The Bucks have guaranteed A.J. Green‘s $2,120,693 salary for the 2024/25 season, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (via Twitter).
As our list of early salary guarantee dates shows, Milwaukee would have had to waive Green by July 8 in order to avoid being on the hook for his minimum salary for ’24/25. Scotto’s reporting is confirmation that the two sides didn’t agree to push back that date.
Green, who went undrafted out of Northern Iowa in 2022, caught on with the Bucks on a two-way contract in July 2022 and was promoted to the standard roster on a new multiyear deal one year later. He played sparingly as a rookie, but saw a little more action in his second season, averaging 4.5 points and 1.1 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game across 56 appearances off the bench.
A long-distance marksman, the 24-year-old has made 41.2% of his career three-point attempts (113-of-274). The Bucks lost their top three-point shooter (Malik Beasley) in free agency, so they may lean more heavily on Green in his third NBA season for floor-spacing purposes.
With Green’s salary now locked in, the Bucks are carrying 13 standard guaranteed contracts for 2024/25, with second-year guard Andre Jackson holding a partial guarantee on his minimum-salary deal. All three of their two-way contract slots are occupied.
As for Green, he remains under contract for one more season beyond this one — his $2.3MM salary for ’25/26 would become guaranteed if he’s not waived by July 8, 2025.
Bobby Portis to the Knicks for Precious Achiuwa, Deuce McBride, and Jericho Sims.
Milwaukee addresses its needs for a starting 2, youth, athleticism, and depth. McBride will be perfect next to Dame, hounding opposing PGs and hitting open jumpers. Precious won’t score like Portis but he’ll approximate his energy and intensity. Sims will get minutes too as their only true center behind Lopez. A second unit with a mix of Sims, Achiuwa, Prince, Connaughton, Green, and Wright might be ok.
If Achiuwa is signed for the exact dollar amount necessary for the salaries to be perfectly even, neither team violates the first-apron restriction on adding salary. That amount is around $5.7M which happens to be right around his market value.
Kind of a no brainer here. Bucks need all the dirt cheap guys they can get/sign/keep.