- The Bucks are operating over the second tax apron when unlikely incentives for Jrue Holiday, Grayson Allen and Khris Middleton are added in, plus A.J. Green‘s contract counts toward the apron as the two-year minimum of $2,019,763 rather the cap sheet hit of $1,901,769. The Athletic’s John Hollinger and Eric Nehm provide a full explanation of the Bucks’ tax apron situation, noting that the only limit placed on Milwaukee this season as a result of being over the second apron is not being able to use the taxpayer mid-level exception.
- Bucks general manager Jon Horst isn’t sure if 2022 first-round pick MarJon Beauchamp will be part of the rotation next season but it won’t be for a lack of trying, he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski. “He’s definitely on the right direction, the right path, and he’s approaching it in absolutely the right way,” Horst said. “I think he looks great. I really do. I think he’s had a really good summer.” Beauchamp appeared in 52 games, including 11 starts, during his rookie campaign.
- In a conversation with Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, general manager Jon Horst discussed several Bucks-related topics, including how the club is navigating the second tax apron, Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s health, Bobby Portis‘ role on Team USA, MarJon Beauchamp‘s outlook, and more. Horst said that Antetokounmpo’s knee is “doing great” following a clean-up procedure in June.
After spending much of his rookie season getting used to the NBA, the Bucks‘ MarJon Beauchamp appears ready to make a bigger impact, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. Beauchamp reported to Summer League noticeably stronger than he was last season, and his teammates have seen a different approach to the game.
“His confidence and feeling comfortable out there, and kind of understanding what he does best and how he can do that and execute that and kind of just like putting his impact on the game, on both ends of the floor, getting to the rim, making plays defensively,” A.J. Green said. “He just looks so much more like ‘I’m here. I belong here’ comfortable out there.”
Beauchamp took a lead role in Milwaukee’s offense during Summer League, scoring 23 and 20 points in the first two games. He plans to spend part of the offseason working out in Greece with Giannis Antetokounmpo and hopes to carry his newfound aggressiveness into the upcoming season.
“Going into camp, I just want to show my ability where I’ve grown and I read the game better,” Beauchamp said. “I’m here to take that leap. I am. It starts Day 1 of training camp so I can’t wait.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- Javon Freeman-Liberty was impressive enough during Summer League to warrant an NBA contract, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago states in an overview of the Bulls‘ performance in Las Vegas. Freeman-Liberty averaged 21.2 PPG in five games while shooting 49.3% from the field and 46.2% from beyond the arc. Johnson suggests the Bulls might give him their last open two-way spot if he doesn’t get offered a standard deal by another team.
- The Bulls‘ front office hasn’t shown an ability to identify talent in recent drafts, contends Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. Second-year guard Dalen Terry might be the latest disappointment after a lackluster Summer League showing in which he shot 33.8%. Cowley rates Chicago’s last four drafts, giving the team grades of C, C-minus, D and C-plus.
- Tyrese Haliburton believes the Pacers are ready to take another step forward after signing Bruce Brown and trading for Obi Toppin, per The Indianapolis Star. “I think we have a lot of guys that fit the right way and fit our style of basketball,” Haliburton said. “Bruce, Obi, on top of the guys that we already have there with the way we played last year, those are two guys who just add to that. That’s going to help us keep playing fast.”
The Mavericks are actively looking to improve their roster and have shown “exploratory interest in several free agent forwards,” including veterans Kelly Oubre and Derrick Jones Jr., league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Although Dallas technically still has a good chunk of its full mid-level exception available, the team has yet to sign first-rounder Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and once that occurs the Mavs will be pretty close to the luxury tax line. They do have an open standard roster spot and could offer a free agent more money than the veteran’s minimum, but not much more unless other moves are made.
On a related note, Scotto confirms that the Mavs continue to shop Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee in trade talks. Recent rumors have indicated Dallas tried to package Hardaway and McGee to the Pistons for Bojan Bogdanovic and Killian Hayes.
Scotto hears Detroit was looking for “essentially two first-round picks” in exchange for Bogdanovic last season, though Hayes could available with a glut of guards on the Pistons’ roster.
