Milwaukee Bucks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Bucks Sign Amir Coffey To Training Camp Contract

August 23rd, 2025 at 9:52am CST by Earnest Marshall

August 23: Coffey’s training camp deal with the Bucks is now official, per RealGM’s log of NBA transactions.

August 14: The Bucks are signing Amir Coffey to a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Eric Nehm of The Athletic clarifies (via Twitter) that it will be a non-guaranteed training camp contract for Coffey.

Coffey went undrafted in 2019 before signing a two-way contract with the Clippers. He stuck around the team for three seasons before being converted to a standard deal in 2022. Coffey spent his entire NBA career up to this point with the Clippers, averaging 6.7 points and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 45.5% from the field and 38.4% from three in 323 career games (67 starts).

He was a key contributor for Los Angeles last season, making 13 starts across 72 games and averaging a career-high 9.7 points per game. His role fluctuated slightly across his Clippers tenure — he played significant minutes and made 30 starts in 2021/22 and had a major role again in ’24/25, but saw less action in ’22/23.

Ultimately, the Clippers opted not to bring him back, leaving him as one of the best available free agents still left on the market in mid-August. The Bucks are taking a swing on the 28-year-old wing by bringing him to camp. His contract will likely include Exhibit 9 language and perhaps Exhibit 10 language too, which would put him in line to receive a bonus if he spends at least 60 days with Milwaukee’s G League affiliate.

The Bucks have a full 15-man roster, and Coffey is ineligible for a two-way contract. However, Andre Jackson Jr.‘s upcoming salary is only guaranteed for $800K, so if Coffey was going to battle his way onto the opening night roster, Jackson would appear to be his direct competition based on the club’s current roster.

Central Notes: Green, Kell-Abrams, Portis, Giannis

August 16th, 2025 at 3:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Javonte Green fits right into the Pistons’ identity after establishing a reputation as a hard-nosed defender with versatility, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes.

The Pistons signed Green to a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract, filling the 14th spot on the 15-man roster. He’ll compete for minutes at the wing positions and could also be utilized as an undersized power forward. Green is a superior rebounder and shot-blocker for his size.

On the offensive end, Green’s dynamic athleticism stands out, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press notes. He will add another above-the-rim threat that already has a few in the rotation.

Green’s minimum-salary deal would pay him $2,874,436 if he earns the full amount. For now, the contract is partially guaranteed for $925K, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.

Here’s more from the Central Division:

The Cavaliers are hiring Eli Kell-Abrams as the head coach of their NBA G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge, Scotto tweets. Kell-Abrams spent the past two seasons as a video coordinator for the Trail Blazers. He has also had stints with the Sixers and Heat organizations.
While there’s still speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s future, Bucks teammate Bobby Portis doubts the superstar will ask the front office for a trade. Portis made his comments during an interview with ESPN Milwaukee (hat tip to Josue Pavon of ClutchPoints). “I talk to Giannis all the time. That’s my teammate,” Portis said. “Giannis bleeds green. That’s all I can say.” Portis also believes Milwaukee is still a true contender in the East, feeling recent postseason flops have been due to injuries. “I mean, what’s wrong with our team? Why can’t we do it this year? The only thing wrong with us is people being hurt,” he said. “We win the championship. 2022 came in and we go down. We lose Game 7 to Boston. 2023, first round, Giannis tries to dunk on K. Love, comes down, hurts his back. We don’t have big fella. 2024, Giannis hurts his leg against the Celtics in the regular season and then, doesn’t play another game. Then, coming back this year, we haven’t been really healthy. I don’t make excuses but that’s just what the tables was for us.” A video link to the interview can be found here.
The Bulls are reportedly turning down trade inquiries involving Coby White. Get the info here.

Greek Coach Confirms Giannis Antetokounmpo’s EuroBasket Status

August 15th, 2025 at 10:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

It has been confirmed for several weeks that Giannis Antetokounmpo would represent Team Greece in this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, but to this point, the Greek star has been unable to be present for the team’s exhibition games or activities as he reportedly awaits the Bucks‘ written sign-off on his participation.

However, there was some good news on that front yesterday, as the Eurohoops team reported that Greek national team head coach Vassilis Spanoulis had confirmed that Antetokounmpo’s work with the team will begin this weekend.

“He already had a training session with contact with some guys from our team. On Saturday, he will start training normally,” Spanoulis said.

Antetokounmpo had reportedly been required to obtain Milwaukee’s permission due to the size of his NBA contract exceeding FIBA’s insurance policy.

Because of that delay, he missed each of the team’s first four warm-up games, which caused some disappointment among rival coaches. Greece went 2-2 in those contests, beating Belgium and Montenegro while losing to Israel and Serbia.

