Milwaukee Bucks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bucks Sign Jaylen Adams To Two-Way Contract

November 21st, 2020 at 3:04pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NOVEMBER 24, 9:00pm: The signing is official, per team press release.

NOVEMBER 21, 3:04pm: Free agent guard Jaylen Adams has agreed to a two-way contract with the Bucks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

Adams signed with the Trail Blazers prior to the restart as a substitute player when Trevor Ariza opted not to participate in Orlando. He made three brief appearances during Portland’s postseason run.

The 6’2” Adams also appeared in 34 games last season with the Hawks, averaging 3.2 PPG and 1.9 APG in 12.6 MPG. Additionally, he spent a chunk of last season in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd. Adams, 24, went undrafted in 2018 after a stellar college career with St. Bonaventure.

Bucks Re-Sign Pat Connaughton

November 21st, 2020 at 2:41pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 24: The Bucks have officially re-signed Connaughton, according to the NBA’s transactions log.

NOVEMBER 21: The Bucks and Connaughton have adjusted their agreement and will now complete a three-year, $16MM deal, his representatives at Excel tell Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

The Early Bird/player option noted below likely played a part in this renegotiation, as Milwaukee would have had to use part of its mid-level exception to complete the deal that was initially reported. Now the Bucks will be able to use their Early Bird rights on Connaughton while using their mid-level on D.J. Augustin.

NOVEMBER 20: The Bucks have reached an agreement on a two-year deal for free agent guard Pat Connaughton, his agents inform ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter links). According to Woj, the two-year contract will be worth $8.3MM with a player option in year two.

Connaughton, who will turn 28 in January, has been a regular rotation player off the bench for the Bucks in each of the last two seasons. He averaged 5.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 1.6 APG with a .455/.331/.775 shooting line in 67 games (18.6 MPG) in 2019/20.

The Bucks held Early Bird rights on Connaughton, allowing them to re-sign him without dipping into their mid-level or another exception. However, players signed using Early Bird rights aren’t permitted to get a second-year option in their contracts, so it seems like something’s got to give there.

Milwaukee will continue to seek ways to upgrade its roster after its rumored sign-and-trade deal for Bogdan Bogdanovic fell apart earlier this week.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Rumors: Teague, Payton, Beasley, Davis, Ibaka, Thompson

November 21st, 2020 at 2:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks have interest in free agent Jeff Teague as a starting point guard option, Marc Berman of the New York Post tweets. Teague, who made $19MM annually over the last three seasons, averaged 10.9 PPG and 5.2 APG in 59 combined games with the Timberwolves and Hawks last season.

If the Knicks don’t sign the 32-year-old Teague, they may shift back to one of their own free agents, Elfrid Payton. Front office executive Scott Perry remain a fan of Payton despite his perimeter shooting issues, Berman adds. Payton averaged 10.0 PPG and 7.2 APG in 45 games with New York last season.

We have more free agent news:

The Bucks expressed interest in combo guard Malik Beasley before he chose to re-sign with the Timberwolves, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Beasley agreed to a four-year, $60MM contract with Minnesota.
Anthony Davis will return to the Lakers but he might not put that in writing until December, Joe Vardon of The Athletic reports. Agent Rich Paul said there is no hurry for Davis to put his name to a contract and the signing could come just before or even during training camp.
After completing an agreement with Fred VanVleet, Raptors president Masai Ujiri and GM Bobby Webster will meet with their other prominent free agent, forward Serge Ibaka, on late Saturday afternoon or evening, Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet tweets. As many as 10 teams have shown interest in signing Ibaka, who is coming off a career year and strong postseason run.
The Timberwolves have inquired about center Tristan Thompson, Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Minnesota is seeking some depth in the middle behind starter Karl-Anthony Towns.

Bucks Sign Bobby Portis

November 21st, 2020 at 11:30am CST by marksuleymanov

NOVEMBER 25: The Bucks have signed Portis, according to the NBA’s official log of transactions.

NOVEMBER 21:: Free agent big man Bobby Portis has reached an agreement to sign with the Bucks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). He’ll get a two-year contract with a second-year player option, Charania adds (via Twitter).

The Bucks are signing Portis using their bi-annual exception, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. That will mean a $3.6MM first-year salary with a $3.8MM option for 2021/22.

The Knicks declined an option on Portis earlier this week to make him a free agent. New York reportedly had an interest in re-signing the center but instead, he heads to the Eastern Conference powerhouse Bucks.

Portis, 25, appeared in 66 games (five starts) for the Knicks last season, averaging 10.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG. The Arkansas native spent his first three-and-a-half seasons in the Windy City with the Bulls before he was shipped to the Wizards in February 2019.

