Milwaukee Bucks: 5 free agents to target with bi-annual exception
Among the limited resources they’ll have in free agency, we look at five free agents who the Milwaukee Bucks could target with the bi-annual exception.
The Milwaukee Bucks obviously face plenty of pressure to upgrade their roster this offseason.
Among the many hurdles facing them in this monumental offseason is the fact they are limited in their free agency resources as they’re nearing on the reported luxury tax line. While plenty of speculation revolves around who they can get with the $9.7 million mid-level exception, the Bucks will also have a $3.6 million bi-annual exception available to them this fall and winter.
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It’s fair to say the Bucks made good use of when the last time they had the bi-annual exception at their disposal a couple of summers ago as that was the mechanism that helped them land Brook Lopez.
To expect a player of Lopez’s caliber is far fetched and the Bucks will be limited in offering a contract that will go no more than two years in length.
Using the bi-annual exception will also hard cap the Bucks, which means they can’t have a payroll that exceeds the cap apron, which is $6 million more the luxury tax threshold. Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania Monday night, the luxury tax line has been reportedly set at $132.6 million for the 2020-21 season, meaning the Bucks can’t exceed a payroll of $138.9 million under this scenario.
So with all of the financials and rules set and out of the way, let’s start by taking a look of players who could be of interest for the Bucks with the bi-annual exception in free agency.
Alec Burks
After a couple of downward seasons, which featured a number of different stops all across the league, Alec Burks took a big step in reclaiming his NBA career.
Having fully rehabilitated his career after suffering various injuries over his nine-year career, Burks turned in a career year both with Golden State and Philadelphia upon being dealt midway through the season. Over his 66 appearances, Burks averaged 15 points on .418/.385/.887 shooting splits, 4.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 0.9 steals across 26.6 minutes per game.
The Colorado product realized his sixth man-like role for both the Warriors and the 76ers and packed quite the scoring punch in a year that doubled as his most efficient as evidenced by his 56.1 true shooting percentage.
Burks’ shot creation ability, especially on the ball, would do wonders for a Bucks team that needs all of the creators they can get their hands on this year. While more of a natural scorer, Burks ranked in the 89th percentile of players around the league as a pick-and-roll ball handler, per NBA.com/stats.
On the flip side, committing to Burks after such an outlier year compared to his production over the breadth of his career is hard to overlook for any team this offseason, much less a contending team like Milwaukee.
Having played on a veteran minimum deal last season, it remains to be seen whether Burks’ career season will lead to him garnering a raise this offseason. For those reasons as well as taking into account Burks’ snakebitten injury past, handing out a bi-annual exception deal might be a little overzealous.