Milwaukee Bucks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Contract Details: Crowder, Grant, Powell, Green, Lewis

July 10th, 2023 at 2:16pm CST by Rory Maher

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.

Dobner Stated Her Case, Got Coaching Job

July 9th, 2023 at 8:53pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Tacko Fall is on the Bucks’ Summer League roster, hoping to get another shot to play in the league during the regular season. The 7’6” Fall spent last seasons in China. “When you know what you’re capable of, you’ve just got to keep going until you hit it, and that’s pretty much what I’m doing right now,” he told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. Fall has appeared in a total of 37 NBA games with Boston and Cleveland.
Sidney Dobner confidently stated her case to new Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin and that helped her become the franchise’s first female assistant coach, according to Ben Steele of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She was Milwaukee’s first female video coordinator last season. “I reached out to Coach Griff and shot my shot a little bit,” she said. “The NBA moves fast and sometimes you just got to take hold of your opportunity. Just presented the idea to him and it sounded like he was really on board, and next thing you know I was being announced as an assistant coach.”

Chris Livingston Signs Four-Year Deal With Bucks

July 9th, 2023 at 1:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 9: Livingston’s contract is now official, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic (Twitter link).

JULY 8: The Bucks will sign Kentucky forward Chris Livingston to a four-year deal worth $7.7MM, tweets Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports. The first two years are guaranteed, Livingston’s agents tell Charania, who points out that it will be the largest contract ever given to the final pick in the draft.

Livingston was the subject of some draft-night intrigue, as Rich Paul of Klutch Sports reportedly called several teams and asked them not to select his client. Livingston appeared to have a pre-arranged deal with the Bucks, who held the 58th pick. He canceled several scheduled workouts two weeks before the draft.

The 19-year-old earned SEC All-Freshman honors during his lone season with the Wildcats. He appeared in 34 games, averaging 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 22.4 minutes per night.

The signing will give Milwaukee 13 players on its standard roster — that doesn’t include an expected deal for Jae Crowder still waiting to be finalized.

Jae Crowder Signs One-Year Deal With Bucks

July 9th, 2023 at 1:08pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 9: Crowder’s new contract is official, tweets Eric Nehm of The Athletic.

JULY 1: Free agent forward Jae Crowder will return to the Bucks, according to Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link), who reports that Crowder has agreed to a one-year deal with Milwaukee.

Milwaukee shipped out five second-round draft picks to acquire the 32-year-old vet in a three-team exchange with the Suns and Nets in February.

Exact terms of the agreement have yet to be reported. In any deal with an outside free agent, the Bucks will be limited to the veteran’s minimum after having committed big money to free agent starters Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez. However, because Milwaukee possesses Crowder’s Bird rights, the team could sign him to a contract above the standard minimum.

A journeyman 3-and-D role player for several high-level postseason teams, the 6’6″ power forward appeared in 18 contests for the Bucks as a reserve last year, averaging 6.9 PPG on .479/.436/.833 shooting splits, 3.8 RPG, 1.5 APG and 0.7 SPG.

He was cut from Milwaukee’s healthy playoff rotation by former head coach Mike Budenholzer during its five-game first round series loss to the Heat. Budenholzer reinserted the Marquette alum in limited minutes after All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo injured his back in Game 1.

The Bucks’ salary obligations have them headed for the league’s new second luxury tax apron, which means they don’t have access to the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, valued at $5MM this year, or their bi-annual exception, worth $4.5MM.

Re-adding Crowder, who served as the starting four on consecutive Finals teams in 2020 (the Heat) and 2021 (the Suns), could be the kind of buy-low move that Milwaukee needs to nail if it hopes to return to playoff glory next spring.

NBA Reveals Dates, Groups For In-Season Tournament

July 8th, 2023 at 7:40pm CST by Arthur Hill

The NBA has announced the five-team groups that will used for the league’s first-ever in-season tournament, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The unveiling took place Saturday during a special episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today” held at “NBA Con” in Las Vegas.

The groups were determined in a draw similar to what is used in soccer’s World Cup. There are six groups — three each from the Eastern Conference and Western Conference — and each conference was split into five pots based on last season’s standings. One team was randomly selected from each of the pots to determine the opening-round matchups.

