Bucks Rumors

Free Agency Notes: Turner, Lillard, Kuminga, Clarkson, Beasley

July 1st, 2025 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required), the Pacers offered up to $95MM over four years for Myles Turner before he agreed to sign with the Bucks. Earlier reporting suggested Indiana didn’t go above roughly $60MM over three years.

Doyel shares that tidbit within a column defending the Pacers and castigating Turner’s camp for referring to Indiana’s “aversion to the tax” in leaks to ESPN, portraying the four-year, $95MM bid as a strong offer. Given the slant of the piece, it’s worth taking the report with a grain of salt.

Even if the Pacers did get up to $95MM, that offer would have come in quite a bit below the $107MM deal Turner is getting in Milwaukee and would also fall well short of the going rate for quality starting centers in recent years — Jarrett Allen and Jakob Poeltl have gotten $30MM and $28MM annually on their most recent extensions, for example. Even Naz Reid, who has been a reserve in recent years, received $25MM per year over the weekend.

Here are a few more notes and rumors related to free agency:

During a TV appearance on ESPN (Twitter video link), Marc J. Spears of Andscape says star point guard Damian Lillard intends to rehab his Achilles tear in Portland to be close to his family, whether or not he signs with a team in the near future. Spears also says that at least 10 clubs – including the Warriors (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN) – have touched base with Lillard since word of his release broke, and adds that there’s “speculation” the 34-year-old could be back around the All-Star break. Given that Lillard just sustained the injury in late April, that timeline feels a little aggressive to me, but it sounds like he might aim to make it back before the end of the 2025/26 season.
There’s very little money available on the open market for this summer’s top restricted free agents, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst stated during a TV appearance (Twitter video link). Windhorst went on to say that it might be in the Warriors‘ and Jonathan Kuminga‘s best interests to work out a deal and possibly revisit the trade market down the road. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter video link) says he hasn’t heard “any traction” about a sign-and-trade deal to the Bulls, who have been rumored as a potential suitor for Kuminga.
As first reported by Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), veteran guard Jordan Clarkson gave up the exact amount of his minimum salary (roughly $3.6MM) when he agreed to a buyout with the Jazz, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That will reduce his cap hit on Utah’s books from about $14.3MM to roughly $10.7MM, and he’ll make up the difference when he signs his new contract with the Knicks.
In another troubling report on free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley, who is under federal investigation for gambling allegations, Robert Snell of The Detroit News takes a deep dive into court records that paint a picture of Beasley’s financial issues in recent years. According to Snell, Beasley owed debts to his landlord, barber, and dentist, and pledged his current and future NBA contracts as collateral last August when he signed a deal with a Florida firm for a bridge loan.

FA Rumors: Rollins, Kings, Westbrook, Robinson, Pistons, Lakers, Horford

July 1st, 2025 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are rescinding their qualifying offer to free agent guard Ryan Rollins, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link). Rollins opened the new league year as a restricted free agent, but this decision will make him unrestricted.

The move is probably more about maximizing the Bucks’ cap room than an indication the team no longer has no interest in retaining Rollins. Milwaukee is making a series of moves in order to open up the space necessary to sign Myles Turner to a four-year, $107MM contract.

Still, it means that the Bucks will no longer have the right of first refusal on Rollins, so he could sign outright with a new team without Milwaukee having a chance to match.

Rollins had a bit of a breakout season in 2024/25, registering averages of 6.2 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game, along with a shooting line of .487/.408/.800. He had only made 25 appearances across two NBA seasons prior to ’24/25.

