Bucks Notes: Brogdon, Monroe, Parker, Bolomboy
Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon is adjusting to a new role since the trade for Eric Bledsoe, writes Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Formerly the starting point guard and third scoring option, Brogdon now comes off the bench and plays in a variety of lineups.
The changes have taken a toll on Brogdon’s production. He was averaging 16.2 points and 4.9 assists while shooting 50.5% from the field in nine games before Bledsoe was acquired. In the first seven games since the deal, those numbers have fallen to 9.3/2.0/37.9% “Confidence for me has fluctuated a little bit, just being out of rhythm,” Brogdon admitted. “Playing a different role on this team is a total adjustment for me.”
There’s more this morning out of Milwaukee:
- Another adjustment for Brogdon has been the loss of Greg Monroe, who was shipped to Phoenix in the Bledsoe deal. Monroe and Brogdon developed on-court chemistry, and the veteran big man served as a valuable confidant during Brogdon’s rookie season. Now that role has fallen to other players, who are helping Brogdon deal with his current situation. “I’ve been leaning on John Henson a lot, Khris [Middleton] has talked to me a lot,” he said. “Their advice is just to continue to play my game, regardless of my circumstance, regardless of my situation, because the team needs me to be aggressive, to play my game and be who I am.”
- Jabari Parker is still a long way from his projected February return from a second ACL tear, but he is becoming more active with the team, relays Eric Woodyard of The Deseret News. Parker has been participating in practices, shootarounds and three-on-three games, as well as traveling with the team. A committed Mormon, he looks forward to the yearly trip to Utah that happened Saturday and relies on faith as he works his way back from the injury. “It’s the biggest thing that helps me every day and regardless of if I was hurt or not,” Parker said.
- Joel Bolomboy wasn’t out of work very long after being waived by the Jazz before the start of the season, writes Mike Sorenson of The Deseret News. He joined the Bucks on a two-way contract and is trying to make the most of his second shot at the NBA. “I don’t think it was a disappointment at all,” he said of Utah’s decision. “It was just business. The way I see it, you just got to go with it, you can’t do anything about it. They let me go and I still get to play basketball and I was fortunate the Bucks signed me to a deal. It’s a real good opportunity over here and I like it a lot.”
25 Players Still On Non-Guaranteed 2017/18 Salaries
There are 25 players around the NBA playing on 2017/18 salaries that aren’t yet fully guaranteed. While having those salaries guaranteed will be a mere formality for some players, others may be at risk of losing their roster spot with decision day nearing. If teams keep non-guaranteed players under contract beyond January 7, their salaries will become guaranteed for the season on January 10, so clubs still have more than a month to decide whether to lock in these players’ full-season salaries.
Listed below is the team-by-team breakdown of the players who are still on non-guaranteed salaries or partially guaranteed salaries. Unless otherwise indicated, each of these players is set to earn the minimum. Partial guarantees are noted if they exceed a player’s prorated salary to date. Any teams not listed below are only carrying players with fully guaranteed salaries.
Atlanta Hawks
- Luke Babbitt: Partial guarantee of $987,080.
- Isaiah Taylor
Brooklyn Nets
Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
- Kay Felder: Partial guarantee of $456,529.
- David Nwaba
Dallas Mavericks
- Dorian Finney-Smith
- Devin Harris: Partial guarantee of $1,339,662.
- Full salary: $4,402,546
- Jeff Withey: Partial guarantee of $350,000.
Detroit Pistons
- Eric Moreland: Partial guarantee of $1,000,000.
- Full salary: $1,739,333
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Lakers
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Marcus Georges-Hunt: Partial guarantee of $275,000.
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Orlando Magic
- Khem Birch: Partial guarantee of $407,808.
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
San Antonio Spurs
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards
- Sheldon Mac
- Note: Mac is recovering from a torn Achilles and will continue to be paid his full-season salary until he’s cleared to return.
To keep tabs on these 25 players over the next several weeks, be sure to check back on our regularly-updated lists of salary guarantee dates and of non-guaranteed contracts.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images and USA Today Sports Images. Information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.
Central Notes: Cavs, Zipser, Maker
The injuries are piling up for the Cavaliers, with Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson, and Derrick Rose all currently sidelined. The team is also waiting on Isaiah Thomas, who is recovering from offseason surgery, to make his debut.
LeBron James, who enters Tuesday’s slate of games as the league’s leader in minutes played, believes the franchise has the depth to overcome the injury woes.
“It’s good to know that we have depth,” James said (via Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com). “It’s very difficult and it’s very challenging not only on the guys that’s on the court but on the coaching staff, trying to figure out. Sometimes you get a rhythm and then another guy goes down, so, that’s what we’re here for. We have the depth to be able to try to bandage it up until we can all become full.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Coach Fred Hoiberg said Paul Zipser, who only saw one minute of action over the Bulls‘ last two games, is “staying positive,” Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times relays. Zipser is under contract through the 2018/19 season, though his salary next season is non-guaranteed.
- Kevin Garnett recently visited the Bucks to work with some of their young talents and came away with a spectacular impression of Thon Maker, as he tells Jonathan Abrams of Bleacher Report. “Thon Maker reminds me a lot of myself. He loves the game. He’s a young, exuberant athlete who has a lot of tools,” KG said. “Thon is going to be the MVP of the league one day. Mark it down. He has the bones. He has the appetite to be able to chase something like that.”
Mirza Teletovic Expected To Miss Four Weeks
Veteran forward Mirza Teletovic has undergone successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, the Bucks announced today in a press release. The procedure, which repaired cartilage in Teletovic’s troublesome knee, is expected to sideline him for the next four weeks.
