Bucks wing Grayson Allen underwent a surgical procedure on his left ring finger, according to The Associated Press.
After winning their first championship in 50 years in 2020/21, the Bucks followed it up with a stellar title defense in ’21/22.
Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo turned in another MVP-caliber performance, leading Milwaukee to a 51-win season. The Bucks had the third-best offense in the NBA, despite the fact that their three stars – Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday – all missed at least 15 games due to various injuries, while starting center Brook Lopez was limited to just 13 total appearances due to back surgery.
The Bucks entered the playoffs looking capable of making a deep run and quickly dispatched the Bulls in the first round, but Middleton sustained a knee injury during that series that ultimately ended his season, removing one of the team’s best two-way threats from the chess board for the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Milwaukee still made it a competitive series, but fell to Boston in a hard-fought seven games.
With Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and Holiday all under contract going forward, the Bucks appear unlikely to make serious changes to their core, but will face some important decisions on members of their supporting cast.
The Bucks’ Offseason Plan:
A handful of key Bucks rotation players are eligible for free agency, including three wings: Pat Connaughton, Wesley Matthews, and Jordan Nwora.
While it’s possible Connaughton will simply pick up his $5.7MM player option and postpone his free agency until 2023, he’s coming off the best year of his career — he averaged a career-high 9.9 PPG and shot 39.5% from outside the arc in 65 games (26.0 MPG). He has earned a raise and the Bucks hold his Bird rights, so they have the cap flexibility to give it to him as long as they’re comfortable paying the associated tax penalty.
Matthews will be entering his age-36 season and can’t be counted on to play as big a role as he did earlier in his career in Portland and Dallas, but he and the Bucks have established a good relationship, so perhaps he’ll be back on a minimum-salary contract to fill out the roster.
Nwora’s free agency will be more interesting. Although he wasn’t part of the playoff rotation, the 23-year-old took some promising steps forward in his second NBA season, bumping his scoring average to 7.9 PPG and hitting 34.8% of his threes. An athletic forward with some defensive upside, Nwora could be a useful piece for Milwaukee going forward — the Bucks will have to hope no rival suitors aggressively try to pry the restricted free agent away from them.
In the frontcourt, Bobby Portis has played on a below-market deal in each of the last two seasons, but has certainly earned a raise, particularly after filling in for Lopez at center for much of 2021/22. Holding his Early Bird rights, the Bucks will be able to give Portis a deal starting up to approximately $11MM. It will be interesting to see whether they’re more inclined to pay up for Portis than they were for P.J. Tucker a year ago.
Even if the Bucks retain Portis, more changes at the center spot could be around the corner. Lopez is coming off back surgery, is 34 years old, and will be on an expiring $13.9MM contract in 2022/23, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his name pops up in trade rumors. While Lopez’s ability to hit three-pointers and protect the rim has value, the Bucks would probably love to have a center more capable of handling switches and guarding out to the perimeter.
In his prime, Serge Ibaka was that sort of player, but he’s coming off a back surgery of his own and didn’t look like his old self this past season. If his medicals look OK and he’s willing to sign at a bargain rate, perhaps a return to Milwaukee is possible, but otherwise I’d expect the club to look elsewhere for center depth.
While Bucks ownership has shown that it’s prepared to pay luxury tax bills, I don’t get the sense that they’re willing to go into Warriors or Clippers territory, so if Portis, Connaughton, and Nwora all seek raises, I wouldn’t necessarily count on all three returning — one of the wings could be the odd man out.
Depending on how much they spend to retain their own free agents, the Bucks may try to bring in another rotation piece using the taxpayer mid-level exception. It’ll be worth about $6.4MM, but spending it could cost exponentially more if team salary is well above the tax line.
One move to watch out for is the possibility of the Bucks trading down in the draft from No. 24 to the second round. Even though late first-round picks aren’t particularly expensive, second-rounders who are on minimum-salary contracts are significantly more affordable for tax purposes. So if, for instance, Orlando is willing to offer No. 32 and No. 35 to move up to No. 24, I think the Bucks would be intrigued by the idea, since locking in a couple low-cost roster spots may make them more comfortable about spending elsewhere.
Note: Our salary cap figures are based on the league’s latest projection ($122MM) for 2022/23.
Guaranteed Salary
Player Options
Pat Connaughton ($5,728,393): Bird rightsTeam Options
Non-Guaranteed Salary
Restricted Free Agents
Two-Way Free Agents
Draft Picks
Extension-Eligible Players
Note: These are players who are either already eligible for an extension or will become eligible before the 2022/23 season begins.
Unrestricted Free Agents / Other Cap Holds
Offseason Cap Outlook
With $140MM+ in guaranteed money committed to just six players, the Bucks are on track to go well beyond the projected $149MM tax line even if they just let all their free agents walk and trade their first-round pick. More realistically, at least one of those two free agents will be back and Milwaukee’s team salary will likely increase beyond the $160MM spent on player salaries this past season.
Cap Exceptions Available
Footnotes
Salary and cap information from Basketball Insiders and RealGM was used in the creation of this post.