We have several more items of interest relating to free agency:

After reportedly discussing a deal with the Pistons, the Kings won’t be sending out Malik Monk as part of their Dennis Schröder addition, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter links). Schröder could still be acquired via sign-and-trade, since Sacramento has a trade exception large enough to accommodate his three-year, $45MM deal, but it sounds like he may end up just going into the team’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
With Monk staying in Sacramento, the Kings are less likely to sign free agent point guard Russell Westbrook, Stein adds (via Twitter).
After opting out of his contract on Sunday, free agent forward Duncan Robinson appears unlikely to return to the Heat, multiple league sources tell Anthony Chiang and Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami is exploring sign-and-trade opportunities and the Pistons are among the interested teams, an Eastern Conference source tells the authors. Robinson is the franchise leader for most made three-pointers, but his playing time declined this season and the Heat may consider it too costly to bring him back. A contract agreement with Davion Mitchell gives Miami $173.8MM committed to 14 players for next season, about $14MM away from the luxury tax. Chiang and Jackson suggest the team might re-sign free agent Alec Burks to fill Robinson’s role as a three-point specialist.
Signing Deandre Ayton once he clears waivers remains a possibility, but the Lakers are also exploring other options in free agency and trades, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link) that Al Horford is getting “serious consideration” from both the Lakers and Warriors.

Arthur Hill contributed to this story.

Agent: Being Waived Is ‘Incredible Opportunity’ For Lillard

July 1st, 2025 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks‘ surprising decision to waive Damian Lillard with two guaranteed years left on his contract is being met with significant enthusiasm by at least one involved party: Lillard himself.

League sources tell Sam Amick of The Athletic that Lillard, who will spend the 2025/26 season recovering from an Achilles tear, is “elated” with the move, since it will give him the opportunity to join a team of his choosing while still being paid the $112MM+ he was owed by the Bucks.

Amick refers to it as a “dream scenario” for the star point guard, who struggled at times with the on-court fit in Milwaukee and found it challenging to be away from his children after spending the first 11 years of his playing career in Portland.

As Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian relays (via Twitter), Lillard’s agent Aaron Goodwin put out a statement essentially confirming Amick’s report.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for Damian,” Goodwin said. “He receives all of his money guaranteed, and it provides him an opportunity to decide his next destination as an unrestricted free agent. He gets a chance to rehab at home if he chooses to, and be with his family and his kids for the next year. The goal is for him to take his time and make a decision on what his next destination will be.”

As we relayed earlier, Lillard is expected to take some time to decide whether he wants to sit out this season or sign a multiyear contract and spend the season rehabbing with a team.

According to Amick, the 34-year-old has already received calls from contending teams since word broke that he was being waived by Milwaukee.

Bucks Trade Connaughton, Picks To Hornets For Micic

July 1st, 2025 at 11:45am CST by Rory Maher

July 6: The Hornets have officially acquired Connaughton and the Bucks’ 2031 and 2032 second-round picks in exchange for Micic, the team confirmed today in a press release.

July 1: The Bucks have agreed to trade veteran forward Pat Connaughton and two second-round picks to the Hornets for guard Vasilije Micic, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

The second-rounders heading to Charlotte will be Milwaukee’s own in 2031 and 2032, Charania adds.

As Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron tweets, Micic ($8.1MM) only makes about $1.3MM less than Connaughton ($9.4MM) next season, but the Serbian has been repeatedly rumored to be seeking a return to Europe this summer, and could give up a significant portion of his salary in a buyout. Assuming that comes to fruition, it should give the Bucks enough cap room to sign Myles Turner after waiving and stretching Damian Lillard.

Connaughton, 32, was an important reserve for the Bucks when they won the title in 2021 and has been with the team for the past seven years. However, in part due to injuries, he hasn’t looked like the same player in recent years, having been out of Milwaukee’s rotation for much of 2024/25.

Connaughton averaged 5.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists on .469/.321/.774 shooting in 41 regular season games last season (14.7 minutes per contest). He only played 14 minutes over three appearances during the Bucks’ first-round playoff series vs. Indiana, which Milwaukee lost in five games.

Charlotte will acquire a couple of second-round picks for taking on Connaughton’s expiring contract. The Hornets just reacquired Micic yesterday when the Mark Williams trade with Phoenix became official.

Giannis ‘Not Pleased’ With Bucks’ Decision To Waive Lillard?

July 1st, 2025 at 11:44am CST by Luke Adams

Superstar Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is “not pleased” with the team’s decision to waive Damian Lillard, league sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes (Twitter link).

