Bucks Waive Gary Payton II, Sign Sean Kilpatrick

DECEMBER 18, 10:54am: The Bucks have made it official, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Payton and signed Kilpatrick to a two-way deal.

DECEMBER 16, 11:32pm: The player the Bucks are targeting is Sean Kilpatrick, who was waived by the Nets last week, Haynes tweets. Brooklyn released the fourth-year shooting guard to open a roster spot for the Jahlil Okafor trade. Kilpatrick was a part-time starter last season, averaging 13.1 points over 70 games, but his playing time was cut drastically this season and his scoring average dipped to 4.9 points in 16 contests.

10:58pm: The Bucks are planning to waive guard Gary Payton IItweets Chris Haynes of ESPN. Haynes adds that getting rid of Payton is “not a popular move” among teammates (Twitter link).

Payton inked a two-way contract with Milwaukee in October, which limits him to 45 days in the NBA. He will reach that total Monday and would have to be signed to an NBA contract to continue playing for the team. The Bucks have a full 15-man roster with 14 guaranteed contracts.

Haynes’ report is confirmed by Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who tweets that the Bucks want to use Payton’s two-way slot to sign another player and believe they need to act fast to make sure they get him. That player’s NBA time will be pro-rated, which will amount to about 30 days.

Payton has appeared in 11 games this season and has made six starts. He is averaging 2.4 points in about nine minutes per night.

Payton first joined the Bucks in April of last season. He was cut in October, but agreed to the two-day deal after clearing waivers.

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