Here are more free agent rumors from Scotto:
- Free agent guard Armoni Brooks, who has been playing well for the Nets in Summer League, could be a candidate for a two-way deal from Brooklyn, according to Scotto. However, if that doesn’t transpire, the 25-year-old has also drawn interest from “multiple EuroLeague teams,” Scotto reports. Brooks holds two years of NBA experience with the Rockets and Raptors. He played for Atlanta’s G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, in 2022/23.
- League sources tell Scotto that the Hornets offered Dennis Smith Jr. more than the veteran’s minimum to return to Charlotte, but the Nets reached out to the point guard right after free agency opened and he saw an opportunity for more playing time in Brooklyn. The fact that he was a priority for the Nets also appealed to the former lottery pick, says Scotto.
- The Pistons, Cavaliers, Knicks and Bucks were among the teams who watched Harry Giles‘ recent workout in Las Vegas, sources tell Scotto. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News recently reported that members of the Timberwolves attended as well, which Scotto confirms. A former first-round pick, Giles has been out of the league the past two seasons after playing with the Kings and Trail Blazers from 2018-21. Still just 25 years old, Giles recently discussed his attempt to make it back into the NBA.
After opting to retain their core free agents this summer and also make some cheap veteran signings, the Bucks are deftly navigating their present while trying to maintain some longer-term flexibility, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“There is, without a doubt, an intentionality to try make sure that we maximize where we’re at right now with this team and always having an eye toward the future to try to figure out what the next version of this team looks like,” Milwaukee GM Jon Horst told Owczarski.
“That doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s major changes to the roster [upcoming] or there is or there isn’t, it just means that we gotta have an eye toward that and continue to look at how we’re going to build this two, three, four, five years down the road because the whole goal has always been to sustain our success over a long period of time,” Horst continued.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The rebuilding Pacers theoretically have the attributes to trade for Raptors All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam, but Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star wonders if the negatives of such a move would outweigh the positives, specifically with regard to how much the team would possibly need to surrender to Toronto.
- Chicago native Jevon Carter is hoping to help elevate his new team, his hometown Bulls, both on the hardwood and beyond it this season, writes K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. To wit, Carter is already prepping to host a local youth camp this weekend. “Anytime I dreamed about going to the NBA as a kid, it was always in a Chicago Bulls uniform,” Carter told Johnson. “So getting that call and hearing, ‘Congratulations, you’re going to be a Chicago Bull,’ like, I don’t even know what to say. My feelings are all over the place.”
- Maximum-salaried Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine does not believe he will be traded by Chicago in the near future, per Ryan Taylor of NBC Sports Chicago. “I always rep my city whichever team I’m playing for to the best,” LaVine said. “And Chicago’s loved me and called me one of their own since I’ve been there. I don’t see anything happening anytime soon. But if it does, Chicago always has my love.”
- The Bucks decided to give A.J. Green a standard contract after he played on a two-way deal as a rookie last season, and added rookie second-rounder Chris Livingston, the final pick of the draft, to the 15-man roster as well. Both players spoke about their new contracts with Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “It just gives me more confidence, knowing that they trust in me and what I was able to do and how I was able to help the team last year,” Green told The Athletic. “That’s all I’m going to try to continue to do, just help the team and play my role and do what I can.”
In an extensive interview with Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Bucks general manager Jon Horst explained the thinking behind many of the team’s offseason moves, including contract agreements with Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, and Jae Crowder.
Some of Horst’s most interesting comments were about signings that will certainly be less impactful than the new deals for starters like Middleton and Lopez. For instance, in discussing the team’s minimum-salary deal with Malik Beasley, the Bucks’ GM indicated that he believes that Milwaukee’s system and personnel can put the 26-year-old swingman in position to thrive.
“I think that he could benefit from playing with a guy like Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Khris and Jrue (Holiday) and our system,” Horst said. “You’ve seen in the past. We’ve had players who are good shooters and really become kind of elite shooters in our system. I think he’s one of those guys that is capable of doing that because, again, he has a willingness and a desire to let it go and he’s proven that he can make it efficiently.”
The fact that the Bucks were able to get Beasley to sign for the veteran’s minimum could pay off in a big way, according to Horst: “He’s really ready to prove to the league that he’s better than where his market was this year, and I think it’ll be a great fit.”