In a shocking pair of moves, the Bucks will waive Lillard and stretch the $112MM+ remaining on his contract after the star point guard suffered an Achilles tear in April, and will sign standout free agent center Myles Turner to a four-year, $107MM deal using the newly created cap room.

The Bucks’ aggressive approach to the offseason was certainly fueled by a desire to stay in contention in the short term and take advantage of Antetokounmpo’s prime years, with Lillard likely to miss most or all of 2025/26. So if Giannis isn’t happy about any of their moves, that’s problematic.

Still, it’s worth noting that ESPN’s Shams Charania has indicated Antetokounmpo was on board with the acquisition of Turner. Within his story on the Bucks’ moves, Charania writes that Antetokounmpo and Turner “both valued the opportunity to partner on the court.”

During an appearance on NBA TV (Twitter video link), Haynes suggested that Antetokounmpo may simply be reacting to the coldness of waiving Lillard – an accomplished and respected veteran star – shortly after he suffered such a major injury.

“He just didn’t like how it was handled,” Haynes said.

For what it’s worth, Lillard might view the situation as a win-win, Marc J. Spears of Andscape tweets, since adjusting to Milwaukee away from his family after spending the first 11 years of his NBA career in Portland had been a challenge for him. Now, he’ll still be paid in full by the Bucks while getting to become an unrestricted free agent, which will give him the ability to pick his own situation.

Lillard is expected to take some time to decide whether he wants to sit out this season or sign a multiyear contract and spend the season rehabbing with a team, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The Heat are among the teams expected to have interest, per Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link), though Jackson says the Oakland native will be “open to considering everything presented.”

As for Antetokounmpo, we’ll see whether he comes around on viewing the Lillard release as a necessary evil to land a player like Turner or whether the situation escalates from here. During his NBA TV spot, Haynes referred to it as “one more thing added to the equation” for Giannis as he considers whether he wants his future to be in Milwaukee or elsewhere.

Bucks Sign Gary Harris To Two-Year Deal

July 1st, 2025 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

July 8: The Bucks’ deal with Harris is official, the team announced in a press release.

“We are excited to welcome Gary to Milwaukee,” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “Gary’s leadership and experience will provide further depth and stability to our backcourt, and his extensive playoff background will be instrumental during the postseason. We are thrilled for Gary to be a Buck.”

July 1: After making a pair of huge moves earlier on Tuesday morning, the Bucks have resumed filling out the edges of their roster. According to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), the team has reached an agreement on a two-year deal with free agent swingman Gary Harris.

While Charania doesn’t specify the financial details, it will likely be a minimum-salary contract for Harris. It will also include a second-year player option, Charania notes.

Harris, 30, saw his playing time decline in recent years in Orlando. He averaged just 14.8 minutes per game in 48 appearances in 2024/25, with averages of 3.0 points and 1.3 rebounds per night.

However, Harris has a long history of playing rotation minutes for both the Nuggets (2014-21) and Magic (2021-25) as a three-and-D wing. He has attempted 4.0 three-pointers per game over the course of his 11-year career and has knocked down 36.9% of them, including 38.8% since he arrived in Orlando as part of the Aaron Gordon trade in 2021. The veteran also earned praise from his Magic teammates this season for his play on defense, even in his limited role.

It has been a busy week so far for the Bucks. In addition to agreeing to terms to Harris, they’ve also struck deals to re-sign Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince, and Gary Trent Jr. while unexpectedly landing a four-year commitment from Myles Turner and even more unexpectedly deciding to waive Damian Lillard and stretch his remaining salary to create short-term cap flexibility.

Bucks To Waive Damian Lillard, Stretch Remaining Salary

July 1st, 2025 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are waiving injured point guard Damian Lillard and stretching the $112.6MM owed to him over the next two years across five seasons, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).

The move will help create the cap room necessary in order for the Bucks to complete their four-year, $107MM deal with free agent center Myles Turner.

It’s a shocking development, but Milwaukee was expected to aggressive this offseason in its efforts to upgrade the roster and convince superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo that he can still contend for a championship with the Bucks. And Lillard, who sustained a torn Achilles during the first round of the playoffs this spring, wasn’t going to be able to contribute to a title chase in 2025/26, as he’ll almost certainly miss most or all of the season.

