1:55 PM: NBA insider Jake Fischer confirms (via Twitter) the Bucks plan to release Smith, who is expected to have “several” two-way options to pick from in the coming days.
12:30 pm: Forward Tyler Smith is not in attendance at Milwaukee’s annual open practice on Sunday and is expected to be waived by the Bucks prior to Monday’s deadline for teams to get within the regular season roster limits, reports Eric Nehm of The Athletic (via Twitter).
As we wrote both yesterday and this morning, it appeared likely that either Smith or Andre Jackson Jr. would be cut loose after the Bucks decided to keep Amir Coffey. Neither one was great in the preseason, but Jackson was a little better and has shown more than Smith at the NBA level to this point in their respective careers.
Smith, who was selected No. 33 overall in last year’s draft after spending 2023/24 with the now-defunct G League Ignite, is owed a guaranteed salary of $1,955,377 this season. Assuming he goes unclaimed on the waiver wire, the Bucks will have that figure on their books for the remainder of 2025/26 — Milwaukee isn’t close to the luxury tax line, so waiving Smith won’t affect the team’s cap situation much.
As for Jackson, his $2,221,677 salary for ’25/26 will be fully guaranteed if he makes the regular season roster, which seems likely given that Smith is being released. His contract previously featured a partial guarantee of $800K.
A 6’11” power forward, Smith played a modest NBA role as a rookie last season, appearing in 23 games with averages of 2.9 points in 5.3 minutes per contest. He was a regular contributor in 25 NBAGL games with the Wisconsin Herd, though his statistics — 10.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG and 0.9 BPG on .415/.327/.824 shooting in 25.1 MPG — were fairly underwhelming.
Smith is technically under contract through ’27/28, but the final two years are non-guaranteed.