Pete Nance didn’t have to wait long to make his case for sticking around in Milwaukee.
After being cut and then quickly brought back on a new two-year deal, Nance answered with a strong Summer League showing against the Miami Heat. He finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 26 minutes, giving the Bucks exactly the kind of steady production they were hoping for when they kept him in town.
Brayden Burries grabbed most of the attention, and for good reason after scoring 18 points, but Nance quietly put together one of Milwaukee’s best all-around performances. He shot 6-of-10 from the field and went 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, doing most of his damage early before a quieter second half. That efficiency was enough to make him the team’s second-leading scorer.
For a Summer League roster loaded with young players, Nance looked like the veteran presence he’s supposed to be. He gave the Bucks a little of everything: spacing, rebounding, and enough rim protection to make his presence felt. He may never be known as a defensive stopper, but the two blocks showed he can still hold his own.
That kind of versatility matters for a Milwaukee team with plenty of frontcourt options already on the board. Myles Turner, Kel'el Ware, Jericho Sims, Kyle Kuzma and Bogoljub Markovic all sit in the mix, which leaves Nance fighting for a clear role. Even so, there’s value in having a player who can fill in as reliable depth.
And that’s really the lane Milwaukee seems to be working in as it builds this next version of the roster. The Bucks have leaned into finding overlooked talent and locking it up on team-friendly deals, with Nance joining Ryan Rollins, Cormac Ryan and Kam Jones among the names they’ve added that way.
In Other News...
Bucks Fans Just Got An Ugly Tyler Herro Offseason Twist
Tyler Herros first summer as a Buck has already taken an unexpected turn, and not for anything that happened on the court. The guard was involved in a physical confrontation with Bam Adebayo at a gym inside Resorts World Casino in Las Vegas, a scene that quickly turned into one of the more awkward off-court footnotes of the offseason for Milwaukee.
Both the Heat and the Bucks have said they were aware of the incident, but the matter has stayed mostly quiet since then. Neither player has commented publicly, and there has been no reported police involvement or league discipline, leaving the Bucks with a situation that is at least as much about locker-room fallout and public perception as it is about basketball. [Read more 🡒]
Bucks Deal For Gary Trent Jr. Is Already Raising Serious Eyebrows
Gary Trent Jr. is set to play a much bigger part in Milwaukees plans after the Bucks signed him to a four-year extension worth $64 million, a move that immediately put the contract under a brighter spotlight. For a team trying to keep its roster competitive and flexible, the deal was always going to draw attention, especially with Trent coming off a season that left plenty of room for debate about how much he had actually established.
Some of the pushback has centered less on the player himself than on the optics of the price tag, with critics pointing to his recent production as a reason the agreement looks unusual. Even so, the Bucks appear to be betting on a larger role for Trent moving forward, and with a mostly new roster around him, the pressure now shifts from the contract table to the court. [Read more 🡒]
Heat Fans Wont Love How Kel'el Ware Looked Back On Miami
Kel'el Wares first season of real traction came with a burst of career highs in points, steals, rebounds and blocks, but the bigger takeaway around him in Miami was always going to be the fit. The Heat pushed him hard, and the expectation was that his development would come with higher standards attached, even as his production suggested he was starting to turn a corner.
Wares comments about that stretch, though, are unlikely to sit well with Heat fans who watched the tension build. The disconnect with Erik Spoelstra had become enough of a storyline that a fresh start felt inevitable, and Ware now sounds energized by the idea of a younger Bucks group that could give him more room to grow and more chances to flourish. [Read more 🡒]