experience.
After impressing during his time at Ohio State, Bates-Diop hasn’t found a ton of success in the NBA. However, the 29-year-old has still been a decent player for parts of his career, evident by his 2022-23 stint with the San Antonio Spurs, when he averaged 9.7 points and shot 39.4% from 3-point range on 2.1 attempts per game.
To say that he’s the perfect fit for the Bucks would be unfair, but there’s no debate that Milwaukee is looking to add a wing to its roster. The Bucks still have a few open roster spots and could be viewing this as a test.
Ideally, and for all Bucks fans, they’ve been begging for a wing over the past few years. Outside of P.J. Tucker, Jon Horst has not done a great job of signing or trading for a playable wing.
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Even then, while Tucker was a great player and did a lot of good for the Bucks, he still wasn’t the perfect wing. He lacked athleticism at that stage of his career and primarily stood in the corner, hitting open shots when needed.
Bates-Diop might not even be that, but if he can be anything like that, even if it’s in a regular season role, he might have a spot on this roster.
