Milwaukee Bucks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Terry, LaVine, Giannis, Wiseman

April 3rd, 2023 at 8:30pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Bulls rookie Dalen Terry, a first-round pick in 2022, is determined to crack Chicago’s rotation in 2023/24, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.

Cowley notes that Terry intends to play with the Bulls’ Summer League team this summer. Chicago drafted the 6’7″ swingman out of Arizona with the No. 18 pick last year. In just 5.3 MPG, the 20-year-old is averaging 1.8 PPG on .453/.300/.533 shooting splits across 34 games.

‘‘I just know I ain’t going through this again,’’ Terry said of his limited role as a rookie. ‘‘So just the part of my development, what does everybody want to see from me, as well as the expectations I have in myself? I know I want to come back a different player.’’

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Maximum-salaried Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine just broke his own franchise record for total three-pointers made in a single season, set initially during his All-Star 2020/21 season, according to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago. LaVine has made 201 triples this year, one more than he did in 2020/21. There are four games left in the 38-40 club’s season, with which he can build a bit more distance between his previous record and his new one.
Bucks All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been putting up superlative numbers on the team with the best record in the league, but seems to rank a distant third in the current 2023 MVP conversation behind Sixers All-NBA center Joel Embiid and Nuggets All-NBA center Nikola Jokic. Antetokounmpo’s teammates and coach believe he deserves a little more credit, per Jamal Collier of ESPN. “We certainly feel like Giannis is the MVP,” head coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Best player, best record, what he does on both ends of the court, the rebounding, the blocked shots, the defense, guarding on the perimeter. He does everything: play-makes, attacks, gets to the free throw line. We feel like he’s in the conversation and he should be the guy.” All-Star Milwaukee point guard Jrue Holiday agrees: “He’s [on] the No. 1 team, not just in the East, but in the league.”
Pistons center James Wiseman is enjoying his opportunity to grow with his new team. The seven-footer recently reflected on his development in Detroit and his future with the club, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN. “This is apparently like my rookie year, I can say, because just the amount of games I’ve played,” Wiseman, who has appeared in 80 total games across his three pro seasons, told Friedell. “So, I just got to take it one day at a time. I can’t be so hard on myself about anything, about trying to be good right now, all the instant gratification stuff. Sometimes it comes into my mind, but I got to just look at it for what it is and be real with myself. It’s going to take time.”

Injury Updates: Kessler, Jokic, Monk, Allen, Russell

April 2nd, 2023 at 9:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jazz big man Walker Kessler, one of the league’s top rookies, is being evaluated for a concussion, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News reports.

Kessler was elbowed by teammate Talen Horton-Tucker as Horton-Tucker drove to the basket, causing Kessler to fall backward. The play occurred during the third quarter of Utah’s loss at Brooklyn on Sunday.

“Kind of a weird play on a rebound,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “The docs looked at him tonight, didn’t want (him) to come back in the game, so he’ll be reevaluated (Monday).”

We have more injury-related updates:

Nuggets big man and MVP candidate Nikola Jokic missed his third consecutive game on Sunday due to right calf tightness, Kendra Andrews of ESPN tweets.
Kings guard Malik Monk didn’t play on Sunday after getting injured during warmups. He experienced mild lower left leg muscle soreness, Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee tweets.
Bucks swingman Grayson Allen departed early on Sunday due to a right ankle sprain, the team’s PR department tweets.
Left foot soreness sidelined Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell for the second half of the team’s game against Houston, Jovan Buha of The Athletic tweets. Coach Darvin Ham said the move was precautionary and Russell could have played the second half, if needed.

Thanasis Suspended One Game For Head Butt

April 1st, 2023 at 2:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bucks forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo has been suspended one game without pay for headbutting Boston big man Blake Griffin, the league’s PR department tweets.

Holiday Earns Bonus For Minutes Played

March 31st, 2023 at 10:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Speaking of the Bucks, Jrue Holiday has earned a $331K bonus, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Holiday has exceeded 2,000 minutes this season — 2,082 to be exact — entering the weekend while appearing in 64 games.
Giannis Antetokounmpo would be thrilled to win another Most Valuable Player award but he’s focused on winning a second NBA championship with the Bucks, he told Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. “Do I think it’s a priority for me? No,” he said of winning MVP. “The priority for me is to get better, to help my team win a championship, to get that feeling again.” A recent ESPN straw poll indicated that the Bucks star trails Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic in the MVP race.

