He’s essentially a guard or a perimeter SF. Mbah a Moute is strong, and can play the 3 and 4. Alexander is weak.

Alexander can’t defend. He has very little lateral quickness, no strength, and poor instincts. He has potential as a shot blocker because of his ups and relatively long arms, but his inability to play inside otherwise hinders that. Most shot blockers who lack strength are very tall (e.g., Camby). Alexander is about 6′8″ or less.

If he’s a perimeter player, his passing, ball handling and jump shooting are a disaster. If he were an interior 3, or a 4 (like the position ‘Melo plays a lot of the time), those things wouldn’t matter. But the lack of strength means he needs to play on the perimeter.

All that said, he’s a pretty young guy. There’s certainly a sense that the Bucks are dropping him so they can replace him with a minimum salary and avoid a potential tax hit. In a better economy, or on a team with more money, he might have survived another day to try to learn to play on the outside or put on some weight/strength to play inside. I think the guys whose options aren’t getting picked up this year may have more chance than past guys, because some of these decisions are more economic and less talent-based.