Bucks Rumors

Checking In On Roster Situations Around The NBA

October 19th, 2025 at 7:57am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, the majority of the NBA teams made their roster cuts on Saturday and didn’t wait until Monday’s deadline to set their regular season rosters.

Completing those moves on Saturday will ensure the players on non-guaranteed contracts clear waivers on Monday, before the regular season begins. If a team had waited until Monday to waive a player on a non-guaranteed deal, he wouldn’t clear waivers until Wednesday, and the team would be on the hook for two days’ worth of his salary.

After Saturday’s flurry of roster moves, here’s where things stand around the NBA…

Teams whose rosters are within the regular season limits

Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 27 have rosters that comply with the league’s regular season roster limits, which state that clubs can’t carry more than 15 players on standard contracts or three on two-way contracts.

The following 10 teams are right at the limit, carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways:

Charlotte Hornets
Chicago Bulls
Dallas Mavericks
Indiana Pacers
Memphis Grizzlies
New Orleans Pelicans
Oklahoma City Thunder
Sacramento Kings
San Antonio Spurs
Utah Jazz

Just because these rosters look ready for the regular season doesn’t necessarily mean they’re fully locked in. It wouldn’t be be a surprise if one or more of these teams makes a minor tweak before Monday’s regular season roster deadline. That could be as simple as swapping out one two-way player for another. It could also involve the standard roster.

For instance, maybe the Pacers decide that carrying one more point guard is more important than having four centers and decide to place a waiver claim on Jared Butler while waiving Tony Bradley and his non-guaranteed contract. I’m not saying that will happen or even that Indiana is considering that move — it’s just an example of what’s still possible before Monday’s deadline.

The following 15 teams are carrying 14 players on standard contracts and three on two-ways:

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Denver Nuggets
Detroit Pistons
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angles Lakers
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors

Several of these teams are right up against a hard cap and don’t have the ability to add a 15th man to their standard rosters at this point. That’s the situation for the Warriors, Rockets, Clippers, Lakers, Knicks, and Magic.

Many others are operating in luxury tax territory or right near the tax line and will want to keep that 15th spot open for now in order to either keep their projected tax bill in check or maintain some financial flexibility.

That’s not the case for all of these teams though. The Pistons are well clear of the tax, for instance, and could comfortably make a roster addition if they want to.

Two more teams are within the regular season limits. Those teams are as follows:

Cleveland Cavaliers: 14 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
Portland Trail Blazers: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The Cavaliers and Trail Blazers both carried over one two-way player from last season (Nae’Qwan Tomlin for Cleveland; Sidy Cissoko for Portland) and signed a new two-way player on July 1 (Luke Travers and Caleb Love, respectively). Since then, both teams have had one two-way slot available, but I expect they’ll fill those openings sooner rather than later, given that there are no cap savings generated by keeping a two-way slot open.

It’s worth noting that players on Exhibit 10 contracts who were waived on Friday or Saturday could be claimed off waivers and immediately converted to two-way deals before Monday’s roster deadline.

Teams that still have moves to make before Monday’s deadline

That leaves three NBA teams that have yet to make the necessary moves to get within the regular season roster limits. Let’s run through them one by one…

Brooklyn Nets: 16 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

The Nets are currently carrying 14 players on fully guaranteed salaries, with Jalen Wilson on a deal with a small partial guarantee ($88,075) and Tyrese Martin on a non-guaranteed contract.

There are a few things to keep in mind here. For one, neither Wilson nor Martin can be directly converted to a two-way contract, since neither is on an Exhibit 10 deal. So if Brooklyn intends to fill that two-way slot before the season begins, it will have to be via waiver claim or a free agent signing.

More importantly, the Nets are operating just $190K over the NBA’s minimum salary floor and absolutely want to be above that threshold when the regular season begins, since falling short would mean forfeiting their share of the end-of-season luxury tax payment. Waiving either Wilson or Martin would result in Brooklyn’s salary falling below the salary floor, since most or all of their minimum salaries would come off the team’s books.

Barring a Sunday or Monday trade, there are two solutions for the Nets here: Either they waive someone with a guaranteed contract or they cut one of Wilson or Martin and guarantee most or all of his 2025/26 salary on his way out. I think the latter scenario is probably more likely, since there aren’t many obvious release candidates among Brooklyn’s 14 players with guaranteed salaries, but we’ll see what the team decides. The decision is due by 4:00 pm Central time on Monday.