With Milwaukee, Portis and his 6’10’, 250-pound frame will get major minutes backing up the big man duo of reigning two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Thunder Trading Steven Adams To Pelicans

November 21st, 2020 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

9:00am: Wojnarowski has another update on this deal, reporting (via Twitter) that George Hill will indeed end up with the Thunder rather than the Pelicans. New Orleans will also send Oklahoma City Darius Miller‘s $7MM expiring contract, Washington’s 2023 second-round pick, and Charlotte’s 2024 second-round pick, Woj adds.

New Orleans is still acquiring Bledsoe in the multi-team trade, per Woj (Twitter link), so Miller’s contract will likely need to become fully guaranteed for salary-matching purposes and the Pelicans will still probably have to send out a bit more salary. So I expect there are still more parts of this deal to be reported.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter) that Adams may also need to amend his trade kicker to make the money work.

12:41am: The lottery-protected 2023 first-round pick that the Nuggets agreed to send to the Pelicans on draft night in order to land RJ Hampton will be rerouted to Oklahoma City as part of this deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The Thunder will also receive two future second-round picks from New Orleans, per ESPN.

12:00am: Having already traded away guards Chris Paul and Dennis Schröder, the Thunder are now finalizing a trade that will send veteran center Steven Adams to the Pelicans, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The deal is becoming a part of the Jrue Holiday blockbuster that New Orleans and the Bucks previously agreed upon, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Holiday trade will expand to include more teams and players. It still has “a lot of moving parts” and will take some work to finish, tweets Wojnarowski.

The Thunder will be receiving a first-round pick and second-round picks as part of the expanded swap, per Woj (Twitter link).

While it’s tricky to evaluate the deal before we know all those moving parts, we can at least break down Adams’ fit in New Orleans. He’ll fill the hole in the frontcourt created by the free agent departures of Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor earlier this evening. The Pelicans were said to have interest in Aron Baynes, among other big men, but it looks like Adams will be the team’s new man in the middle.

In 2019/20, Adams averaged 10.9 PPG, 9.3 RPG, and 2.3 APG in 63 games (26.7 MPG) as Oklahoma City’s starting center. His contract is somewhat onerous, with a $27.5MM cap hit for 2020/21. However, it’ll be an expiring deal and will come off the Pelicans’ cap next summer.

With the Pelicans now taking on Adams’ salary, it seems likely that at least one of the point guards they were set to receive in the Holiday trade – Eric Bledsoe and George Hill – will be rerouted elsewhere — most likely to OKC.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Free Agent Rumors: Bogdanovic, VanVleet, Augustin, Thompson

November 20th, 2020 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Now that Bogdan Bogdanovic has re-emerged as a free agent option for teams outside of Milwaukee, the RFA swingman and his representatives are expected to take meetings when free agency opens, according to Sam Amick and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, who say that the Hawks and Lakers are known to have interest.

Amick and Nehm suggest it’s “widely known” that Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had been recruiting Bogdanovic to Milwaukee. Since it seems that union won’t happen, teams hoping to eventually lure Giannis away from the Bucks will probably become a little more interested in Bogdanovic, according to The Athletic’s duo, who mention the Mavericks and Heat as a couple of those clubs.

Here’s more on free agency:

Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News tweets that he has consistently heard the Raptors‘ goal is to re-sign Fred VanVleet on a Malcolm Brogdon-type contract. Brogdon’s four-year, $85MM deal was cited way back in August as a probable market-setter for VanVleet’s new contract.
The Suns have reached out to D.J. Augustin, who is also drawing real interest from the Bucks, according to John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 (Twitter link). Gambadoro adds that the veteran point guard is likely to accept the best offer he receives.
Even after winning a championship, the Lakers aren’t content to be passive in free agency, says general manager Rob Pelinka. As Dave McMenamin of ESPN relays, Pelinka vows his club will be “aggressive” as it looks to continue making upgrades. “We’re not going to just sit back and not expect others who are in position to try to better their roster or better their teams,” Pelinka said. “So we have to stay aggressive. I think the danger of winning is complacency, and I won’t — we won’t allow that to creep in here. We’re going to try to improve our team and put Coach (Frank) Vogel and his staff in the best possible position to defend.”
The Lakers would love to land Tristan Thompson in free agency, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com. Mannix says the Raptors are also expected to express interest in Thompson, though Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) hears Toronto hasn’t reached out to the Canadian center yet.

