- Bryn Forbes strongly considered re-signing with the Bucks before signing up for a second stint with the Spurs, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express News. Forbes declined a player option in order to become a free agent. He’s thrilled to return to the Spurs. “I still had good relationships with everyone here,” he said. “They know what I can do. … When I had the opportunity to come back, I was immediately excited.”
The reigning champion Bucks and head coach Mike Budenholzer have agreed to a three-year extension, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Budenholzer, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, helped lead the Bucks to their first championship in 50 years. After the 2020 playoffs, in which the Bucks were defeated in the second round by the eventual Eastern Conference champion Heat, there were questions about how Budenholzer’s regular-season success translated to postseason victories, which went as far back as his days with the Hawks.
But during this year’s run to the championship, Budenholzer showed more willingness to adapt and to lean on his stars for heavy minutes, playing all of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton 38+ minutes a night, a stark contrast to the 30.8 MPG he played Antetokounmpo in the 2020 playoffs.
Budenholzer had been on the final year of his deal, but this extension will keep him with the Bucks through the 2024/25 season.
Suns head coach Monty Williams recently sat down with Sam Amick of The Athletic to discuss Phoenix’s run to the 2021 NBA Finals, his relationship with All-Star point guard Chris Paul, his visit to the champion Bucks’ locker room after the Suns lost the series 4-2, and more.
“I think you’re always going to have that hole in your heart about it — your sports heart, anyway,” Williams said of his feelings following the Suns’ defeat this year. Phoenix made its first playoff berth in 11 seasons, and its first NBA Finals appearance since 1993.
“You had that chance, and you’re praying and hoping like heck that you’ll have a chance to do it again. That’s always going to be there. I think I had to get away from it, at least away from the building, from the city, for a little bit to just kind of connect with my family.”
Paul, who played through multiple injuries during the postseason, underwent left wrist surgery after Phoenix’s season ended.
“I’m sure he didn’t want to tell people, but I think that part bothered me because he was getting all kinds of flack over it, and I was like, ‘Nobody knows,’” Williams said.
Here are a few more noteworthy quotes from the Suns’ head coach:
On when Paul’s wrist injury began to impact his on-court contributions:
“I think it was when (then-Clippers guard Patrick Beverley) made that play on him and he had to put his hand down, I think that’s when it probably started. I don’t think anybody did it on purpose, but he got to a point where he just couldn’t use it like he normally could. So that part bothered me because he was getting flack and he’s out there battling, playing in that much pain.
“We tried (to get Paul to discuss it), man. And that was another thing, to play with that kind of pain and fight through it, I’m sure, had a huge impact on our young guys. To see a guy who has accomplished everything except, you know, winning a title, is out there fighting his tail off every night and not willing to come out of the game. I’m sure it had a huge impact on all of our young guys.”
On the Suns’ decision to re-sign Paul to a big-money deal in free agency:
“We didn’t want to lose him. That was always at the top of our minds. But we also respected the fact that he had earned the right to be a free agent, and anything could happen — even though, in my mind, I wouldn’t say I knew he was coming back, but I did feel like there was a level of comfort in our program. I think he and I have a level of trust that we both know is not always like that in other places.”
On congratulating Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Bucks teammates on their victory in the Milwaukee locker room after Game 6:
“All I wanted to do was congratulate Giannis, because I came right out of a press conference and I shut the door and I went right into him. I come right out of my press conference, I’m emotional, and then I run right into him and I just wanted to be gracious and say, ‘Congrats. You deserved it. You beat us.’
“What I’ve learned over the course of my career is to try to handle defeat the right way, and maybe you get a chance, maybe you get a chance to handle the other side of it. I remember when we beat Denver (in the second round of the playoffs), (Nuggets president of basketball operations) Tim Connelly came straight down to our locker room. That had a huge impact on me when we beat Denver. When I was in San Antonio (as an assistant coach) and we beat the Pistons in Game 7 (of the Finals) in ’05, Coach (Larry) Brown and (then-Pistons assistant coach) Dave Hanners came right over to our locker room. And so I’ve had these examples, and I was always taught that.”
On the Suns’ outlook for 2021/22:
“I’ve been meeting with the coaches, just talking about how to approach this year because this is an unknown with such a short rest. But the West is tough. But every year the West is tough. And you know, nobody picked us to be (in the Finals). Look where we were picked last year. Some people didn’t even have us making the playoffs, even with Chris.”
Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has bought a stake in MLB’s Milwaukee Brewers, the Brewers announced on Friday (link via ESPN). He certainly has the means: the 6’11” reigning Finals MVP inked a five-year, $228MM+ supermax extension with Milwaukee ahead of his championship 2020/21 season with the Bucks.
“This is a dream come true for a kid from Sepolia, Athens, Greece, born from immigrant parents. I could have never imagined I would be in this position,” Antetokounmpo said during a news conference about the purchase on Friday. “I want to be involved in the community as much as possible. I know Milwaukee invested a lot in me, and I want to invest a lot of me back into the city of Milwaukee.”
For more on Antetokounmpo’s foray into MLB ownership, check out the story at MLB Trade Rumors.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Point guard Keifer Sykes has a chance to stick with the Pacers thanks to his solid Summer League play, writes J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. New Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle appears to be in favor of Sykes’ addition. The 5’11” Sykes has been playing in various international leagues since going undrafted out of Green Bay in 2015.
- The Cavaliers explored adding a variety of wings during free agency, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Josh Hart, Doug McDermott, Alec Burks, Reggie Bullock, Furkan Korkmaz and Kent Bazemore were all considered. Cleveland committed significant long-term money to Jarrett Allen this summer and drafted Evan Mobley with the No. 3 pick, prompting Fedor to explore whether the team might trade big man Larry Nance Jr. to bolster its wing depth, now that most appealing free agent swingmen are off the table.
