DECEMBER 18, 10:54am: The Bucks have made it official, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived Payton and signed Kilpatrick to a two-way deal.
DECEMBER 16, 11:32pm: The player the Bucks are targeting is Sean Kilpatrick, who was waived by the Nets last week, Haynes tweets. Brooklyn released the fourth-year shooting guard to open a roster spot for the Jahlil Okafor trade. Kilpatrick was a part-time starter last season, averaging 13.1 points over 70 games, but his playing time was cut drastically this season and his scoring average dipped to 4.9 points in 16 contests.
10:58pm: The Bucks are planning to waive guard Gary Payton II, tweets Chris Haynes of ESPN. Haynes adds that getting rid of Payton is “not a popular move” among teammates (Twitter link).
Payton inked a two-way contract with Milwaukee in October, which limits him to 45 days in the NBA. He will reach that total Monday and would have to be signed to an NBA contract to continue playing for the team. The Bucks have a full 15-man roster with 14 guaranteed contracts.
Haynes’ report is confirmed by Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who tweets that the Bucks want to use Payton’s two-way slot to sign another player and believe they need to act fast to make sure they get him. That player’s NBA time will be pro-rated, which will amount to about 30 days.
Payton has appeared in 11 games this season and has made six starts. He is averaging 2.4 points in about nine minutes per night.
Payton first joined the Bucks in April of last season. He was cut in October, but agreed to the two-day deal after clearing waivers.
I liked Payton but kilpstrick is exactly what we need. Another scorer off the bench. Every loss lately is just too little firepower off the bench
@Arthur Hill – the Gary Payton linked in the article is the HoF dad, not the II.
Thanks for the heads up. I made the correction.
As I did hard bucks fan, I wish we could keep the mitten (GP2). Kilpatrick may be better, but GP2 was good. I believe Jason Kidd is the issue.
Hey HR, I thought two-way deals were limited to players with 3 or less years of experience. Kilpatrick is in fourth, no?
Kilpatrick is in his fourth year, but he’s still considered to have three years of service, since years of service aren’t added until the end of the league year (June 30).
So next July, Kilpatrick will have his four years of service and will no longer be eligible for a two-way contract, which means we can ascertain that his deal with the Bucks is definitely only for one year.
Got it, thanks!