Speaking to Shams Charania of The Athletic about his experience as a free agent in 2020, Bucks forward Bobby Portis confirmed that the Knicks offered him a new contract after turning down his $15.75MM team option. However, he didn’t view New York as a “good situation” for him in 2019/20 and was unsure about whether the new leadership group (executives Leon Rose and William Wesley, along with head coach Tom Thibodeau) would change that.
“Obviously, Leon and (Wesley) and those guys were going to come in and try to change it around, but I just wanted to go to a winning culture and where I felt like I can fit in with guys,” Portis said. “I watched the bubble last season and I watched Milwaukee a lot, and I felt like it was a team I really fit on.
Joining the Bucks meant taking a substantial pay cut — Milwaukee had to fit in Portis using the bi-annual exception, meaning he earned just $3.6MM in 2020/21. However, the 26-year-old told Charania that he has saved money throughout his career and that a modest salary “wasn’t the biggest issue” for him, since he hopes to be playing in the NBA for another decade. After years of playing for lottery teams, Portis’ preference was to show he’s capable of contributing to a contender.
“I wanted to use this year as a get-back year for me just to get my name back,” Portis said. “An investment year. And so far, so good. It’s one of the best decisions of my career so far.”
Here are a few more of the most notable comments from Portis’ interview with Charania:
On how he and the Bucks began free agent talks last offseason:
“I actually hit Giannis (Antetokounmpo) up and told him I can come help the team and I can help everyone out. He went to the boss (front office) and told him come and get me.
“… I didn’t know Giannis much. So being able to reach out to him and him responding back was great. He was over in Greece. We were in two different time zones so I had to catch him when he was seven hours. I finally caught up with him, and everything worked out.”
On what changed his mindset and made him want to take a discount to play for a winning team:
“I think last year, the bubble did it for me. Years before, when my team didn’t make the playoffs, I was able to take my mind off of it. Going on a trip with my family or traveling or flying here and working out there. But last year when my team wasn’t invited to the bubble, I think that’s when I had enough of it because I was at home for f—ing nine months from March to November. No NBA games to play in, just straight working out. Watching the other teams that were invited in the bubble from home, that’s what really did it for me.”
On the 2017 incident when Portis punched Bulls teammate Nikola Mirotic in practice:
“Me and Mirotic, we always got into altercations. That wasn’t our first time. The guys in the front office knew that. That one was a little different. Some of the things that got misconstrued was that I sucker-punched him or whatever. The guys that were there at the time, they knew what happened. If it was that serious, they wouldn’t have offered me a contract extension.
“… What’s so crazy is me and (Mirotic) were balling together when he came back from injury. I haven’t talked to him ever since then, but no hard feelings at all my way. I was 22 at the time, and he was 26 or something. So we were both young guys. That’s a blur for me.”
On turning down a four-year contract extension (reportedly worth $40-50MM) from the Bulls prior to his fourth NBA season in 2018:
“If I knew then what I know now, I’d tell my younger self to take the extension. It’s life-changing money, money that can set my family up and generational wealth that can provide for generations to come. I wasn’t looking at it like that. I was looking at it like, ‘Oh, I think my worth is this and that.’ But really at the time, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Sometimes, it works for people. I would’ve told myself to take it. I think it was a great fit for me. I had a very good connection with the Bulls.”
Always enjoy watching him play. Nice to hear someone wants to play for a contender over max $.
The Bulls need you to come back, BP! Go get that ring in Milwaukee and come back home to help the Bulls get back on track!
You’re quite slow.
Stop it he staying in Milwaukee
He has shown tremendous growth in all aspects of his life. I do believe he’s going to get another crack at that generational wealth contract.
The guy without the broken jaw definitely doesn’t have any hard feelings, lol.
But for real, he seems to have thoughtfully reflected on it and matured a lot over the last few years. Good for him. Hope he gets that contract he is looking for.
It’s always refreshing to hear an athlete admit he made a mistake by turning down substantial money for “greener pastures”. Good for him. I’m sure he’ll do well this off-season.
Portia is hero now
Loan Rose is cheap. Knicks won’t pay him market
After resigning Rose and Bullock, Knicks have $25 million left
Most teams have no money if they want to resign their own free agents
Lol..he need the ring..thats why he joined buck
Bobby Portis market
4 years $52 mil
Compare to
Morris Sr
4 years $64
I like Portis as a player. He works hard on his game, and plays hard, and usually smart, when he’s on the court. But I’ll be surprised if Portis gets more than a MLE level contract. The sum total of his game says he’s a backup big, and, while he can play both big spots, he’s neither a rim protector nor well suited to defending perimeter players; so he doesn’t really cover all the depth needs most teams have. Bucks are a perfect situation for him, and he gets about 20 mpg. That might be the mpg ceiling for him on a good team. Bigs simply don’t have pricing power at this time, and likely won’t for a number of years.
Not sure that was a mistake, turning down the extension… The Bulls have gone nowhere and if he took it, he would still be on it (assuming an HR estimated 4/$45m). He has made $18.6m in two years instead of maybe $22.5m, but he made the finals and should get more $ now.
What-ifs… If Portis wants to return to NY for this year at the $17.5m… NY probably drafts differently… probably PF Toppin out, a guard in for the #9… Haliburton? But then no Quickley later.
He was offered 5 mm/1 year (like Payton) to return. It was after the draft.
So the $15.75m (not 17.5) was a team option the Knicks declined, then they offered a 1/$5 after picking Toppin. Same story I guess.
Still, that probably would be high in his range.
Toppin is still investable IMO… he took his time learning 3s at Dayton too.
Yes. Knicks obviously didn’t consider Randle or Portis long term factors at PF at the time of the draft. They were intending to draft a Wing or a PG (Hayes, if he was there), and were all set to pursue as prime FA targets Grant and Wood for PF.
Drafting Toppin (vs a Wing) changed the FA targets (went to Hayward, vs Grant/Wood). Maybe made it more likely to offer Portis the 1 year deal, IDK, they might have done it either way. There was an strong assumption within the FO that Randle would be traded. So, they might have signed Portis to pair with Toppin or Grant/Wood.
I think Toppin’s perimeter shooting in college was a little overplayed. He did become a good 3 pt shooter with solid work, but it wasn’t only a complementary element of his offensive game. All in, he was a good, not a great, shooter.
Oh Bobby Bobby Bobby…you need to cash in this year before your regression to the mean…we have already seen some of the bonehead plays and inopportune fouls I remember when you were with the Bulls, so it is only a matter of time before the real Bobby shows up.