As we explain in our glossary entry, the stretch provision allows teams to spread out a player’s remaining guaranteed salary across twice the remaining years left on his contract, plus one. That means the Bucks will now carry cap hits of $22,516,603 for the next five seasons for Lillard, instead of paying him $54,126,450 in 2025/26 and $58,456,566 in ’26/27.

The move creates more than $30MM in extra spending flexibility for Milwaukee this season.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), teams aren’t permitted to waive and stretch a player if the move would result in waived-and-stretched salary taking up more than 15% of a season’s cap. But 15% of this season’s cap works out to about $23.2MM, so Lillard’s figure sneaks in below that threshold.

This is the largest waive-and-stretch in NBA history, Marks adds (via Twitter).

A team that waives a player and stretches his salary isn’t permitted to sign him until after the original end date of his contract, so the Bucks wouldn’t be able to bring back Lillard this season or next season once he’s healthy.

Lillard, who will turn 35 this month, averaged 24.9 points, 7.1 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game in 58 starts for the Bucks this season, posting a shooting line of .448/.376/.921. He missed time near the end of the season after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his calf. Although the star guard was able to return during the playoffs, he suited up in just three games before tearing his Achilles.

Bucks, Myles Turner Finalize Four-Year Deal

July 1st, 2025 at 10:11am CST by Rory Maher

July 7: Turner is officially a Buck, per a press release from the team.

“We are thrilled that Myles chose our team and city!” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “He’s a winner and a dynamic player who fits us on both ends of the court. This is a big day for the Bucks and the Milwaukee community, and we are excited to welcome Myles and his family.”

July 1: Myles Turner is leaving Indiana after spending his entire 10-year career with the Pacers, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the veteran center has reached an agreement on a four-year, $107MM deal with the division-rival Bucks.

The contract will include a fourth-year player option and a 15% trade kicker, Charania adds.

According to Charania (Twitter links), Turner made it clear that he wanted to re-sign with the Pacers and tried to get a deal done with Indiana. However, ownership was reluctant to pay the luxury tax in 2025/26, particularly in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s torn Achilles tendon.

Jake Fischer of The Stein Line also says (via Twitter) Turner wanted to remain with the Pacers, but hears they never offered him more than $60MM over three years.

Bucks GM Jon Horst worked with agent Austin Brown to secure Turner a nine-figure payday in a market with little cap space available, per Charania.

Turner’s floor-spacing and rim-protecting is somewhat similar to Brook Lopez, whom the Bucks lost to the Clippers in free agency. The big difference is Turner is 29, eight years younger than Lopez, and better fits Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s contention timeline.

Stunningly, the Bucks are waiving and stretching Damian Lillard — who also suffered a torn Achilles in the playoffs — to create the cap room necessary to sign Turner.

Turner helped the Pacers reach the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history in 2024/25, pushing the heavily-favored Thunder to seven games before Haliburton’s untimely injury in the first quarter of the finale.

A former lottery pick (No. 11 overall in 2015), Turner averaged 15.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.0 blocks on .481/.396/.773 shooting in 72 regular season games last season (30.2 MPG). In 23 playoff contests (29.3 MPG), Indiana’s longtime starting center averaged 13.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 2.0 BPG on .484/.344/.771 shooting.

This is just our speculation, but it’s possible that Indiana might pursue center Deandre Ayton in the wake of Turner’s departure. The Pacers are the team that signed him to a maximum-salary offer sheet three years ago and he’ll be a free agent soon after reaching a buyout with the Trail Blazers.

Lakers Rumors: DFS, Ayton, LeBron, Wiggins, LaRavia

July 1st, 2025 at 7:49am CST by Luke Adams

After Dorian Finney-Smith turned down his $15.4MM player option for the 2025/26 season, the Lakers offered him a new contract, but it only covered two seasons, according to Dan Woike of The Athletic. The veteran forward instead agreed to a four-year, $53MM deal with Houston.

As Woike explains, the Lakers want to maintain as much future cap flexibility as they can in order to be able to pursue a star-level player to pair with Luka Doncic following LeBron James‘ eventual retirement.