- In case you missed it, restricted free agent forward Hamidou Diallo re-signed with the Pistons on a two-year, $10.4MM deal, with a team option for the second year of the contract.
Makur Maker has signed with Australia’s Sydney Kings, according to Alessandro Maggi of Sportando. The 6’11” Maker, who attended Howard University last season, withdrew from this year’s draft but missed the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline. He’ll join the NBL’s Next Stars program with the aim of improving his draft stock.
“I can’t wait to learn from Luc Longley and Andrew Bogut, probably the best two big men in Australian basketball history who both were NBA champions,” he said. “Furthermore, under the leadership of our head coach Chase Buford, who is also of NBA championship background, and the front office with the CEO Chris Pongrass who was with the Memphis Grizzlies, I feel that this is my best pathway to becoming an NBA lottery pick next year.”
We have more from the basketball world:
- Following the schedule release on Friday, the Nets were listed by Caesars Sportsbook as the favorite to win the most regular-season games, David Purdum of ESPN relays. Brooklyn’s projected odds are 54.5 victories, just ahead of the Bucks (53.5), Lakers (51.5), Jazz (51.5) and Sixers (51.5). The Pistons (25.5), Magic (23.5) and Thunder (22.5) sit at the bottom of the projected wins list.
- Former NBA forward Johnathan Williams has signed with Italy’s Dolomiti Energia Trento, Sportando relays. He played with Germany’s Niners Chemnitz last season. Williams appeared in 15 games for the Wizards in 2019/20 and 24 for the Lakers in 2018/19.
- Hall-of-Famer Ray Allen has decided to become a prep coach, according to The Associated Press. Allen has been hired as the director of boys and girls basketball at Miami’s Gulliver Prep, and will also coach the boys varsity team.
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo received a player option in the final year of his two-year contract with the Bucks, Ian Begley of SNY.TV tweets. He signed a two-year deal worth approximately $3.6MM.
1:03pm: The Bucks have officially re-signed Antetokounmpo, the team announced today in a press release.
“Thanasis brings energy, effort and tenacity every minute of every game,” general manager Jon Horst said in a statement. “He’s a valuable part of our team and we’re excited to have him remain in Milwaukee.”
7:55am: The Bucks and free agent forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo have agreed to a new two-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
The older brother of Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, Thanasis has spent the last two seasons in Milwaukee and appeared in 57 games for the club in 2020/21, averaging 2.9 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 9.7 minutes per contest.
Prior to the 2019/20 season, the 6’6″ forward had played for a handful of international and G League teams and made a brief NBA cameo for the Knicks during the 2015/16 season, appearing in two games.
The terms of Antetokounmpo’s new deal aren’t known, but a minimum-salary pact seems likely.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), prior to agreeing to a new contract with Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee had been carrying 12 players on guaranteed contracts and three with partial or non-guarantees (Georgios Kalaitzakis, Elijah Bryant, and Mamadi Diakite). It’s unclear if Antetokounmpo is receiving a full guarantee.
Free agent swingman Lance Stephenson is holding a private workout for NBA teams in Las Vegas on Friday morning, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
According to Haynes, the Bucks, Nuggets, Sixers, and Nets are among the teams expected to have representatives in attendance at the workout.
Stephenson, who has appeared in over 500 regular season NBA games and another 57 playoff contests across nine seasons, hasn’t played in the league since 2018/19, when he made 68 appearances for the Lakers.
In his prime, Stephenson was a secondary scorer and play-maker who provided toughness and defensive versatility on the wing. Despite his two-year absence from the NBA, the 6’6″ guard/forward hasn’t given up on trying to get back into the league and believes he’s still capable of helping teams.
While it remains to be seen whether any of the four teams mentioned above – or any others – will seriously consider bringing Stephenson to training camp, it’s worth noting he was one of the players on Denver’s radar last spring when the club was seeking backcourt help following injuries to Jamal Murray and Will Barton, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post. The Nuggets ended up signing Austin Rivers instead.
- The Bucks gave up two second-round picks in the Grayson Allen deal with the Grizzlies. The picks they’re giving up are owed to Milwaukee from previous deals, Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian tweets. The first of those picks will either the Pacers’ pick or the less favorable of Cavaliers’ or Jazz’s pick in 2024. The second will be conveyed in 2026, the highest of either the Pacers’ or Heat’s pick.
Danny Green, who re-signed with the Sixers on a two-year deal, said most of his other suitors in free agency offered less money or would have needed to work out a sign-and-trade with Philadelphia, according to Rich Hofmann of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Ex-teammates Dwight Howard (Lakers) and George Hill (Bucks) tried to recruit Green to the teams they signed with this summer, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. However, Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid were also in frequent contact with the veteran guard, urging him to stick with the Sixers, Kyle Neubeck of The Philly Voice tweets.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Former Celtics assistant Jamie Young is joining Doc Rivers’ staff with the Sixers, Derek Bodner of The Athletic tweets. Young spent 21 years with Boston.
- While Nets general manager Sean Marks says he’s mostly done tweaking the team’s roster this offseason, he reserved the right to make more moves, Brian Lewis of The New York Post writes. “We’ve got to continue to tinker with the roster, and just see what happens,” he said. “We’ve seen in the past where other teams make cuts, and so forth, and we’re able to adjust because of that. So I don’t want to say that the roster’s complete: Maybe it’s 90 percent complete, 99 percent complete.”
- Nerlens Noel‘s three-year contract with the Knicks includes $4MM in total incentives. Among those potential incentives is a $750K bonus each time he makes First or Second Team All-Defense, Ian Begley of SNY.TV reports.