Milwaukee Bucks: 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

After deciding that Amir Coffey and his non-guaranteed contract would make the team, the Bucks were in position to put off their final roster move until Monday, since they’ll be cutting a player with a full or partially guaranteed salary — whichever player is the odd man out will get his money, regardless of which day he’s waived, so Milwaukee couldn’t create any cap savings by making that move a couple days before the roster deadline.

As we noted when we discussed the Bucks’ decision to retain Coffey on Saturday, it looks like Tyler Smith (guaranteed $1,955,377 salary) and Andre Jackson Jr. ($800K partial guarantee) are the two players who are most in danger of being cut. It’s possible that the club could trade or waive another player instead, but I’d be surprised if Milwaukee’s final preseason roster move involves anyone besides Smith or Jackson.

Neither one was great in the preseason, but Jackson was a little better and has shown more than Smith at the NBA level to this point in their respective careers. Retaining Smith would be the financially advantageous move, since waiving Jackson would reduce the team’s salary by about $1.42MM, but the Bucks aren’t close to the tax line and can afford to eat Smith’s full salary if they decide he’s not part of their future. I wouldn’t be surprised if they take that path.

Washington Wizards: 16 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.

The Wizards are another team expected to cut a player with a guaranteed salary, which is why they can wait until Monday to make their last roster move. The only one of their 16 players with a non-guaranteed contract is Justin Champagnie, who was effective in a rotation role last season.

A trade is still possible, but a cut is more likely. And in that scenario, 2024 first-round pick Dillon Jones looks to me like the probable odd man out. He didn’t do much during his first NBA season in Oklahoma City, and the offseason trade that sent him to Washington was more about the second-round pick the Wizards got along with him than about Jones himself. He also wasn’t great in the preseason.

If the Wizards go in a different direction, it’s worth keeping an eye on former Spur Malaki Branham, who was acquired in exchange for Kelly Olynyk along with Blake Wesley and a second-round pick. Washington already waived Wesley and I haven’t gotten the sense that the club views Branham as a crucial part of its roster going forward.

Hoops Rumors’ roster resources

We consistently maintain and update a number of lists and trackers that are designed to help you keep tabs on NBA rosters. They’re all up to date following Saturday’s cuts.

Those resources, which can be found on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site or on the “Features” page within our mobile menu, include the following:

2025/26 NBA Roster Counts
2025/26 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By Team
2025/26 Two-Way Contract Tracker
2025 NBA Free Agent Tracker: This tracker will no longer be updated once the regular season begins, but includes every offseason free agent signing, including all the players who were signed-and-waived in recent weeks.
2026 NBA Free Agents By Position/Type
2026 NBA Free Agents By Team

Amir Coffey To Make Bucks’ Regular Season Roster

October 18th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Rory Maher

Amir Coffey has survived a roster crunch in Milwaukee, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who reports (via Twitter) that the veteran wing will make the Bucks‘ regular season roster.

A 6’7″ guard/forward, Coffey had spent his entire NBA career with the Clippers prior to becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. In 72 games last season, the 28-year-old averaged 9.7 points on .471/.409/.891 shooting in 24.3 minutes per contest.

Coffey appeared in four preseason games with Milwaukee this fall, averaging 3.3 PPG in 11.4 MPG.

Coffey, who is entering his seventh season, signed a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deal with the Bucks in August — that contract will be converted to a standard non-guaranteed deal.

The news means that the Bucks will likely be waiving either Andre Jackson Jr. or Tyler Smith ahead of the 2025/26 regular season. Both players are owed guaranteed money — Jackson has an $800K partial guarantee, while Smith is owed approximately $1.96MM — so the team technically doesn’t have to release either player for a couple days. Monday is the deadline for teams to set their regular season rosters.

The 36th overall pick of the 2023 draft, former UConn wing Jackson averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game across 67 appearances last season, including 43 starts. Smith, the No. 33 overall pick of last year’s draft, appeared in 23 NBA games as a rookie last season, averaging just 5.3 minutes per night.

For what it’s worth, Jackson appeared in all four of Milwaukee’s preseason games in 2025, while Smith appeared in two.

Bucks Sign, Waive Johnny Davis, Jeremiah Tilmon

October 17th, 2025 at 4:23pm CST by Rory Maher

October 17, 4:23 pm: As expected, Davis and Tilmon have been waived, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

October 17, 7:38 am: In addition to finalizing their deal with Davis, the Bucks also signed center Jeremiah Tilmon, according to the NBA transaction log at RealGM.