That point has also been made by ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who writes that the Lakers want to preserve 2027 cap room in the hopes of landing a maximum-salary player, and by Shams Charania, who discussed the subject on SportsCenter late on Monday night (Twitter video link).

“They are really prioritizing two-year contracts right now,” Charania said. “They want to have max-salary space in 2027.”

How that stance affects the Lakers’ search for a center remains to be seen. While Brook Lopez committed to the Clippers on Monday and Clint Capela agreed to a deal with Houston, it’s Deandre Ayton who has been the team’s top priority, according to Woike, who points out that Ayton and Doncic share the same agent (Bill Duffy).

It sounds like the Lakers are unlikely to offer more than two years to Ayton, so if there’s a rival suitor willing to put a longer deal on the table, that could be problematic for Los Angeles. However, I’d be a little surprised if that’s the case after his time in Portland ended via buyout.

Woike points to the Bucks as one team to watch for Ayton, noting that they should have access to most of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and lost their starting center (Lopez) on Monday.

Here’s more on the Lakers:

ESPN’s Dave McMenamin spoke on NBA Today on Monday about where things stand with James following agent Rich Paul‘s Saturday statement about evaluating “what’s best for LeBron” as the star forward opted into the final year of his contract. “(Paul) has not had any discussion with the Lakers about wanting a trade, on the back end of this statement,” McMenamin said (YouTube link). “He did say that four teams have contacted him in the last 24 hours wanting to take trades, but Rich didn’t have any substantive conversations with those teams either. Right now, LeBron is focused on playing on a championship-caliber roster. Rich told me there’s no guarantees in building a championship-caliber roster, but we know what it looks like and what it doesn’t look like. And we’ll see if in a week from now – when Rob Pelinka‘s finished doing his work with this roster – if it looks like a winning, realistic situation.”
According to Jovan Buha (Twitter video link), the rumored trade talks between the Lakers and Heat about Andrew Wiggins haven’t gained any real momentum due to a “pretty high” asking price on Miami’s end. “We’re talking basically everything or close to everything that the Lakers could offer from a top-end asset standpoint,” Buha said. “So I don’t think that is going to happen. I don’t think the Lakers are trading Rui (Hachimura), a first, and Dalton (Knecht) for Andrew Wiggins. That’s not fair value. That’s not a realistic trade. I think Miami’s playing hardball. We’ll see if they soften their stance.”
League sources tell Woike that Jake LaRavia, who agreed to a two-year, $12MM deal with the Lakers on Monday, was the team’s first call when free agency opened, and that the free agent forward was impressed by the way Pelinka sold the Lakers’ strength and JJ Redick‘s “detailed” plan for how he would be used. One executive who spoke to Woike about the move lauded LaRavia for his toughness, shooting, and burgeoning play-making skills, while another said, “Everyone can use a player like him.”

Gary Trent Jr. Remains With Bucks On Two-Year Deal

June 30th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

July 8: Trent’s new contract is now official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

June 30: Free agent guard Gary Trent Jr. has agreed to a two-year, $7.5MM deal to remain with the Bucks, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets. The second year includes a player option.

It’s slightly above the veteran’s minimum, so Milwaukee will apparently use its Non-Bird rights, which allows a team to re-sign a player for up to 120% of his previous salary or 120% of the league’s minimum salary (whichever is greater).

Trent played on the veteran’s minimum this past year despite being at least a part-time starter for Toronto the previous three seasons.

By getting a player option, Trent positions himself for another shot at free agency next summer when more teams are expected to have cap space.

Still just 26, Trent has been in the league since 2016. In his first season with the Bucks, he appeared in 74 games, making nine starts. He averaged 11.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game.

Trent made 43.1 percent of his shots, including a near career-high 41.6 percent from deep. Of the 8.9 shots he took per game, a majority (5.9) were beyond the three-point arc.

After Damian Lillard went down with an Achilles injury, Trent had two huge offensive games in the playoffs. He scored 37 points in Game 3 against Indiana and 33 in Game 5 during Milwaukee’s first-round loss.

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