Any team could use another cagey wing player added via NBA free agency. The Milwaukee Bucks could grab one by signing Thabo Sefolosha.
It typically isn’t easy to add a high-level player through NBA free agency. The primo free agents are typically either staying put or going to a team that’s absolutely perfect for them, or one ready to back up the Brinks truck.
Luckily for the Milwaukee Bucks, the team has its franchise player already. Giannis Antetokounmpo will need some star-level help to contend, but in addition some high-character veterans will help the Bucks grow.
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Thabo Sefolosha is an ideal candidate in that regard. The Swiss wing player may be most famous for his assault at the hands of police officers in New York City, but Sefolosha returned from the broken leg he suffered and continued to play at a quietly high level last season.
Sefolosha isn’t a high-profile free agent and he’s not likely to make major headlines when he signs this summer, not compared to some moves that will happen during NBA free agency, but he might just make a big impact on whatever team picks him up.
Will that team be the Bucks? To find out, let’s go through Thabo’s strengths, weaknesses, potential salary and how he’d fit in Milwaukee.
Strengths
Thabo is a pretty standard three-and-D wing player. He’s not a huge scorer or a complete sniper, but he finds ways to get open on the offensive end while preventing his man from doing so while he’s playing defense.
Sefolosha is a career 34.5 percent three-point shooter who raised that percentage to 36.7 percent in his last six seasons. Thabo may not be a shooter on the level of his former teammate Kyle Korver, but he knocks down threes at a healthy rate.
His defense is really Sefolosha’s biggest strength, though. He’s never had a negative season in defensive win shares, and although numbers are nice, actually watching Thabo play some defense might help paint this particular picture better.
Like any great defender, Sefolosha’s greatest asset on that end is his mind. His long, wiry frame certainly helps as well, although it’s his ability to go from being out of position to being in the perfect position incredibly quickly that makes him tough on defense.
Whatever team signs Thabo gets an extremely coachable veteran player who’s going to be smart and play within himself on both ends. It’s hard to imagine that going wrong, unless said team expects too much.
Weaknesses
Thabo Sefolosha fits into his role perfectly, as long as his role doesn’t involve huge contributions on offense or the stat sheet. Thabo seems like a quiet guy, and that translates into his intelligent style of play.
Still, for those who care more about points per game than true impact, Sefolosha leaves a bit to be desired. He’s never averaged eight points per game in a season in his career, and his career high is 20. Thabo isn’t about that box score action.
With career averages of 5.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game, it can be hard to glean Sefolosha’s value without watching him play. He certainly doesn’t fill the bench scorer role Milwaukee could do with adding this summer, although that doesn’t necessarily preclude him from fitting in with the Bucks.
One of the reasons his points totals are low is because Thabo doesn’t make a lot of threes, even if he does make a high percentage of his triples. He’s only averaged 1.0 or more made threes in a game once in his 11-season career, which has seen him average more than 23 minutes per game.
Salary
The good news for teams looking to sign Thabo Sefolosha in NBA free agency is that because of Thabo’s lack of impressive counting stats, his price will likely be low, relatively speaking of course. That’s bad news for Sefolosha, but such is life as a role player in the NBA.
His last contract was worth $12 million over three seasons, with it decreasing slightly in value each year. That was with the Atlanta Hawks, who may not be overly interested in keeping the 33-year-old around as the team shifts to a younger one, especially if Paul Millsap departs in free agency.
The least Thabo can make in a deal is $2.3 million in year one. The contract he ends up signing might not pay him a ton more than that floor value. Something like a two-year, $6 or $7 million contract seems reasonable for where Thabo is at in his career.
There’s no reason to expect anything less than more quiet production from Sefolosha, but his age and lack of bulk production means teams will likely flock to other, noisier free agents first. It’s always possible that some team overpays, but with all the bad deals signed last summer the NBA might be more careful this time around.
Fit With Bucks
Thabo Sefolosha does not fill any obvious holes on the Milwaukee Bucks. Not many Bucks fans groused throughout the season about the team not having enough low-scoring, quality defensive wings.
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That’s likely because Thabo is the kind of player who you don’t know you need until he’s on your team. He’s not going to drop 25 points regularly, or at all, but he will come in, defend whoever he needs to and put up a quiet, efficient five points.
Admittedly, part of Thabo’s fit in Milwaukee is the fact that he’s one of the rare free agents the Bucks can afford. Milwaukee doesn’t have the means to add players in NBA free agency, but it’s hard to imagine that the Bucks will be priced out of Thabo’s range.
Adding Sefolosha isn’t the kind of move that gets the fanbase exceptionally riled up, but it would make Milwaukee incrementally better. Thabo would provide more than many of the players on the end of the Bucks bench, at the expense of the guise of potential, of course.
Next: Free Agent Player Profile: Jeff Teague
Thabo Sefolosha isn’t a make-or-break free agent, but he is going to be a solid signing for whichever team takes a break from staring at Gordon Hayward long enough to ink him to a deal. Maybe it’ll end up being the Bucks.