Tilmon has bounced around the G League and a handful of non-NBA leagues around the world since going undrafted out of Missouri in 2021, most recently playing for the Shenzhen Leopards in China during the 2024/25 season. Like Davis, he almost certainly signed an Exhibit 10 contract and is likely on track to join the Wisconsin Herd.

October 16: Former lottery pick Johnny Davis has agreed to a contract with the Bucks, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Davis will almost certainly sign an Exhibit 10 deal and be waived by Saturday. In that scenario, he would be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 if he spends at least 60 days with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd.

It’s a homecoming of sorts for Davis, who grew up in La Crosse and played his college ball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Davis, 23, was the 10th overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft after a pair of college seasons with the Badgers. The 6’5″ shooting guard never lived up to that lofty draft status in parts of three seasons with the Wizards, who traded him to Memphis in February. He was released by the Grizzlies a couple weeks later after he didn’t appear in a game with the team.

Davis finished last season in the NBAGL with New York’s affiliate team in Westchester. He went unsigned throughout the offseason prior to this agreement with the Bucks.

In 112 career games with Washington, Davis averaged 3.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 11.4 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .397/.273/.561.

The Bucks have a pair of roster openings and don’t need to waive anyone to add Davis.

Bucks Sign A.J. Green To Four-Year Extension

October 17th, 2025 at 3:15pm CST by Luke Adams

October 17: Green’s extension with the Bucks is now official, according to a team press release.

October 16: The Bucks and sharpshooter A.J. Green are in agreement on a four-year, $45MM contract extension, agent Matt Bollero tells ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). According to Charania, the deal is fully guaranteed.

Green, 26, joined the Bucks in 2022 as an undrafted free agent out of Northern Iowa. After playing a modest role in his first two seasons, he emerged as a consistent part of the team’s regular rotation in 2024/25, logging a career-high 22.7 minutes per game in 73 outings and averaging 7.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per night.

Green is a 6’4″ three-and-D wing with a career rate of 42.1% from beyond the arc, including 42.7% last season. The Bucks had a +6.4 net rating during his 1,659 minutes of action in ’24/25, compared to a -0.9 mark in the 2,292 minutes he didn’t play.

Because he was an undrafted free agent rather than a former first-round pick, Green was eligible for a veteran contract extension – not a rookie scale extension – as he entered the final year of his current contract with Milwaukee.

His salary of $2.3MM in 2025/26 is well below the NBA’s estimated average salary ($13.87MM). That meant he was eligible to receive a starting salary worth up to 40% of the estimated average salary on an extension, which worked out to a maximum of $87MM over four seasons.

However, as I wrote earlier this week when I identified Green as an under-the-radar extension candidate to watch, the Bucks were never likely to have to go nearly that high to retain him. I pointed to Sam Merrill‘s recent contract with Cleveland (four years, $38MM) as a reference point for Green and noted that he’s three years younger than Merrill and has been a more accurate shooter (albeit on a lower volume), so he had a case for an eight-figure annual salary.

Still, getting four guaranteed years at more than $11MM per season is a big win for Green — as ESPN’s Bobby Marks points out (via Twitter), his career earnings to date, including his salary for the coming season, total just $6.3MM.

Green is now just one of two Bucks players who is owed guaranteed money beyond the 2026/27 season, along with Myles Turner. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bobby Portis, Ryan Rollins, and Tyler Smith all have player or team options for ’27/28 on their respective deals.

And-Ones: Team USA, Role Players, M. Jones, Balcetis

October 17th, 2025 at 12:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters at a Thursday press conference to formally introduce Erik Spoelstra as Team USA’s new men’s basketball head coach, managing director Grant Hill said that winning a World Cup for the first time since 2014 is the “first order of business” for the national team, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

The U.S. finished seventh at the 2019 World Cup and fourth in 2023, failing to secure a medal at either event. Typically, the World Cup rosters featured less established stars than the Olympic squads, and that likely won’t change going forward, according to Vardon, who points to Cooper Flagg and Evan Mobley as a couple possibilities for the 2027 team. For his part, Hill is in no rush to lock in on any specific players quite yet.

“We have some time, and one of the great things is to see who emerges,” Hill said. “You have two years before the World Cup, and it seems like every season there are players who take a step in their development and become better players, All-Star players, players whose games translate to international play.