Bucks Moving On From Bogdanovic Pursuit

November 20th, 2020 at 12:38pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks are moving on from their pursuit of Kings RFA Bogdan Bogdanovic, sources tell Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The Bogdanovic saga is the early frontrunner for the oddest story of free agency. Late on Monday night, reports indicated that a sign-and-trade agreement had been reached that would have sent Bogdanovic to Milwaukee along with Justin James for Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, and D.J. Wilson. However, two days later, word broke that the deal was falling apart, having apparently never received approval from Bogdanovic himself.

There was some speculation that the NBA had stepped in due to the perception of tampering or circumvention, and that the Bucks and Kings had to act as if there was no deal in place until free agency opened.

However, now it appears all parties are indeed moving on, clearing the path for Bogdanovic to explore the market for an offer sheet, while the league has opened an investigation into the reported sign-and-trade deal that is no longer happening.

Bogdanovic is one of the fall’s top free agents. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggested on an episode of his Hoop Collective podcast this week that “word on the street” is that the Kings swingman is hoping secure a deal of up to four years in the range of $18MM annually (hat tip to RealGM).

Bucks Release Ersan Ilyasova

November 19th, 2020 at 8:10pm CST by Luke Adams

8:10pm: The Bucks have confirmed they’ve requested waivers on Ilyasova.

2:07pm: The Bucks are waiving forward Ersan Ilyasova before his salary for 2020/21 becomes guaranteed, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Ilyasova is under contract for $7MM in ’20/21, the final year of his deal. However, that amount is fully non-guaranteed until tomorrow, so Milwaukee can avoid being on the hook for his salary by releasing him now.

On its surface, the decision isn’t a surprising one. Ilyasova saw his role reduced in 2019/20, as he recorded 6.6 PPG and 4.8 RPG in 63 games, playing just 15.7 minutes per contest. In the postseason, he logged just 23 minutes in three games.

However, the implications of waiving him are worth noting. He was expected to be moved to Sacramento part of the deal that would have sent Bogdan Bogdanovic to Milwaukee in a sign-and-trade.

However, that deal reportedly fell apart on Wednesday. With Ilyasova hitting waivers, it will be very difficult for the two sides to rekindle that agreement, since his $7MM expiring contract was important for salary-matching purposes. In other words, the Bucks’ decision to cut Ilyasova suggests they really are moving on from Bogdanovic.

Ilyasova will be an unrestricted free agent able to sign outright with any team, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers this weekend.

Bucks Extend QO To Frank Mason III

November 19th, 2020 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Bucks point guard Frank Mason III will become a restricted free agent, after Milwaukee extended his qualifying offer to him, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Mason was selected with the No. 34 pick by the Kings in 2017. He then inked a two-way deal with Milwaukee last summer, and alternated between the Bucks and their Oshkosh-based G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd. The 5’11” guard out of Kansas appeared in nine games for the Bucks, averaging 6.9 PPG, 3.2 APG, and 2.1 RPG across 13.1 MPG.

This summer, Mason was named the G League’s Most Valuable Player for the 2019/20 season. The Herd were 18-5 in games Mason played, and a league-best 33-10 overall. Across 31.5 MPG, the point guard averaged a league-high 26.4 PPG, plus 5.0 APG and 3.4 RPG. His shooting slash line of .504/.425/.815 also contributed to his MVP case.

While Haynes suggests Mason’s qualifying offer is worth $1.5MM, the guard is coming off a two-way deal and appears to be eligible for one more such contract, so we tentatively have the guard’s qualifying offer down as a one-year, two-way contract with a $50K guarantee, as Basketball Insiders indicates.

Luke Adams contributed to this report.

Bogdanovic Receives Qualifying Offer From Kings

November 19th, 2020 at 6:15pm CST by Dana Gauruder

6:15pm: The league has opened an investigation of the reported sign-and-trade agreement between the Kings and Bucks, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

5:34pm: The Kings have extended a $10.66MM qualifying offer to Bogdan Bogdanovic, making the shooting guard a restricted free agent, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.

The move was expected, as it gives Sacramento the right to match any offer for one of the more intriguing free agents on the market. He averaged 15.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG and 3.4 APG in 29.0 MPG last season and is a 37.4% career 3-point shooter.

Bogdanovic has been embroiled in controversy this week. Word leaked that the Bucks had reached a sign-and-trade agreement for Bogdanovic days before the start of free agency.

The teams hoped to bring Bogdanovic the framework of their proposed deal and negotiate his contract with Milwaukee on Friday. Instead, he decided to enter restricted free agency in search of an offer sheet or other sign-and-trade scenarios.

In that proposed deal, the Bucks would have received Bogdanovic and Justin James to Milwaukee in exchange for Ersan Ilyasova, D.J. Wilson, and Donte DiVincenzo. Milwaukee has decided to release Ilyasova, so a renewed effort to acquire Bogdanovic would require a restructured package.