In a late-season stretch without much to look forward to, dedicated Milwaukee Bucks fans rejoiced as sharpshooting wing Cormac Ryan burst onto the scene.
The 27-year-old New York City native signed a two-way contract with the team in February and made his NBA debut during garbage time in Utah the following month. Once the team was formally eliminated from the Playoffs and Doc Rivers saw the writing on the wall, Ryan was thrust into a prominent role and made the most of his minutes.
The 6-foot-5 wing, who appears taller to the naked eye, averaged almost 20 points per game in the final seven games of the regular season while shooting the stripes off the ball. He knocked down 47.9% of about seven 3-point attempts per game while shooting 54% from the field overall. These weren't your average 3-pointers, either. While most shooters thrive in the corners, Ryan took and made most of his threes from above the break for a staggering 50% hit rate in 14 appearances.
Beyond the shooting, Ryan has a unique swagger that carries onto the court. He's a spry athlete with sneaky bounce and mobility, which help him when guarding the perimeter or attacking the glass. Unlike so many shooters who enter the league, he's proving himself capable of pounding the rock and getting to the basket when he sees a lane. Even so early into his NBA career as an undrafted rookie, there don't seem to be many holes in Ryan's game.
It's unusual for two-way players to make such an impact in a short amount of time, but this is par for the course in Milwaukee. Just this season, big man Pete Nance was promoted from a two-way contract to a standard NBA deal. Before him, it was Ryan Rollins — a deserving candidate and snub for the NBA Most Improved Player Award this year. And a year before that? Sharpshooter AJ Green made a name for himself before eventually securing a long-term NBA deal to stay with the Bucks.
Ryan is the next success story in a growing line of two-way contracts turned legitimate rotation players in Milwaukee.
Bucks' two-way contract success stories prove Milwaukee still has some of the best player development in the NBA.
General Manager Jon Horst has a relatively strong track record in free agency and trades during his tenure with the team, but the NBA Draft appears to be his weakness. With many of the team's draft picks being tied up in trades over the years, he's only made six first-round selections for Milwaukee, and none of them panned out besides a few years of Donte DiVincenzo. But what Milwaukee's newly-extended GM lacks in draft history, he makes up for with undrafted players and two-way contracts.
Horst and his staff have done an excellent job finding players with skills that immediately translate to the next level while also showing flashes of growth in other areas of their game. From Rollins' defense to Green and Nance's shooting, there's always one core skill that stands out from the Bucks' two-way success stories.
Ryan was known as an exceptional shooter, but ultimately, he went undrafted because of his age and the fear that his other skills wouldn't translate to the NBA. Yet if that final stretch of the season is any indicator, Ryan is proving that he has a chance to become a vital member of the Bucks' rotation for years to come. It might seem premature, but if he rises to the occasion in Las Vegas Summer League, he could even have his contract converted to a standard NBA deal as soon as this offseason.
For a small-market franchise like Milwaukee, identifying cost-controlled talent and keeping those players as they grow into the best versions of themselves is the clearest path to survival in the Second Apron era. If the Bucks are going to build a future without access to their draft picks, they must continue to find diamonds in the rough like Cormac Ryan, who just needed someone to give him a chance.
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