“It’s great to get these players in the pipeline. The great thing is, yes, the world is getting better, but we are too. We still have some great players in this country, great young players. And you know, it’s on me to get out and recruit and you know, sort of share with guys the importance of doing this.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Fred Katz of The Athletic identifies five role players around the NBA who could end up being pivotal contributors for their respective teams this season, including Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., Cavaliers wing De’Andre Hunter, and Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon Jr.
After signing him last month, the Perth Wildcats have parted ways with former NBA guard Mason Jones, as Olgun Uluc of ESPN writes. Jones, who was named the MVP of the 2025 G League Finals in April, struggled in his first five games in Australia’s National Basketball League, shooting just 34.7% from the floor, including 27.6% on three-pointers. The Wildcats are exploring the market for a new import guard to replace him, per Uluc.
Former Nuggets assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis is joining Zalgiris Kaunas as the Lithuanian club’s head of innovations, according to BasketNews. Balcetis was considered a potential candidate to run Denver’s front office after the team fired Calvin Booth in the spring, but the Nuggets opted to promote Ben Tenzer into that position and didn’t renew Balcetis’ contract.
NBA rookies and award winners will wear patches on their jerseys this season as part of the league’s partnership with Fanatic/Topps. Dan Hajducky of ESPN has the details on the new program.

Bucks Waive Chris Livingston

October 16th, 2025 at 5:01pm CST by Luke Adams

4:59 pm: Livingston has been released by the Bucks, per NBA.com’s transactions log.

9:59 am: The Bucks are taking a first step toward addressing their roster crunch, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, who reports (via Twitter) that the team is waiving forward Chris Livingston.

The final pick in the second round of the 2023 draft, Livingston has spent the past two seasons in Milwaukee but played a very limited role at the NBA level, logging just 196 minutes in 42 total regular season appearances. He averaged 1.3 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.7 minutes per game.

Livingston, who turned 22 on Wednesday, has showed some promise in the G League. In 18 outings for the Wisconsin Herd in 2024/25, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 29.5 minutes per contest, with a shooting line of .485/.301/.828.

The 6’6″ forward also played well for the Bucks’ Summer League team this July, earning a new one-year, minimum-salary contract in Milwaukee after having been waived two weeks earlier. While Livingston’s salary on his previous contract wasn’t guaranteed for 2025/26, his newest deal was fully guaranteed, so the Bucks will carry a dead cap hit of $2,296,274 after cutting him, assuming he goes unclaimed on waivers.

Livingston had been one of 15 Bucks players with a standard guaranteed contract. Waiving him will put the team in position to retain either Andre Jackson Jr. or Amir Coffey as its 15th man.

Jackson has an $800K partial guarantee on his minimum-salary deal and would earn his full $2.22MM guarantee if he makes the opening night roster. Coffey is on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 contract.

Bucks Sign, Waive John Butler, Stephen Thompson

October 16th, 2025 at 5:00pm CST by Luke Adams

5:00 pm: Both players have been waived, per NBA.com’s log of official transactions.

4:25 pm: The Bucks have added center John Butler Jr. and guard Stephen Thompson Jr. to their preseason roster, according to RealGM’s transaction log. Both players signed Exhibit 10 contracts, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac.

Butler, who will turn 23 in December, appeared in 19 NBA games for Portland in 2022/23, but has been in the G League for the past couple seasons. He finished the ’24/25 campaign with the Wisconsin Herd, averaging 7.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.2 assists in 30.3 minutes per game across nine outings for Milwaukee’s NBAGL affiliate.

Butler was teammates during that time with Thompson, who has spent the past two seasons with the Herd. He emerged as a key contributor last season, with averages of 14.1 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.9 APG, and 1.0 SPG in 48 games (31.4 MPG). The former Oregon State standout was also a reliable floor-spacer for Wisconsin, knocking down 38.7% of his 6.0 three-point attempts per contest.

As is the case with most Exhibit 10 recipients at this time of year, Butler and Thompson will almost certainly be waived in the next day or two and then report back to the Herd. If they spend at least 60 days with the Bucks’ affiliate, they’ll be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $85,300 as a result of their Exhibit 10 deals.

Alex Antetokounmpo Joins Brothers On Bucks Via Two-Way Deal

October 16th, 2025 at 5:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

October 16: Antetokounmpo’s two-way deal with Milwaukee is official, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

October 13: The Bucks are signing Alex Antetokounmpo to a two-way deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania tweets.