The results are:

Group 1: Sixers, Cavaliers, Hawks, Pacers and Pistons.
Group 2: Bucks, Knicks, Heat, Wizards and Hornets.
Group 3: Celtics, Nets, Raptors, Bulls and Magic.
Group 4: Grizzlies, Suns, Lakers, Jazz and Trail Blazers.
Group 5: Nuggets, Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks and Rockets.
Group 6: Kings, Warriors, Timberwolves, Thunder and Spurs.

The tournament will start with group play, which will match each team with the other four in its grouping. Those games will take place on Nov. 3, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28.

The winner of each group will advance to a knockout round, joined by the team with the best record in each conference among those who didn’t win a group. Quarterfinal games will be played Dec. 4 and 5, hosted by the higher-seeded teams. The four winners in that round will move on to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the Dec. 7 semifinals and the Dec. 9 championship game.

Bontemps points out that all teams will play within their conference until the last game, which guarantees an East vs. West matchup, just like the NBA Finals.

“Everybody’s not going to buy in right away,” admitted Joe Dumars, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations. “So that can’t be the goal that everybody’s going to buy in from day one. These things take time. And I think, as time goes on, I think you can build this up and people can really get into it.”

The championship trophy will be called the NBA Cup, and players will receive $500K each for winning it. Other prize money includes $200K for second place, $100K for losing in the semifinals and $50K for losing in the quarterfinals. The league opted not to provide other incentives, such as a guaranteed playoff spot, for the tournament winner.

We passed along more details on the in-season tournament right here.

Bucks Sign Second-Rounder Andre Jackson Jr.

July 7th, 2023 at 9:38pm CST by Rory Maher

The Bucks have officially signed second-round pick Andre Jackson Jr., the team announced in a press release (Twitter link via Eric Nehm of The Athletic).

While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, Jackson is not listed as having inked a two-way contract on NBA.com’s official transaction log, which suggests Milwaukee signed him to a standard contract, likely using the new second-round pick exception.

Jackson, who helped UConn win the championship as a junior last season, was the 36th overall pick in the 2023 draft last month. The 6’6″ guard averaged 6.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.1 steals on .432/.281/.646 shooting in 36 games (29.1 MPG) for the Huskies in 2022/23.

The Bucks acquired 36th pick in a draft-night trade with the Magic, sending back a 2030 second-rounder and cash.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype was first to report that Jackson was a candidate for a standard roster spot. The 21-year-old made his NBA debut with the Bucks on Friday night in Las Vegas Summer League, finishing with nine points, six assists, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal against Denver.

Contract Details: Poeltl, Strus, Love, Robinson, Walsh, R. Lopez

July 7th, 2023 at 7:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Jakob Poeltl‘s four-year contract with the Raptors has a flat base value of $19.5MM per year, for a total of $78MM, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca. There are $500K in annual incentives currently considered unlikely to be earned — if Poeltl maxes out those bonuses, it’ll be worth $80MM. As previously reported, the fourth year is a player option.

Murphy adds that Jalen McDaniels‘ two-year deal is, as expected, worth the full amount of the bi-annual exception and is fully guaranteed, with no options on the second year.

Here are a few more details on recently signed contracts that Hoops Rumors can confirm:

Max Strus‘ four-year contract with the Cavaliers, which has a total value of $62.3MM, has a first-year salary of $14,487,684. That means the trade exception created by the Heat in the sign-and-trade deal is worth $7,243,842, half of Strus’ salary, due to base year compensation rules.
Kevin Love‘s two-year deal with the Heat is worth the full Non-Bird amount — $3.84MM in year one and $4.03MM in year two (with a player option). That represents 120% of his minimum salary.
Orlando Robinson‘s two-year, minimum-salary contract with the Heat is only partially guaranteed for $75K in 2023/24. That guarantee will increase to $425K if he remains under contract through the start of the regular season and to $850K if he’s not waived on or before December 1. Because Robinson’s current guarantee is only $75K, he’d be eligible for a two-way deal if he’s waived before the regular season.
Jordan Walsh‘s four-year deal with the Celtics is worth the minimum in all four seasons. It’s fully guaranteed in the first two years, with a $200K partial guarantee in year three.
Robin Lopez‘s minimum-salary contract with the Bucks is for one year.
We’re continuing to update our free agent tracker and our list of draft pick signings with contract details as we learn them.