Central Notes: Wiseman, Green, Donovan, Haliburton, Turner

March 30th, 2023 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pistons center James Wiseman is going to make it a priority this offseason to improve his strength with a weightlifting regimen, per head coach Dwane Casey (Twitter link via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press).

First selected with the No. 2 pick out of Memphis in 2020, Wiseman failed to find his footing with the Warriors and was flipped to Detroit at the trade deadline in a four-team transaction. Since being sent to the rebuilding Pistons, the seven-footer has enjoyed a much more active role, averaging 13.4 PPG on 55.2% shooting, along with 8.7 RPG and 0.8 BPG across 26.0 MPG.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Bucks two-way rookie guard A.J. Green has an interesting history with Milwaukee as a city, as Lori Nickel of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes. His father, Kyle Green, served as an assistant coach at Marquette during the 2003/04 NCAA season. Kyle Green left his post to become a head coach at Lewis University in Chicago. The Iowa Barnstormers, A.J. Green’s AAU team, meanwhile, played at a tournament in Milwaukee while he was in high school. “I had an idea of what the city was like,” A.J. said. “Obviously, good basketball, good players, and good people. I knew that Milwaukee liked me, but it was not a sure thing. I’m so glad it was here.”
Bulls head coach Billy Donovan has faced some criticism for an underwhelming season, but he’s earning praise from several of his best players, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “He’s definitely underrated, underappreciated on the outside,’’ All-Star DeMar DeRozan said. ‘‘He’s easy-going, and as much as he’s locked into the game and pays attention to the small things, it’s incredible. His play-calling, his schemes — he puts a lot into the game that too many people don’t see.’’ At 36-40, the Bulls are currently the tenth seed in the East and are on the cusp of a play-in tournament berth.
Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton and sharpshooting center Myles Turner could be shut down for the rest of the season, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “They’ll be listed however they’re listed game-to-game,” head coach Rick Carlisle said following a team practice today. “If you’re asking if it’s possible that they don’t play anymore, yeah, it’s possible. It’s not impossible that one of them would play, but we’re going game to game with it.” Turner has missed the team’s last three games with a sore left ankle and sore lower back, while Haliburton has been absent for the last two due to a right ankle sprain and sore left elbow. Indiana is currently 3.5 games behind the Bulls for the No. 10 seed in the East.

Giannis Still In Mix In Tight MVP Race

March 30th, 2023 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

The 2023 MVP race is tighter than ever in the season’s home stretch, according to the third and final straw poll conducted by Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The 100 media members who submitted five-man ballots to Bontemps picked Sixers center Joel Embiid over Nuggets center Nikola Jokic by a grand total of two points (790 to 788). Jokic actually received more first-place votes (42) than Embiid (40), while Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was also very much in the mix, with the remaining 18 first-place votes and 612 total points.

Grayson Allen Earns $425K Bonus

March 30th, 2023 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

Bucks guard Grayson Allen earned a $425K bonus when he appeared in his 70th game of the season on Wednesday night, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Because Allen only played 66 games in 2021/22, that bonus has been considered unlikely, but it will now be considered likely in 2023/24, bumping his cap hit for next season from $8.5MM to $8.925MM.

Central Notes: Haslam, Hield, Omoruyi, Bulls

March 28th, 2023 at 6:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing at the NFL owners’ meetings in Arizona this week, Jimmy Haslam spoke publicly for the first time about his impeding purchase of Marc Lasry‘s stake in the Bucks, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Because the sale hasn’t been officially finalized, Haslam declined to get into specifics, but he did tell reporters that Bucks co-owner Wes Edens would reclaim his role as the team’s governor while the Haslams learn the ropes of NBA ownership. Under the previous agreement, Edens and Lasry traded the governor title every five years — Edens held it from 2014-19.

Haslam, the owner of the NFL’s Cleveland Browns along with his wife Dee, described his purchase of a stake in the Bucks as “opportunistic,” Owczarski relays.

“I mean listen, we never thought we’d own 10% of the Steelers. Never thought we’d own the Browns. Dee and I had never been, beside watching (daughter) Whitney play high school soccer, had never been to a soccer game,” said Haslam, who also owns the Columbus Crew (MLS). “So it’s just opportunistic. It was straightened set of circumstances; we were called on this opportunity. Business, sports, you tend to be optimistic. I have no idea what will happen next. First thing’s first, let’s get this done and then let’s get the Browns winning games.”