The team will host Latvia, Italy, and France at the Acropolis Tournament in Athens, which runs from August 20-24 before the group stage of EuroBasket begins for Greece on August 28.

NBA Teams Average 14.4 Back-To-Backs In 2025/26

August 15th, 2025 at 9:32am CST by Luke Adams

Five NBA teams will play a league-high 16 back-to-back sets during the 2025/26 regular season, while six clubs will have just 13 instances of back-to-back games on their schedules. The remaining 19 teams will play either 14 or 15 back-to-backs.

[RELATED: 2025/26 NBA Schedules By Team]

Those totals – along with an overall average of 14.4 back-to-backs per team – are about what we’ve come to expect in recent years.

Prior to the COVID-shortened seasons of 2019/20 and ’20/21, the NBA’s regular season consisted of 177 days, and the league had made a concerted effort to reduce instances of back-to-backs. When the league announced its initial schedule in ’19/20, its press release boasted that teams were averaging a record-low 12.4 back-to-backs that season, marking the fifth straight year in which that number had reached an all-time low.

However, since 2021/22, NBA regular seasons have spanned just 174 days, making it a little more difficult for schedule-makers to avoid back-to-back sets. The average number of back-to-backs per team is still well below where it once was (teams averaged 19.3 in 2024/25), but it’s no longer at a record low.

Here are the back-to-backs by team in 2025/26:

Charlotte Hornets: 16
Denver Nuggets: 16
Philadelphia 76ers: 16
Phoenix Suns: 16
Washington Wizards: 16
Golden State Warriors: 15
Los Angeles Clippers: 15
Miami Heat: 15
New Orleans Pelicans: 15
Portland Trail Blazers: 15
Toronto Raptors: 15
Utah Jazz: 15
Brooklyn Nets: 14
Cleveland Cavaliers: 14
Dallas Mavericks: 14
Detroit Pistons: 14
Houston Rockets: 14
Los Angeles Lakers: 14
Memphis Grizzlies: 14
Milwaukee Bucks: 14
New York Knicks: 14
Orlando Magic: 14
Sacramento Kings: 14
San Antonio Spurs: 14
Atlanta Hawks: 13
Boston Celtics: 13
Chicago Bulls: 13
Indiana Pacers: 13
Minnesota Timberwolves: 13
Oklahoma City Thunder: 13

Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, Thunder Get Most Nationally Televised Games For 2025/26

August 15th, 2025 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

Having gone from two national broadcasting partners (ABC/ESPN and TNT) to three (ABC/ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime) ahead of the 2025/26 season, the NBA’s schedule will feature a significant increase in nationally televised games.

When the league unveiled its full regular season schedule on Thursday, it announced 237 nationally televised regular season matchups, along with the seven knockout round NBA Cup games whose participants aren’t yet known, for a total of 244 contests.

As Colin Salao of Front Office Sports writes in a subscriber story, the total number of nationally televised games is up by more than 40% from last season, when the league’s partners nationally broadcasted a total of 172 games.

Salao also points out that beginning in the middle of the season, when the NFL schedule starts winding down, the NBA will have national games every day of the week: Peacock on Monday; NBC/Peacock on Tuesday; ESPN on Wednesday; Amazon on Thursday; Amazon and ESPN on Friday; Amazon and ABC on Saturday; and ABC, NBC, and Peacock on Sunday.

Every team will be featured at least twice on the national TV broadcast schedule, with the Warriors, Lakers, Knicks, and defending champion Thunder leading the way with 34 appearances apiece.

Here’s the full breakdown of nationally televised games by team:

Golden State Warriors: 34
Los Angeles Lakers: 34
New York Knicks: 34
Oklahoma City Thunder: 34
Houston Rockets: 28
Minnesota Timberwolves: 28
Denver Nuggets: 26
Boston Celtics: 25
Cleveland Cavaliers: 24
Dallas Mavericks: 23
San Antonio Spurs: 22
Los Angeles Clippers: 21
Milwaukee Bucks: 18
Detroit Pistons: 16
Orlando Magic: 14
Philadelphia 76ers: 14
Atlanta Hawks: 13
Memphis Grizzlies: 10
Indiana Pacers: 9
Phoenix Suns: 9
Sacramento Kings: 9
Portland Trail Blazers: 8
Miami Heat: 5
Charlotte Hornets: 3
Chicago Bulls: 3
Brooklyn Nets: 2
New Orleans Pelicans: 2
Toronto Raptors: 2
Utah Jazz: 2
Washington Wizards: 2

Since nationally televised matchups are subject to change, there’s no guarantee that every team will ultimately end up being featured multiple times on the national stage.

As Salao points out, all 30 clubs showed up at least once on the national broadcast schedule initially announced for 2024/25, but the Wizards didn’t get any nationally televised games after having their lone contest replaced by a showdown between Cleveland and Oklahoma City.