He joins older brothers Giannis and Thanasis, who are both on standard contracts. This will mark the first time in NBA history that three brothers are on active roster contracts with the same team, Charania adds.

The Bucks are waiving Jamaree Bouyea to open up a two-way slot for the younger Antetokounmpo, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets.

Alex Antetokounmpo has mainly spent his pro career in the G League. He played for the Raptors 905 in 2021/22 and the Bucks’ affiliate, the Wisconsin Herd, from 2022-24 after signing camps deals with the NBA teams and then getting waived during training camp.

Antetokounmpo also had stints in Lithuania, Montenegro and Greece. He requested his release from PAOK in the Greece Basketball League in August, then joined Aris Thessaloniki, another club in Greece, but only appeared in two games with that team. A report surfaced last week that he was headed to the U.S. to play in the G League again.

The addition of Alex can certainly be construed as another way of keeping his superstar brother happy in Milwaukee. There have been persistent rumors regarding Giannis’ future, including a report last week that the Knicks had preliminary discussions this summer with the Bucks regarding a blockbuster trade.

Warriors, Lakers Top 2025 NBA Franchise Valuations

October 16th, 2025 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors are still the NBA’s most valuable team, according to Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico, who unveiled the website’s updated NBA franchise valuations for 2025 on Thursday.

Badenhausen projects the Warriors’ value at $11.33 billion, which represents an incredible 24% increase from last year’s $9.14 billion valuation. The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, at $12.8 billion, continue to be the only global sports franchise whose valuation comes in higher than Golden State’s, according to Sportico’s projections.

As Badenhausen outlines, the Warriors lead the NBA in revenue by a significant margin, having generated an estimated $833MM last season. Golden State makes more than $5MM per game in ticket revenue, along with $2.5MM from luxury suites; the club also has a $45MM per year jersey patch deal with Rakuten, earns almost double what any other team makes in sponsorship revenue, and is one of the few teams to fully own and operate its arena, per Sportico.

After placing third a year ago, the Lakers have jumped to second place on Sportico’s 2025 list at $10 billion, based on Mark Walter‘s recent agreement to purchase the team at that valuation. The Lakers moved slightly ahead of the third-place Knicks, who come in at $9.85 billion.

Every team’s valuation has increased by at least 9% since last year, per Sportico, with the average value of an NBA franchise now at $5.51 billion (up 20% from 2024) and no team worth less than $4 billion.

The average valuation has more than doubled since 2022, when it was $2.58 billion. As Badenhausen writes, the NBA’s new $76 billion media rights deal and its global ambitions – including the possible creation of a league in Europe – have played a part in those gains.

Although the Warriors’ $833MM is something out of an outlier, NBA teams generated an average of approximately $408MM in revenue last season, according to Badenhausen, with the Grizzlies coming in last at $301MM. Memphis also ranks 30th on Sportico’s list of franchise values.

Despite placing at the bottom of this list, the Grizzlies actually had the most significant increase in their franchise valuation this past year, rising from $3.06 billion to $4 billion (31%). The Pelicans (30%), Timberwolves (29%), and Eastern Conference champion Pacers (27%) were the other biggest risers.

Of course, it’s worth noting that figures from Sportico or any other media outlet are just estimates and often don’t quite match up with the sale prices for franchises that change hands. But these projections are usually in the right ballpark and remain useful for getting a sense of the league’s most and least valuable teams.

Here’s Sportico’s full list of NBA franchise valuations for 2025:

Golden State Warriors: $11.33 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $10 billion
New York Knicks: $9.85 billion
Los Angeles Clippers: $6.72 billion
Boston Celtics: $6.35 billion
Brooklyn Nets: $6.22 billion
Chicago Bulls: $6.12 billion
Miami Heat: $6.03 billion
Philadelphia 76ers: $5.61 billion
Houston Rockets: $5.53 billion
Dallas Mavericks: $5.24 billion
Toronto Raptors: $5.22 billion
Phoenix Suns: $5.09 billion
Atlanta Hawks: $5.02 billion
Sacramento Kings: $5 billion
Cleveland Cavaliers: $4.86 billion
Denver Nuggets: $4.8 billion
Washington Wizards: $4.78 billion
Indiana Pacers: $4.76 billion
Milwaukee Bucks: $4.54 billion
San Antonio Spurs: $4.5 billion
Oklahoma City Thunder: $4.34 billion
Utah Jazz: $4.27 billion
Portland Trail Blazers: $4.25 billion
Minnesota Timberwolves: $4.24 billion
Orlando Magic: $4.21 billion
Detroit Pistons: $4.17 billion
Charlotte Hornets: $4.13 billion
New Orleans Pelicans: $4.02 billion
Memphis Grizzlies: $4 billion

