After entering the exclusive 50/40/90 shooting club in 2018/19, Bucks guard Malcolm Brogdon will be a sought-after target this offseason. Sources tell Gery Woelfel of WoelfelsPressBox.com that the Sixers and Pacers are among the teams considering making a play for the restricted free agent.
Four NBA sources who spoke to Woelfel predicted that Brogdon would receive an offer in the range of $16-21MM per year. And while most of those sources have heard that the Bucks plan to match any offer on Brogdon, they’re not all entirely convinced that will happen.
“They can say that now, but I’m sure the Bucks, just like any team, have a cutoff point where they won’t go over to keep him,” an Eastern Conference executive said to Woelfel. “I still think he (Brogdon) is the odd guy out in Milwaukee.”
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe expressed a similar sentiment during the network’s free agency special on Tuesday night. As relayed by Sagar Trika (via Twitter), the two ESPN insiders discussed whether Milwaukee would be able to retain all three of Brogdon, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez, and agreed that Brogdon might be the trickiest to bring back.
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- The Bucks and Brook Lopez are both motivated to get a deal done, a source tell Chris Mannix of SI.com. Woelfel’s sources believe Lopez will get an annual salary in the range of $10-13MM in free agency, and view Los Angeles as a potential fit for the big man if he doesn’t stick with the Bucks. “I’ve been hearing a quite a bit about the Lakers and Lopez,” one executive told Woelfel.
- Executives who spoke to Woelfel view George Hill as a candidate to receive an offer in the neighborhood of $7-10MM if and when he’s released by the Bucks. That would make him a target for teams with the full mid-level exception available.
- One NBA executive predicted a salary in the $13-15MM range for Nikola Mirotic, while another league official split the difference and projected $14MM, Woelfel writes. Mirotic is considered more likely to leave the Bucks than to re-sign, given the club’s cap limitations.
- Veteran guard Xavier Munford, who has previously appeared in NBA games for Memphis and Milwaukee, will suit up for the Bucks’ Summer League squad in July, tweets Malika Andrews of ESPN.com.
woelfel is tier F for Bucks…don’t believe anything he says
Ditto. He was the same guy that thought not resigning Jabari was a huge mistake. He doesn’t have a clue half of the time.
So far this offseason he has reported that…
– The Bucks were trying to get off Tony Snell’s contract (they traded him a few weeks later).
– Jon Horst was seeking an extension and a raise (the Bucks extended him a week later).
– The Wizards planned to aggressively pursue Masai Ujiri and potentially offer him up to $11MM/year (Woj reported five days later that the Wizards would go after Ujiri and offer about $10MM/year).
– Jordan Poole worked out for the Warriors and Bucks twice and would likely be picked in the 25-35 range (the Warriors picked him at No. 28).
That’s not to say that he has a 100% hit rate, but this post is basically just him relaying executives’ comments on Bucks’ free agents. What’s not to believe?
Facts do not belong on the interest
He def has some sources there. Those last two are not predictable predictions!
So when he has a source it’s good. When its speculation or conjecture its fooie?
Hi Gary
– He was not the first to report the interest in moving Snell, nor was that unexpected given the current cap situation.
– Of course Horst would seek an extension and a raise, he was a finalist for Executive of the Year.
– DJ Siddiqi Reported on CBS on May 2, 2019 that Ujiri was intrigued by the Wizards and vice versa.
– It’s hardly a mystery when players work out for teams and Jordan Poole was considered a riser after the combine by a number of outlets.
You do a great job. You guys cover 30 teams. But Bucks fans are focusing on just one team and we know what he says and how often he is full of BS.
I disagree very strongly with some of those claims but there’s no point arguing back and forth about it.
My point is that we get similar complaints every time we cite Woelfel and I’ve long been skeptical of him myself, so I’ve paid extra close attention to his reporting for the last year or two, since we don’t want to be citing reporters we don’t fully trust.
I think he can sometimes be a little uncritical in passing along his sources’ opinions as fact, and of course there’s no way to verify the accuracy of some of his reports (ie. the Pacers’ and Sixers’ eyeing Brogdon in this post — even if they don’t sign him, that could be accurate). But I think treating him as if he should be ignored is a mistake, since he’s clearly plugged in.
I appreciate that perspective. While I’m more in the anti-camp, you make a great argument for at least passing his info on.
My guess is that Brook will rejoin the Lakers and the Bucks will end up with Deandre Jordan.
Jordan won’t fit the scheme. He can’t shoot. They will get Kaminsky before Jordan.
Lol no
Eh don’t see that fit.
Brogdon shouldn’t be tricky; straightforward as it gets really – he’s a RFA and they have full BRs. Middleton might be tricky because he’s a foundation piece they need to sign. Yet, he’s unlikely to be offered a max deal in the market, though that won’t stop him from asking and visiting teams that want to discuss it. He might resent his own team not valuing him more than the other teams. Lopez might be tricky because they don’t have BRs on him, and that means they might be forced to use cap space vs the MLE.
tricky bc he is 3rd fiddle compared to retaining Middleton, Lopez and working within the lux.
Tricky because they were hoping not to have to spend 16-21 on him! I like hearing all these estimates & seeing how my opinions compare. 7-10 Hill (high IMO), 13-15 Mirotic & 10-13 Lopez (low IMO). But Lopez may have a Bucks discount, and Mirotic maybe just 16.
Great article!
He wouldn’t be 3rd on my list. Middleton is part of the fabric of the team, and you put GA in play if you let him walk over $$, so he’s first. Then MB. The guy’s a 2 way player with 1-3 position flexibility. Lopez had a great year, and I’d want him back, but he’s more replaceable.
Brogdon > Russell IMO. (Better for a team with Lebron & AD already on it)
Mirotic for more than $8-10 million would surprise me, but certain guys get paid every year. I think George Hill needs a prove it year, and he seems more like the mini mid level type guy in the $4.5-$6 million range. Lopez at $12-14 makes sense after the discount he took. Was shocked the Lakers didnt keep him last year, so would be weird to see them add him for more now, especially now that they added the big they needed. I could see Brogdon getting $18-20 million, but I could also see something surprisingly higher. His skillset is really valuable right now. He is kind of a smaller Andre Iguodala that can shoot
Mirotic doesn’t usually look like much but he always seems to have a positive impact on his teams. Good on/off numbers, 17 PER, some playmaking from the 4. He didn’t really get into the swing of things in MIL and was probably just insurance anyway but just belongs on a winner.