Here’s more on the Bucks:
- Asked about the lack of a backup point guard on the roster, Horst told Nehm that Milwaukee is “at peace with where we’re at right now,” pointing out that the team has “a lot of secondary ball-handlers,” along with guards Lindell Wigginton and Omari Moore on two-way contracts. However, he didn’t close the door on a possible addition at that spot. “I think (head coach Adrian Griffin)’s excited for that challenge to figure out how we utilize it and we’ve ultimately made a talent bet on where we wanted to put our money and our minutes and felt like we could cover that position with the roster we have,” Horst said. “If that doesn’t work, we’ll figure it out.”
- The contract that No. 36 overall pick Andre Jackson signed with the Bucks is a four-year, minimum-salary deal using the NBA’s new second-round pick exception. Only the first year is fully guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. The second year is 50% guaranteed (approximately $946K) while the third season is non-guaranteed and the fourth is a team option.
- A.J. Green‘s new three-year contract with the Bucks also has just one guaranteed season, Hoops Rumors has learned. Green will earn a guaranteed $1.9MM salary in 2023/24, with non-guaranteed minimum salaries in each of the following two years.
The Kings’ renegotiation and extension of Domantas Sabonis‘ contract includes $203.6MM in guaranteed money, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype tweets. The five-year deal also includes $13MM in incentives, raising its potential value to $216.6MM.
Sacramento used $8.6MM in cap room to give Sabonis a raise on next season’s salary – from $22MM to $30.6MM — then added four more years via the extension.
We have more contract-related notes:
- Khris Middleton has a player option in the final season of his new three-year deal with the Bucks, Scotto tweets. As previously reported, his contract includes $93MM in guaranteed money and another $9MM in bonus incentives.
- Fred VanVleet‘s huge three-year contract with the Rockets includes a 15% trade kicker, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link). The previously reported team option for the third year is valued at $44.89MM.
- D’Angelo Russell‘s two-year contract with the Lakers is guaranteed for $36MM, Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tweets. The second season is a player option and Russell has $700K in incentives for both seasons. Additionally, Russell has waived his implied no-trade clause.
- Jaylen Clark‘s two-way contract with the Timberwolves is a two-year deal, Smith tweets.
- Leonard Miller‘s four-year, $8.3MM contract with the Timberwolves is guaranteed for the first two years, Scotto tweets. The third year is 50% guaranteed, and the fourth year is a team option.
Jae Crowder‘s new one-year contract with Milwaukee is for the veteran’s minimum, league sources tell Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The Bucks held Crowder’s Bird rights, so they could have given him any salary up to his maximum. Obviously he was never going to receive anything close to $47.6MM next season, but it’s still interesting that he accepted such a significant pay cut after making $10.2MM in 2022/23.
Crowder just completed his 11th NBA season. As our list of minimum salaries for ’23/24 shows, the 33-year-old will earn about $3.2MM on his new deal, while the Bucks will carry a $2MM cap hit.
Here are more contract details from around the NBA:
- Jerami Grant received the most lucrative contract in free agency in terms of total value, earning $160MM over five years to stay with the Trail Blazers. The fifth year of Grant’s deal is a player option, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
- Center Dwight Powell re-signed with the Mavericks as a free agent, inking a three-year, $12MM deal. Similar to Grant, Powell has a player option for the final season, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon (Twitter link). Powell reportedly drew interest from Houston, but decided to stay with Dallas.
- Jeff Green‘s two-year contract with the Rockets features a non-guaranteed team option in 2024/25 and $1.6MM per season in bonuses that are considered likely to be achieved, sources tell Scotto (via Twitter). That means Green’s annual cap hits will be $9.6MM. ESPN’s Bobby Marks was first to report that the original terms of Green’s contract agreement had been amended, with Houston using cap room to sign the veteran forward.
- The Lakers signed second-rounder Maxwell Lewis to a standard four-year contract using the new second-round pick exception, reports Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link). Lewis will receive guaranteed salaries of $1.1MM as a rookie next season (the minimum) and $1.4MM in ’24/25. Sources tell Price the third year of the contract is partially guaranteed for $100K, while the fourth and final season is a team option.