The Bucks and free agent guard Delon Wright have agreed to a one-year contract, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Wojnarowski pegs the value of the deal at $3.3MM. As a second-apron team, Milwaukee has no access to the mid-level or bi-annual exception and can only offer veteran-minimum contracts to outside free agents. Since Wright has nine years of NBA experience, his contract figures to actually be right around $3MM, as our breakdown of this year’s minimum salaries shows.
Wright, 32, has played for eight teams across his nine NBA seasons, including the Wizards and Heat in 2023/24. He averaged 4.5 points, 2.5 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game across 47 total appearances for the two clubs last season, then took on an increased role in the postseason for Miami, averaging 8.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG in 26.8 MPG while making 6-of-10 three-pointers.
While Wright is a solid ball-handler and will make the occasional outside shot (.354 career 3PT% on 1.9 attempts per game), his value stems more from his play on the other side of the ball. His size and length are above average for a guard, and he’s comfortable switching and defending multiple positions.
While there’s no confirmation yet that Patrick Beverley won’t be back with the Bucks, Wright could end up playing a similar role to the one Beverley did, providing the team with a defensive-minded backup for Damian Lillard at the point.
Daaaammmnnn…this really hurts as a Heat fan… I still don’t get why he wasn’t playing/even starting in certain luneups…massive loss in my opinion. I assumed they’d bring him back
They have a lot of guys in Milwaukee that don’t play, b/c doc rivers doesn’t know who they are, so this helps them, but they did have some guys that can defend and playmKe they weren’t using
….obviously gives them a lot of what they lost when they lost Holiday…
Maybe slow down a bit there Formerlyz. There’s a reason that Delon has played on eight teams in nine years. He’s a solid player that is useful to many teams, but not a guy a team is going to make a long term commitment to. Comparing what he’ll do for the Bucks as to what Holiday did is a couple steps too far there though.
…he brings a facsimile of what Holiday does; if you don’t know that, you’ve never watched Delon play, so I don’t have much else I could say…
The Heat lucked into him in the first place, then moved Kyle, which made him even more important. He could have started in different lineups, and definitely should be in the rotation. I don’t know how that’s acting like they should make a long term commitment
Bucks did about as well as you could do in that price range here, especially considering their need for defense and disruptiveness
They need a starting veteran SG. Beasley was a horrible option