By the time the draft rolls around next Thursday, G League Ignite guard Dyson Daniels will have worked out for every team picking between No. 4 and No. 11, according to Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report, who suggests within his latest mock draft that Daniels’ maturity has stood out to teams during interviews. The 19-year-old is increasingly being viewed as the sort of player whose versatility and high floor makes him one of the safest picks in the mid-lottery, Wasserman adds.
Here are a few more draft-related notes:
The Pistons could go in a variety of directions with the No. 5 pick in the upcoming draft, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. According to Edwards, while Purdue guard Jaden Ivey or Iowa forward Keegan Murray seem most likely to be selected, Arizona swingman Bennedict Mathurin enjoyed a good workout with the club and has impressed Detroit’s front office personnel.
Edwards considers the 6’4″ Ivey, a consensus All-American and a 2021/22 All-Big Ten selection, to have the highest ceiling among this trio. In 36 college contests, Ivey averaged 17.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.1 APG and 0.9 SPG with a shooting line of .460/.358/.744.
Edwards acknowledges that the versatile Murray seems more readily capable of contributing at the next level than Ivey. The 6’8″ forward, himself a consensus All-American and 2021/22 All-Big Ten honoree while with the Hawkeyes, averaged 23.5 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 1.9 BPG, 1.5 APG and 1.3 SPG across 35 games.
Mathurin projects to be a solid long-range shooter and wing defender, Edwards writes. Mathurin was a consensus All-American and the 2021/22 Pac-12 Player of the Year during his second season with the Wildcats, averaging 17.7 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2.5 APG. During his sophomore season, the 6’7″ guard boasted shooting averages of .450/.369/.764.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
The Pacers are pursuing trade talks involving Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon, writes Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report. Indiana is exploring what it can get in return for both veteran players as it focuses on becoming younger and rebuilding the roster around Tyrese Haliburton.
Turner was available before the February deadline, but the Pacers couldn’t work out a deal and the 26-year-old center’s season was ultimately cut short by a stress reaction in his left foot. Sources tell Fischer that the team is again considering trading Turner, who has a $17.5MM expiring contract for next season and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2023. Fischer states that the Hornets have interest in Turner and have let it be known that they’re willing to part with the 15th pick in next week’s draft. Fischer cites the Raptors and Knicks as other teams to watch.
New York also has interest in Brogdon, Fischer adds. The Knicks would like to trade up and draft Purdue guard Jaden Ivey, but league executives are skeptical of that happening, according to Fischer. He states that if Knicks executives decide they’re not likely to sign Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson, they could view Brogdon as the best alternative.
The Pacers, who own the No. 6 pick in the draft, would like to acquire an extra first-round selection, Fischer adds. They’re willing to offer the 31st pick and the Cavaliers’ first-rounder in 2023.
There’s more from Fischer:
Notre Dame shooting guard Blake Wesley has upcoming workouts scheduled with the Grizzlies, Heat and Bulls, Josh Robbins of The Athletic tweets. Wesley told Robbins he had already worked out for the Spurs, Cavaliers, Bucks and Pistons.
A potential first-round selection, the 6’5” Wesley is ranked No. 27 overall on ESPN’s Best Available list.
We have more draft-related news:
Despite some chatter out of Europe regarding his future, veteran Bucks big man Serge Ibaka, an unrestricted free agent this summer, intends to remain in the NBA next season, per Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
Carchia notes that Italian EuroLeague club Virtus Bologna, winners of the 2021 Italian Serie A, would be interested in adding Ibaka, but the team has not made any formal outreach to the 32-year-old. Before joining the NBA for the 2009/10 season, Ibaka played for two Spanish pro clubs: Bàsquet Manresa and EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid.
Last year while with the Clippers and Bucks, Ibaka posted his most modest numbers since his 2009/10 rookie season with the Thunder. For the regular season, the 6’10” power forward/center averaged 6.8 PPG and 4.6 RPG across 16.2 MPG.
Ibaka, a former three-time All-Defensive Team selection and a champion with the Raptors in 2019, played even more minimally in the postseason for Milwaukee. He appeared in only six of the Bucks’ 12 playoff contests this year, averaging 1.5 PPG and 1.7 RPG in just 3.7 MPG when he did play.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
There were no surprises in the 11 green room invitations forwarded to the draft’s top prospects. ESPN’s Jonathan Givony confirmed that the list includes Jabari Smith, Chet Holmgren, Paolo Banchero, Jaden Ivey, Keegan Murray, Shaedon Sharpe, Dyson Daniels, Bennedict Mathurin, AJ Griffin, Jalen Duren and Johnny Davis. Approximately four more green room invites will be sent out next week, a source tells Givony.
We have more draft news:
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are meeting in Boston on Wednesday to discuss the Collective Bargaining Agreement, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski explains, the league and union both have the ability to opt out of the current CBA this December, so the two sides are having a preliminary meeting as they prepare to engage in more serious talks about a new CBA in the coming months.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world: