Milwaukee Bucks Rumors: Expect some interest in veteran big man Taj Gibson

The Milwaukee Bucks will hope to strengthen their squad once free agency opens, and rumor has it they may be interested in Taj Gibson.

With just over 24 hours remaining until free agency gets underway, so much of the buildup for the Milwaukee Bucks has focused on retaining key players.

The rumor mill has certainly been in full flow, but it’s been almost exclusively centered around the interest of other teams in prising Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Malcolm Brogdon away from Milwaukee.

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That may well be set to change in the coming days, though, as if the Bucks can come to terms with that core trio in a speedy fashion, the focus will then shift to the remainder of the market and who else the Bucks might be able to add to their roster.

Options will certainly be limited, and by the time George Hill potentially agrees to return, the Bucks may just be left with minimum deals to offer. That’s not necessarily the hard sell it once was, though, as Milwaukee now provides an obvious destination for veterans chasing a ring.

With that in mind, perhaps it isn’t all that surprising that, according to Darren Wolfson of KSTP-TV, the Bucks will be one of many teams who could look to sign Taj Gibson.

A vastly experienced veteran big who has spent his last two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Gibson has been impactful in the NBA for a long time thanks to his combination of defensive smarts and a knack for scoring inside.

In spite of the fact he’s now 34, Gibson’s scoring production held up impressively well with the Timberwolves, while the NBA leaning into smaller lineups has likely helped to extend his career too.

At 6’9″, Gibson has spent most of his career as an old school power forward, yet he can now soak up minutes regularly at the center position without fearing such a mismatch as there would have been in the past. Gibson’s lack of a jump shot limits his versatility otherwise, but the wider changes in the NBA have undoubtedly offered his career a second wind.

There’s no reason to believe Gibson doesn’t have plenty left in the tank, but he has certainly reached the point in his career where he may feel some greater urgency about getting a chance to play in winning situations.

Assuming Lopez returns, Gibson should still have a path to playing significant minutes as a backup center, as well as soaking up some minutes at the 4, if he were to join the Bucks.

In the end, there’s a good chance that Milwaukee could be outbid by others with greater flexibility, but the Bucks represent a solid fit for a player entering the latter stages of their career, as Gibson is, particularly because he should still have plenty left to contribute.