Milwaukee Bucks: To buy or sell on Frank Mason III in free agency
By Cody Larson
Frank Mason III gave the Milwaukee Bucks plenty of things to feel good about this past season, but was it enough to secure a spot for next season?
Frank Mason III has had a roller coaster NBA career thus far, that is before he arrived to the Milwaukee Bucks ahead of the 2019-20 season. included him winning the G-League’s MVP award for the Wisconsin Herd after being signed to a two-way deal back in July.
The 5-foot-11 point guard lit up competition in the NBA’s developmental grounds. He averaged 26.4 points per game, along with 3.4 rebounds and 5 assists per contest. At Mason’s size, being underestimated has become a mainstay for him. But, like he as done countless times, he proved the doubters wrong with his award-winning G-League performance.
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He also proved himself as a viable call-up option for the Bucks whenever he was needed. That especially became the case when Eric Bledsoe fell victim to COVID-19 early in the season restart, leaving the Bucks with less-than optimal depth at the point guard position.
Luckily though, head coach Mike Budenholzer knew exactly who to call. He expressed this in an interview at the time:
"“We feel like Frank is somebody that can step in and provide quality play for us. He’s proven it throughout his career, but what he did this year as the MVP of the G League, that’s pretty special. We feel confident if we need Frank in a game, he’s going to be ready."
Mason definitely was ready, which was best displayed during the final two games of the NBA bubble’s regular season. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 7 assists through those final two games, showing glimpses of his stellar G-League play, this time against NBA competition.
Fast forward to today, and the Bucks organization now has an important decision to make: to bring back Mason or to send him off elsewhere. That first starts by making him a restricted free agent, which will give them the ability to match any offer sheet that may come his way during free agency if he were to get a standard NBA deal.
In other words – words that better fit the title of this article – Milwaukee must make a decision on to either buy or sell Mason this offseason. As promising as the former Jayhawk has been in Milwaukee, that decision lies in the organization’s hands as we’ll soon weigh ourselves.