Additionally, not every team this season will have a game aired on a traditional, non-streaming network — the only games featuring the Raptors or Wizards will air on either Peacock or Amazon Prime.

Giannis Antetokounmpo Still Awaiting Bucks’ Approval For EuroBasket

August 13th, 2025 at 7:21pm CST by Arthur Hill

Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t taken part in any team activities as Greece prepares for EuroBasket because he’s still waiting for the Bucks to provide written permission for him to participate, according to Aris Barkas and Stavros Barbarousis of Eurohoops.

While most players don’t need permission from their NBA clubs to play in international tournaments, Antetokounmpo is an exception due to the size of his contract, sources tell the authors. They explain that the FIBA insurance policy, which is covered by the Greek federation, doesn’t pay enough to cover Antetokounmpo’s NBA contract in case he suffers a serious injury. Because there’s a cap on the insurance payout, he can’t proceed without authorization from the Bucks.

Barkas and Barbarousis note that Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Lakers guard Luka Doncic are also affected by that stipulation, but they are both practicing and participating in exhibition games with their EuroBasket teams.

The FIBA-NBA agreement permits NBA players to join their national team’s training camp 28 days before the start of a major FIBA competition. Greece’s first EuroBasket game will take place on August 28, so Antetokounmpo would have been permitted to start training at the beginning of the month if not for the insurance snag.

Antetokounmpo has already missed three Greek exhibition contests, and he isn’t expected to play against Montenegro on Thursday. The authors state that Greece will participate in the Acropolis tournament before wrapping up exhibition play August 24 against France, but it’s still uncertain whether Antetokounmpo will be cleared to suit up for any of those contests.

The issue comes amid continuing uncertainty over Antetokounmpo’s future in Milwaukee. Trade speculation was rekindled earlier this month when Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the two-time MVP remains uncertain that he can achieve his goal of winning at least one more NBA title while playing for the Bucks.

And-Ones: Dynasties, Wolves, Concern-O-Meter, Traded Picks

August 11th, 2025 at 5:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

It may seem like the Thunder have the makings of dynasty, but ESPN’s Tim Bontemps details why it’s tougher than ever to build a dominant team. He outlines how the tax aprons make it more difficult for teams to run it back with the same core of players and that roster mistakes can haunt contenders for several years.

“You have to be right on every decision,” one Western Conference scout told Bontemps. “Now, you have to look at things in not a one-year window, but a three-year window. You literally can’t mess anything up. It puts pressure on the organization to think differently and smartly to make sure you are best-positioned to make the right decisions.”

We have more from around the league:

Point guard Mike Conley will turn 38 before opening night and finding a suitable replacement could be difficult for the Timberwolves. Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report gets creative in an effort to solve that problem, proposing a four-team trade in which Minnesota winds up with Magic guard Anthony Black.
The Athletic’s Zach Harper provides his ratings for the ‘concern-o-meter’ regarding 10 potential red flags that have popped up around the league this offseason. Rating high on the ‘concern-o-meter’ is the demise of free agency, the moves made by the Pelicans and the continued health issues for the Sixers.
Speaking of the Pelicans, Sam Quinn of CBS Sports takes a look at every future traded first-rounder, ranking them from least valuable to most valuable. New Orleans’ unprotected 2026 pick, which its new front office dealt to the Hawks in a draft-night trade, is considered the most valuable among those picks. The Bucks‘ 2029 pick, which could go to either the Trail Blazers or Wizards, is ranked No. 2, followed by the 2027, ’29 and ’31 first-rounders the Suns dealt away.

Cole Anthony Excited To Play For Bucks After ‘Bittersweet’ Departure From Orlando

August 10th, 2025 at 3:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cole Anthony admits he’s having difficulty adjusting to the fact that he’s a former member of the Magic.

“I’ve literally said this to several people … I still feel like I’m on the Magic a little bit,” Anthony told Jason Beede of the Orlando Sentinel.

Anthony spoke to Beede during a community appearance in Orlando. Anthony was dealt to the Grizzlies along with fellow guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and four future first-round picks in June in exchange for Desmond Bane.

His stay in Memphis was brief. He reached a buyout agreement with the Grizzlies, giving up $2MM of his $13.1MM expiring contract. He then signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal with the Bucks after clearing waivers.

“I remember that whole week, it was just crazy,” Anthony said. “I’ve been here five years, haven’t played for another team, was drafted here, so it’s something for me that definitely is bittersweet and I’m going to miss it.”

Anthony appeared in 32o regular season contests during his five seasons with Orlando. Last season, he appeared in 67 games (22 starts) and averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.4 minutes per night.

He’ll now compete for backcourt minutes in Milwaukee.

