Pat Connaughton’s fall-off has left the Bucks looking smart for moving on when they did.
A year after Milwaukee sent him to Charlotte in a salary dump - and attached two second-round picks just to get the deal done - the former Bucks guard is now being mentioned as a buyout candidate after a rough age-33 season. What looked like an expensive escape route for the Bucks has turned into a decision that makes more sense by the day.
Connaughton had already picked up a $9.43 million player option for the 2025-26 season when Milwaukee dealt him away. The Bucks were chasing every bit of cap flexibility they could find in their push to build a better roster around Giannis Antetokounmpo, even if the move meant paying a price in draft capital. That plan didn’t deliver the kind of payoff they wanted, but the trade still leaves them in a better position for a rebuild than if they had kept Connaughton’s contract on the books.
The warning signs were already there before he left. In his final season with Milwaukee, Connaughton played only 41 games and averaged 5 points per game.
The athletic edge that had once made him useful during the Bucks’ 2021 title run was clearly gone. His defensive impact slipped, his shot deserted him, and he hit just 32% of his threes in that last year in Milwaukee.
That’s a far cry from the version of Connaughton who had been a dependable 3-and-D role player. Milwaukee decided to lean into a younger group of guards for backcourt depth, and that choice made sense on both basketball and financial terms. Those players were cheaper, and they at least offered a chance to grow into something more.
Charlotte didn’t produce the comeback story Connaughton needed, either. The Hornets had their best season in years, but he was barely part of it, appearing in just 42 games and dropping to 2.6 points per game. Whatever value he brought as a veteran and former champion wasn’t enough to change the bigger picture around his on-court decline.
The Hornets eventually waived him before bringing him back on a cheaper deal during the season, another sign of how far his stock has slipped. If Charlotte buys him out instead of keeping him through next season, Connaughton could have a hard time finding another NBA landing spot. The one-time Bucks favorite looks to be running out of runway.
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Bucks Co-Owner Just Framed The Risk Behind Milwaukees Giannis Pivot
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