The Bucks have entered the Peyton Watson sweepstakes.
According to Marc Stein of The Stein Line, Milwaukee has joined the Clippers and Hawks among the teams exploring sign-and-trade interest in the Nuggets’ restricted free agent wing. Watson’s price tag is already shaping up to be a major hurdle, with his reported ask sitting at $25MM+ annually.
Milwaukee may have a path to get there. Even after the team’s reported deal with Gary Trent Jr., Stein reports the Bucks should still have more than $10MM in room below the luxury tax line. That gives them enough flexibility to put together a starting salary near Watson’s asking price, provided they move out enough money.
If the Bucks do push forward, the names to watch on their roster include Kyle Kuzma ($20.5MM), Caris LeVert ($14.8MM), and A.J. Green ($10MM). But there’s a catch on the other side of the table: the Nuggets are believed to be reluctant to take back much salary in any Watson sign-and-trade, because that would hard-cap them at the second tax apron.
Denver’s ask for Watson is also described as steep. One report has the Nuggets looking for a return similar to what Utah received for Walker Kessler - two first-round picks and two swaps.
Stein also says the reaction around the league to Trent’s reported four-year, $64MM agreement with Milwaukee has been one of “profound shock.” Even so, it’s not clear whether that surprise turns into anything more formal. Stein notes that while some executives may suspect the Bucks and Trent had a handshake deal in place a year ago, it’s uncertain whether another team would actually take the matter to the league simply because Milwaukee may have paid a free agent far above market.
There was also a reason New Orleans moved on DeAndre Jordan. Sources familiar with the Pelicans’ thinking told Stein the team worried Jordan might leave for another club on a one-year, minimum-salary deal, and that concern pushed New Orleans to raise its offer to two guaranteed years so it wouldn’t lose his veteran presence in the locker room.
And on the coaching front, Stein reports that the Warriors had been in “advanced” talks with Willie Green, while the Bucks had already hired Joe Boylan before the Mavericks managed to bring both assistants to Dallas this offseason for Dusty May’s first NBA staff. Golden State later landed on Frank Vogel for the lead assistant job that had initially appeared headed to Green.
In Other News...
Bucks Fans May Be Rethinking The Nate Ament Draft Debate
Nate Aments first run through Summer League has given Bucks fans at least a little reason to feel better about how the draft board shook out. Taken 13th overall by Milwaukee, Ament has looked like a player who still needs time, but his early production has been steadier than the kind of rough opening that can start a debate before the season even begins.
Dailyn Swain, who went 15th to the Bulls, has also been working through the usual growing pains of July basketball, which is part of what makes the comparison interesting for Milwaukee. Both players are still in the earliest stage of their pro careers, and the gap between draft-night opinions and summer results is already giving fans a fresh way to judge the Bucks' decision, even if the real answer is still months away. [Read more 🡒]
Bucks Roster Shakeup Just Put Milwaukee At A Franchise Crossroads
Milwaukees offseason jolt has been hard to miss, and the ripple effects of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade are already reaching beyond the headline itself. The Bucks and Heat had been circling this possibility for months, with Miamis interest dating back to the February trade deadline, so the move landed less like a surprise and more like the latest step in a long-running chase that finally broke through.
For the Bucks, the bigger question now is what comes next in the wake of a deal that was widely anticipated by the players involved and still qualifies as one of the leagues major summer swings. The roster has changed, the balance of power in the East has shifted, and Milwaukee is suddenly staring at a franchise-defining stretch where every follow-up move matters just as much as the one that set all of this in motion. [Read more 🡒]