Milwaukee Bucks Rumors: Qualifying offer extended to Malcolm Brogdon, Bulls not readying offer sheet

The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly extended the qualifying offer to Malcolm Brogdon, while the Chicago Bulls aren’t currently said to be preparing an offer sheet to try to lure him away.

With just hours to go until NBA free agency officially gets underway for 2019, arguably the most intriguing case facing the Milwaukee Bucks is their attempt to negotiate a new contract with former Rookie of the Year, Malcolm Brogdon.

The 26-year-old is rumored to be highly coveted by teams around the NBA, and may yet command a hefty price tag for his services next season and beyond.

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Still, the Bucks have every reason to be determined to keep him, and on Saturday night, they were reported to have completed the first piece of housekeeping required in the process of coming to terms with the guard on a new deal.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, the Bucks officially extended a qualifying offer to Brogdon. That news is by no means a surprise, as it officially makes Brogdon a restricted free agent ahead of free agency opening at 5pm CT on Sunday evening. As a result, the Bucks will have the option to match any offer sheet Brogdon may choose to sign with another team.

From there, the next question is which teams are likely to target Brogdon and, more specifically, who may be prepared to table an offer that leaves the Bucks to question just how deep into the luxury tax they’re willing to go in order to retain him.

In recent weeks, reports have suggested the Chicago Bulls as one of the most likely sources of such a lucrative offer, but reports on Saturday from Chicago certainly cast some doubt on that.

According to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune, the Bulls are likely to look to navigate the free agency market on their own terms and at their own desired price points, which would make an expensive pursuit of Brogdon unlikely.

"“This is also why rumors of prying Malcolm Brogdon from the Bucks with a four-year, $80 million offer sheet don’t sound consistent with the way the Bulls operate. Word around the league, according to multiple sources, is the Bulls are focused on adding a point guard on a two-year deal — again, on their terms.”"

With the Bulls having just selected Coby White with the seventh overall pick of the draft, Johnson believes the Bulls could instead focus on veteran guards on holdover, two-year deals which would allow them to act as a mentor.

Going even further, Johnson speculated that the Bulls may choose to pursue frontcourt depth in the early stages of free agency before waiting for the point guard market to settle later on. That in itself would seem to rule out a potentially time consuming attempt to land Brogdon, as Johnson explained:

"“An offer sheet that would give the Bucks pause would eat up most of the Bulls’ projected $23 million of salary-cap space. It also would tie up that money until July 8 as the Bucks’ two-day window to match any offer would begin when the moratorium period ends July 6.”"

From a Bucks’ perspective, these certainly amount to positive rumblings, but it would still just take one team to back Milwaukee into the corner with a poison pill-type offer sheet.

Perhaps this will increase the possibility of a speedier resolution being reached between the Bucks and Brogdon, or it might just signal that his free agency could be set to drag out into the second week and beyond. Either way, a clearer picture will begin to emerge once the first deals officially clock in over the next 24 hours or so.