Milwaukee Bucks Gaming: Three players retained for next season
By Adam McGee
Milwaukee Bucks’ NBA 2K League affiliate Bucks Gaming have announced they will retain three players ahead of the new season.
The recently concluded NBA 2K League season didn’t provide the ultimate success for Bucks Gaming, the Milwaukee Bucks’ affiliate club, but it did represent major progress compared to what had gone before.
Bucks Gaming were highly competitive throughout the season, grew increasingly formidable as the year went on, and made their first playoff appearance in franchise history. That playoff run finished quickly, and in heartbreaking fashion, but it clearly hasn’t done anything to wipe out a wider sense of optimism for the franchise’s future.
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That was particularly in evidence on Friday as Bucks Gaming announced their list of retained players ahead of the 2K League Draft and new season.
With teams having the option at this juncture to retain two players at no cost, or three players in exchange for giving up a fourth round draft pick, the Bucks chose the latter option.
That means that Regg, Arooks, and Plondo will all return to Milwaukee next season, representing the clear core of the team’s improvement in the season that just finished.
Bucks Gaming will have an option to retain another player at a later date, at the cost of further draft compensation, meaning that Squidris or Ty could yet end up returning to Milwaukee too.
As for the three who are guaranteed to return, the Bucks can feel good about what they’ve got as the foundation of their squad.
Regg’s outstanding season was rewarded with multiple honors from the league, as he was named Rookie of the Year, along with also making the All-NBA 2K League Second Team and All-NBA 2K League Rookie Team.
Plondo has cemented his reputation as one of the best frontcourt players in the league heading into his third season, and is also a previous member of both the All-NBA 2K League Second Team and All-NBA 2K League Rookie Team.
Arooks will enter his fourth season with the Bucks, and is one of the few players left in the league to have been one of the original draftees from the inaugural season. Arooks is also a bona fide star in his own right, having been named to the All-NBA 2K League First Team in 2019.
All combined, there can be little doubt as to the caliber of talent that Bucks Gaming have as the focal points of their squad. Now, the onus falls on filling out the rest of the roster just as well, whether that’s via the draft or a further retention.
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There were certainly opportunities this season, but Bucks Gaming will hope to kick on and finally pick up their first tournament win, or even a championship, when the new 2K League season gets underway.