“I look at it as a great opportunity to enter another team where they have a playoff pedigree and a championship pedigree,” Anthony said. “They’ve won a ‘chip there. I just want to get in there, contribute and do whatever I can for the team. I want to be a part of winning.”

International Notes: Giannis, Jokic, Doncic, Osman

August 10th, 2025 at 11:01am CST by Arthur Hill

Giannis Antetokounmpo will represent Greece when EuroBasket begins later this month, but he hasn’t been active for any of the team’s preparation games, writes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops. The Bucks star will miss his third straight contest today as his team faces Israel.

Antetokounmpo is training on his own in Athens, and Greek national team coach Vassilis Spanoulis isn’t sure if he’ll join the squad for the next game against Montenegro, which is set for Thursday in Thessaloniki.

“We don’t know yet if he will play in Thessaloniki,” Spanoulis told Greek national television. “Giannis will be on the court when he should be.”

While it’s not unusual for a player of Antetokounmpo’s status to get star treatment, his absence has caused some consternation among Greece’s opponents. Serbian coach Svetislav Pesic expressed disappointment that Antetokounmpo didn’t take part in Saturday’s contest, Barkis adds in a separate story.

“I’m sorry that Giannis is not here; that’s why we scheduled this tournament,” Pesic said. “We have a good relationship with the Greeks; they always respond to us.”

There’s more international news to pass along:

While Antetokounmpo missed a potential battle of perennial MVP candidates, Serbia’s Nikola Jokic dominated with 23 points, 19 rebounds and four assists in a 76-66 victory, according to Eurohoops. The Nuggets star controlled the paint area as Serbia pulled away from Greece in the second quarter.
Slovenian teammates have noticed a change in Luka Doncic that goes beyond his slimmed-down appearance, per Martin Pavncik of Sport Klub. Playing in his first international tournament since joining the Lakers, Doncic has become more of a vocal leader than he was in the past. “Already at the first training session, I noticed that he talks significantly more than in previous years,” longtime teammate Klemno Prepelić said. “I believe this is a challenge that awaits him at the club as he takes on the role of the first face of the franchise. His word carries a lot of weight just because of his exceptional basketball knowledge and incredible feeling. At the same time, he does it with great enthusiasm and a desire to make every individual in training better.”
Former NBA player Cedi Osman, who’s part of Turkey’s EuroBasket roster, enjoys playing in Europe because it allows him to participate in more international competitions, BasketNews relays. “The difference between the NBA and Europe is that here, I can also take part in the FIBA windows,” Osman said. “That’s very important. When I was in the NBA, there were long breaks in between. But now, every two or three months, I get the chance to come to Turkey and play for the national team. I think this helps both me and the team a lot. The same goes for other players returning from the NBA — their involvement during the windows builds continuity and chemistry.”

Lillard Reunion With Blazers Facilitated By 2024 Meeting Between Agent, GM

August 5th, 2025 at 9:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The seeds for Damian Lillard‘s reunion with the Trail Blazers were planted during his first season with the Bucks, as ESPN’s Jamal Collier details.

Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, and Portland general manager Joe Cronin spoke in January 2024. During that conversation, they identified the gaps in their communication and agreed there were no hard feelings between the parties.

Lillard requested a trade to the Heat in the summer of 2023. When that trade failed to materialize by September, Goodwin told the Blazers that Lillard would stay in Portland. However, the front office wanted to resolve the situation by training camp and traded him to Milwaukee.

“More than anything, it was miscommunications and misunderstandings,” Lillard said. “Joe and I never talked about [a potential return]. It just sat out there and we let it be what it was, I think that was the mistake.”

Lillard always saw himself ending his career with the Blazers, even before he was dealt. The reunion came in unexpected fashion after Lillard suffered a torn Achilles during this past season’s playoffs. Milwaukee decided to waive him and use the stretch provision, allowing the Bucks to make a bold free agent signing, securing top available center Myles Turner.

Collier reports that trading Lillard had been a consideration for Milwaukee if he did not suffer a long-term injury. The Bucks’ front office considered a number of different strategies, with a Lillard trade viewed as a last-ditch attempt to find another star to pair with Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Lillard chose to return to Portland on a three-year, $42MM contract after being waived. Cronin met Lillard at his Portland home to check on how he was doing, both mentally and physically with the rehab of his torn Achilles and spoke of the team’s progress during its rebuild. At that time, Lillard expressed that he felt the Blazers were on the upswing. An agreement was reached a short time later.

Lillard is expected to spend the entire 2025/26 season rehabbing the injury. Goodwin believes he’ll come back strong.

“It’s Dame. I know Dame,” he said. “I know the desire. I know the fight. I know how hard he works. And I didn’t see this as anything that was going to shut down his career. It’s going to be something that was going to maybe even prolong his career because he goes so hard that he’s got to give his body a break.”