Last week, the Bucks announced the signing of 6’6″ guard/forward Shabazz Muhammad, who had his contract bought out by the Minnesota Timberwolves last week as well. The Bucks made a roster spot for him by releasing shooting guard Sean Kilpatrick. The question is… what can Shabazz Muhammad do for this struggling Milwaukee Bucks team?
I remember first hearing about Shabazz Muhammad back in his high school days, because his highlight mixtapes were taking over the internet. There were many talks at the time of Muhammad being “the next big thing” and a future superstar. He went on to play college basketball at UCLA, and played very well there, but analysts could already tell he was not a guaranteed superstar. He was drafted 14th overall by the Utah Jazz on the 2013 NBA Draft, but was immediately traded to the Timberwolves where he would spend the first 4 1/2 seasons of his career. Over those 4 1/2 years, Shabazz has averaged a slim 9 points per game on a struggling Timberwolves franchise. Sure, Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns have now taken over that franchise, but that meant Shabazz had lost his chance at being part of the future success of the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves have now finally found themselves in decent playoff positioning in the 2017-18 season, bouncing around from the 4 seed down to the 7 seed. With Shabazz averaging a career-low 3.8 points per game, it was time to buyout his contract and go their separate ways.
That is where the Bucks came in to play. I’m not sure what exactly General Manager Jon Horst was so eager about when he heard Shabazz Muhammad was going to be bought out of his contract, but let’s hope he knows what he’s doing. I haven’t really seen Shabazz play since his high school mixtapes online, but I know what kind of athleticism he is capable of. Aside from this season, he has historically had a generally high three point percentage, so hopefully he will be able to add some shooting to the Bucks three-point struggles as well.
Shabazz is capable of fitting in with the Bucks, given his athleticism and three-point shooting, so let’s hope he can get himself out of this slump he has been in this season and give the Bucks weak (for now) bench an extra boost.
However, let’s not forget this classic Giannis block on Shabazz mixed in with a classic Bucks TV clip.