Contract Details For Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez

July 7th, 2023 at 7:24am CST by Luke Adams

The three-year contract Khris Middleton signed with the Bucks only has a base value of about $93MM, well below the reported figure of $102MM, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (via Twitter).

As Marks explains, the deal features approximately $9MM in total incentives — $2MM are currently considered likely to be earned, while the other $7MM are unlikely (meaning Middleton and/or the Bucks didn’t achieve the criteria last season). For now, the forward’s annual cap hits, which take into account his base salaries and likely incentives, will be $29.3MM, $31.7MM, and $34MM.

Meanwhile, Brook Lopez‘s two-year, $48MM contract with the Bucks has a declining structure, according to Marks. The veteran center will earn $25MM in 2023/24 and $23MM in ’24/25.

Bucks Officially Sign Middleton, Lopez, Beasley

July 6th, 2023 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bucks have officially completed three of their reported free agent signings, having re-signed forward Khris Middleton and center Brook Lopez while also adding swingman Malik Beasley, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.

Middleton reached a deal with the Bucks during the first couple hours of free agency last Friday evening, reportedly agreeing to terms on a three-year contract that will pay him $102MM.

Middleton turned down a $40.4MM player option in order to secure a more significant overall financial commitment, though he’ll accept a lower salary in 2023/24. That reduction should help the Bucks’ luxury tax situation in the short term.

Lopez, who drew significant free agent interest from the Rockets, ultimately rebuffed Houston’s advances in order to return to Milwaukee on a two-year deal worth a reported $48MM. He and the Bucks reached that agreement on Saturday.

The veteran center and former All-Star had one of his best NBA seasons in 2022/23, bumping his scoring average to 15.9 PPG (his best mark since his Brooklyn days) and finishing as the runner-up in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

As for Beasley, he’s joining the Bucks on a one-year, minimum-salary contract after finishing last season with the Lakers. The veteran wing, who agreed on Monday to sign with Milwaukee is a career 37.8% three-point shooter on 5.8 attempts per game, so he’ll help spread the floor for his new team in 2023/24.

The Bucks are still on track to formally complete deals with Jae Crowder, Robin Lopez, and A.J. Green as well.

Scotto’s Latest: Beasley, Bucks, Plumlee, Spurs, McDaniels, McLemore

July 6th, 2023 at 1:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Before he agreed to join the Bucks on a minimum-salary deal, free agent swingman Malik Beasley received interest from several teams, including the Mavericks, writes Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. According to Scotto, Dallas considered the possibility of acquiring Beasley from the Lakers via sign-and-trade, but it didn’t work out.

New Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin was a factor in getting Beasley to Milwaukee, having spoken to the veteran wing during the team’s recruiting pitch, sources tell Scotto.

The Bucks currently have 12 players pencil in for standard contracts in 2023/24. Scotto hears that Thanasis Antetokounmpo and No. 36 pick Andre Jackson are candidates to end up on the 15-man roster. The team also needs to decide what type of contract No. 58 pick Chris Livingston will sign, Scotto notes. Currently, Lindell Wigginton and Omari Moore are on two-way contracts with Milwaukee, leaving one open two-way slot.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Veteran center Mason Plumlee drew interest in free agency from a number of playoff teams, including the Warriors and Hawks, before deciding to remain with the Clippers, league sources tell Scotto.
The Spurs, having already agreed to get involved in deals that will land them Cedi Osman, Lamar Stevens, and Reggie Bullock, remain open to taking on unwanted contracts in order to add more draft assets, reports Scotto.
Before signing forward Jalen McDaniels as a free agent, the Raptors tried to trade for him multiple times, including at the 2023 deadline, according to Scotto, who says Toronto has been closely monitoring McDaniels since he was at San Diego State.
Veteran guard Ben McLemore, who was out of the NBA last season, will work out for multiple NBA teams during the Las Vegas Summer League, per Scotto. McLemore played in China last season after averaging 10.2 PPG in 64 games for Portland in 2021/22.
In case you missed it, we also rounded up several Knicks-related rumors from Scotto.