Here’s more from around the Central:

Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield was sidelined for Monday’s game due to a non-COVID illness, marking just the fourth time since he entered the NBA in 2016 that he has missed a game, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Hield started Indiana’s first 73 games this season, but has come off the bench since then so that the team can get a look at different lineup combinations, with an eye toward next season, tweets Agness.
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), Eugene Omoruyi‘s new contract with the Pistons covers two seasons — it’s guaranteed for the rest of 2022/23, with a team option for ’23/24. In order to give Omoruyi more than the prorated minimum for the rest of this season, Detroit used a portion of its room exception to complete the signing, Hoops Rumors has learned. Instead of the $169,445 he would’ve gotten on a minimum-salary deal, the 26-year-old received $269,445 for ’22/23.
With the Trail Blazers set to miss the postseason again, the Bulls won’t get the lottery-protected first-round pick owed to them by Portland this season, and Chicago’s own top-four protected first-rounder appears ticketed for Orlando. However, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago wonders if the Bulls could end up with a first-rounder in 2023 by negotiating a trade with the Blazers, who are on track to receive the Knicks’ first-round pick. As Johnson observes, Portland may want to reacquire its own first-rounder, which remains lottery-protected through 2028, in order to regain flexibility for future trades.

Joe Ingles Has Made Peace With Trade Out Of Utah

March 25th, 2023 at 7:47am CST by Luke Adams

Bucks forward Joe Ingles admits that he took it hard when he was traded by the Jazz at the 2022 trade deadline, but he has since comes to terms with it and now appreciates the fact that he got to spend eight years with the franchise, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. The roster overhaul that the Jazz have undergone since Ingles’ departure made it easier for him to move on. “We had a hell of a run; at some point, they always come to an end,” he said. “Ours did — not by the players’ choice, but that’s how it works.”

Bucks Notes: Lopez, Top Seed, Thanasis, Mamukelashvili, Ingles

March 23rd, 2023 at 2:47pm CST by Rory Maher

Brook Lopez showed why he’s so valuable to the Bucks during Sunday’s victory over Toronto, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. The veteran center finished with a strong stat line — a team-high 26 points (on 9-of-15 shooting), five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal in 31 minutes.

What those numbers don’t show is that he completely dominated the fourth quarter. With Giannis Antetokounmpo facing consistent double-teams, Lopez made timely cuts, drives and finishes around the hoop, finishing with more points (17) than the Raptors (16) in the final frame, Nehm writes.

As Nehm details, Lopez’s offensive arsenal has continually evolved since he joined Milwaukee five years ago. He’s averaging 15.6 points (highest total in six years), while shooting 52.1% from the field (highest FG% in nine years) and a career-best 37.7% from three-point range.

Lopez, who is making $13.9MM in the final year of his contract, is also a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, posting a career high 2.5 blocks per game for the NBA’s top team.

Here’s more on the Bucks:

At 52-20, the Bucks hold a 2.5-game lead on the Celtics for the best record in the NBA. Are they gunning for the No. 1 overall seed entering the playoffs? “I think we want it,” guard Grayson Allen said, per Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think we want the one seed. Even like after All-Star break it’s been super close between really the top three teams in the East, so, it’s not something we obsess about – we’re not checking it every day, every game – but I think we’re definitely aware of it. I know as a group, I know we want the one seed.” According to Owczarski, Antetokounmpo said that if he had to pick between the Bucks being healthy or the top seed, he would choose health, but since it’s within reach, they “should take the spot” to get home-court advantage throughout the postseason.
Reserve forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo was away from the team for five days, including a couple games, while dealing with a personal matter, but he has rejoined the Bucks, Owczarski writes in another story. Guard Goran Dragic has yet to make his Bucks debut due to knee soreness, and forward Jae Crowder has missed the past three games with left calf soreness. When asked if they could return on the upcoming three-game road trip, head coach Mike Budenholzer said it was still up in the air. “I think it’s right on the window of possibility,” Budenholzer said. “There’s a chance they’re not available, but there is a chance that they are. They’re working, both of them hard, making good progress. We’ll just see how it goes during that stretch.”
Budenholzer said it was tough to part with Sandro Mamukelashvili at the beginning of the month, but the team believed it was the “right thing” for the big man’s career, tweets Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News. “He is a good player,” Budenholzer said before Thursday’s matchup with the Spurs. “I hope he is terrible tonight, but generally he is great. And we are great fans of the human. He is a great person.” The Spurs claimed the second-year forward/center off waivers after he was released by Milwaukee and converted his two-way contract to a standard rest-of-season deal.
Forward Joe Ingles recently shared some thoughts on how he’s approaching his return to Utah to face the Jazz on Friday night, his longtime former club, notes Gabe Stoltz of BrewHoop (via Twitter).