As Badenhausen notes, Sportico’s projections are based on a control sale price, rather than limited stake purchases. Controlling shares in the Celtics, Lakers, and Trail Blazers all changed hands this past year, though only the Celtics sale has been formally approved by the NBA so far.

William Chisholm is buying the Celtics in two stages, with an initial valuation of $6.1 billion and a blended valuation of roughly $6.5 billion. Walter is purchasing the Lakers at a valuation of $10 billion, while Tom Dundon is buying the Blazers at a $4.25 billion valuation.

Central Notes: Turner, Ball, Mathurin, Sarama, Russell

October 15th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Bucks got their first glimpse of the Giannis Antetokounmpo–Myles Turner pairing on Sunday, and what they saw in just over five minutes should excite them, says Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Despite Antetokounmpo’s somewhat pedestrian box score numbers, his presence opened up the floor for the team’s shooters, Nehm writes. Most importantly, Turner’s instincts, not only as a spacer but also as a cutter, worked perfectly alongside Antetokounmpo’s scoring gravity, creating wide-open looks for the Bucks’ guards.

“The most important thing about him is that he sacrifices,” Antetokounmpo said. “At times, he knows that he’s not going to get the ball and he’s going to create the open shot for his teammate.”

While the on-court stint may have been over quickly, Nehm feels it’s indicative of why pursuing Turner was the right choice for a team featuring Antetokounmpo. So far, the Bucks’ star seems to agree.

“It’s fun playing with him. Makes the game easier for me,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think I’ll try to make the game easier for him. When I draw a lot of attention, I think he’s gonna be able to create a lot of open shots … So he just makes the game easier not just for me, for the whole team.”

We have more notes from around the Central Division:

Speaking of proving the value of an offseason pursuit, Lonzo Ball showed during Tuesday’s preseason game against the Pistons why the Cavaliers targeted him in trade talks this summer, writes Chris Fedor for Cleveland.com. Ball did a bit of everything in his 20 minutes, with nine points, nine assists, four rebounds, three blocks, and two steals. Coach Kenny Atkinson said that was exactly what he was envisioning Ball’s role to be. “He hasn’t disappointed,” Atkinson said. “Everything that we thought we were getting, we’re getting. He’s just got a great, great feel. I’m excited to coach any NBA player, but this is a guy I’ve watched for a long time. He’s kind of the ultimate system fit.” It appears the only questions surrounding Ball’s tenure in Cleveland will be related to health, not skill set.
Bennedict Mathurin is expected to command a significant role for the Pacers this season with Tyrese Haliburton recovering from an Achilles tear. In Monday’s preseason matchup against the Spurs, he showed that he could not only create his own shot, but also play within the flow of the offense, writes Dustin Dopirak for the Indianapolis Star. Mathurin ended the game with 31 points on 11-of-12 shooting. On the less encouraging side of things, the Pacers’ four centers, Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff, James Wiseman, and Tony Bradley, scored three total points on 0-of-10 shooting. With the departure of Turner, figuring out how to survive the center rotation will be crucial for the Pacers to stay competitive.
Alex Sarama, who spent the last year and a half as an assistant coach with the Cavaliers, has been announced as the first head coach for the newly-christened Portland Fire WNBA team, writes Annie Costabile of Front Office Sports. Sarama worked with Fire general manager Vanja Cernivec during their time with the London Lions in the British Basketball League, serving as the Lions’ director of methodology.
Walker Russell Jr. has played for the Pistons, as did his father, Walter Russell Sr. He now returns to the organization as an assistant coach for its G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, writes Omar Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. The Russells remain the only father-son duo to ever both play for the Pistons, and Sankofa adds that both father and son started and ended their playing career in Detroit. Russell Jr. is eager for the opportunity. “This right here is the best feeling I ever had, coming home,” he said. “I get to grind player development, I get to grind with the guys and tell my story, the good and the bad. The bad is what I really, really like to harp on because everybody talks about the good in this business. Nobody really talks about how you stay in this business.“

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