With the 15 man roster seemingly locked in, the Milwaukee Bucks have shifted focus to their two-way contracts, starting with a deal for Gary Payton II.
After a stellar preseason with the Milwaukee Bucks, it was somewhat surprising when Gary Payton II was waived following the team’s preseason closer against the Detroit Pistons.
As a chaotic few days have since taught us, that didn’t mean he was any less favored by the Bucks than his fellow training camp invitees, though.
The end result is that,
somewhat unsurprisingly, the Bucks welcomed Payton II back into the fold on Tuesday, signing him to one of their two previously vacant two-way spots.
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The news was announced by the team via a release on Bucks.com, and via their various social media outlets.
As detailed in the aforementioned post, the two-way contract will see Payton II play mostly in Oshkosh with the Wisconsin Herd, although he will also have the opportunity to play and practice with the Bucks at stages during the season, if they so choose.
"“NBA rules permit teams to have two Two-Way players on their roster at any given time, in addition to their 15-man regular season roster. A Two-Way player for the Bucks will provide services primarily for the team’s G League affiliate – the Wisconsin Herd – but can spend up to 45 days with Milwaukee, not including any time prior to the start of the Herd’s training camp and following the conclusion of the G League regular season.”"
As it stands, the Bucks only have Malcolm Brogdon and Matthew Dellavedova on their roster in terms of obvious point guard depth, so it’s highly possible that even a minor injury to either could see the Bucks call upon Payton II once again.
Otherwise, Payton II will spend time in the G League, likely playing alongside the recently acquired Xavier Munford under Herd head coach Jordan Brady’s guidance.
The 24-year-old has previously played in that league for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, logging 49 games last season with averages of 14.1 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
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Originally the Bucks had signed Bronson Koenig and Jalen Moore to two-way deals, but both players were waived prior to training camp. As a result, there’s still one two-way spot open for the Bucks to sign a player with less than four years NBA experience to.