Teletovic has been out due to knee soreness for two weeks already, having last appeared in a game for the Bucks on November 7 in Cleveland. If the 32-year-old is able to get back on the court four weeks from today, he’d be in line for another game with the Cavaliers on December 19. However, there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready to go at that time.
Even before his injury, Teletovic wasn’t playing a major rotation role this season in Milwaukee. In 10 games, he had averaged just 15.9 minutes per contest, the lowest mark since his rookie season in 2012/13. Still, while his averages of 7.1 PPG and 2.3 RPG are modest, Teletovic has been reliable from beyond the arc, with most of his field goal attempts coming from three-point range. He has converted 2.1 threes per game at a 46.7% clip.
With Teletovic injured and Greg Monroe no longer in Milwaukee, the Bucks have relied on smaller lineups and leaned on Thon Maker and John Henson for increased frontcourt roles. Barring a roster move, those trends figure to continue as Teletovic recovers from his knee procedure, though Henson will miss Milwaukee’s next game after undergoing an eye procedure, according to the team.
Bucks Recall Sterling Brown From G League
- The Bucks have recalled 2017 second-rounder Sterling Brown from the G League, the team announced today in a press release. Brown averaged 25.5 PPG in two games with the Wisconsin Herd during his assignment.
And-Ones: NBA Draft, International Play, Oliver
The NBA Draft is seven months away but that doesn’t mean hoops writers can’t weigh in on what Sam Vecenie of The Athletic refers to as a year-round process. The scribe’s initial mock draft does a fine job weighing in on the biggest prospects on the draft radar while digging admirably deep for a comprehensive 60-pick projection.
Expected to fall in the No. 1 slot is the much-hyped Slovenian star, Luka Doncic. The Real Madrid swingman has shown a remarkable feel for the game at a young age and could make an impact for a team like the Bulls, who currently sit most likely to land that top spot come next June.
It’s after the first pick where Vecenie’s mock gets particularly interesting. The writer opts to put Arizona big man DeAndre Ayton in the No. 2 spot, ahead of the likes of Marvin Bagley III and Michael Porter Jr.
With analysis for each of the first 30 projections, the early look at the draft can’t be missed. Especially considering that he has college basketball’s biggest villain, Grayson Allen, falling directly into the laps of the world champion Warriors.
There’s more from around the league:
- The number of fringe NBA players who opt to sign overseas in international leagues following NBA training camps has dropped precipitously. Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype writes that the trend can be attributed to a depressed European economy and the leaps and bounds that the G League has made over the course of the past 10 years.
- The fifth edition of FIBA’s 3×3 World Cup will take place June 8-12, the governing body’s official site says. This year the competition will take place in the Philippines.
- A Rockets training camp invitee has been picked up by the G League affiliate of the Bucks. Chris Reichert of 2 Ways, 10 Days tweets that the Wisconsin Herd have claimed Cameron Oliver off waivers.
Bucks Benefiting From DeAndre Liggins' Calling Card Defense
- Through 11 games with his sixth NBA team, DeAndre Liggins has impressed. The defensive specialist has made a name for himself as a gritty, energetic perimeter stopper and that’s served him well with the Bucks, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes.
Bucks Have Interest In Mindaugas Kuzminskas
The Bucks are among the teams with interest in free agent forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas, league sources inform Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). As Scotto notes, Milwaukee doesn’t currently have an open roster spot, so the club would need to make another transaction to clear room for Kuzminskas.
After spending a decade playing professional ball overseas, Kuzminskas joined the Knicks last season and showed some promise, averaging 6.3 PPG and 1.9 RPG with a .428/.321/.809 shooting line in 68 games. In five starts, the Lithuanian forward increased those averages to 14.0 PPG and 4.2 RPG, with a .511/.391/.929 shooting line. However, he had his role significantly reduced this season and was waived on Sunday when Joakim Noah returned from the suspended list.
If the Bucks were to pursue Kuzminskas, DeAndre Liggins‘ roster spot may be in jeopardy. There’s some overlap between the two players’ positions, and Liggins is the only player on Milwaukee’s roster on a non-guaranteed contract. Jason Terry could also be a release candidate, since he’s only appeared briefly in four games for the Bucks this season. However, he has a fully guaranteed salary and the team values his locker room presence.
Shortly after being cut by the Knicks, Kuzminskas expressed a desire to continue his career in the NBA, and the Lakers, Bulls, and Hawks are among the clubs also expected to kick the tires on him.
Bucks Assign Sterling Brown To Suit Up With Brother
- The Bucks have assigned Sterling Brown to their G League affiliate, the team’s official site writes. The guard will suit up alongside his older brother and former NBA guard Shannon Brown, who signed a contract with the Wisconsin Herd earlier in the day.
John Henson, Milwaukee's Longest Tenured Player
The longest-tenured player on the Bucks is 26-year-old John Henson. As Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, the six-year veteran has more seniority with the organization than either Giannis Antetokounmpo or head coach Jason Kidd.
More meaningful than the novel fun fact, however, is that Henson has been with the Bucks long enough to have seen the organization’s revolution first-hand. Everything from the team’s branding to its medical technology has been brought up to date.
The center, who started his tenure with the team as a power forward, came into the league under Bucks head coach Scott Skiles and as a teammate of Joel Przybilla.
“I just feel old,” said Henson, who has most recently stepped up as a defensive anchor and coveted frontcourt presence after the Greg Monroe trade. “I was here when Skiles was here. That seems like so long ago for Bucks fans. Which it was — six years is a long time.”