The Milwaukee Bucks added some much needed shooting by bringing Bryn Forbes on a two-year deal, but how does his addition grade out?
Always in need of more shooting, the Milwaukee Bucks know they can’t rely on just letting it fly from three to make their formula work for the postseason.
They’re certainly hopeful they’re getting some more firepower after agreeing to a two-year deal with former San Antonio Spurs sharpshooter Bryn Forbes, whom they signed over the weekend. As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported, the second year of Forbes’ pact reportedly has a player option.
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Having wrapped up his four-year stint in San Antonio, Forbes comes to Milwaukee having established himself as an NBA-caliber player after originally going undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Despite that initial stepback, Forbes quickly found a home in San Antonio and managed to break through in the team’s rotation to show off his sharpshooting talents.
Forbes will certainly look to do the same now that he’s come into the fold in Milwaukee. With that, let’s look at the signing of Forbes and had a final grade on his addition.
The value of Bryn Forbes’ deal with the Milwaukee Bucks
I speak for most Bucks fans that it looked as if Forbes would be signing a two-year, veteran minimum deal upon the news breaking of his agreement over the weekend.
However, with his deal now made official through the NBA’s transaction wire, it turns out that Forbes’ signing was used in what remained of the Bucks’ non-taxpayer midlevel exception as RealGM’s Keith Smith detailed Wednesday afternoon.
Bryn Forbes contract with the Milwaukee Bucks was for part of the Non-Taxpayer MLE:
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) November 25, 2020
2020-21: $2,337,145
2021-22: $2,454,002 (player option)
The Bucks had used the majority of their midlevel exception by signing veteran point guard D.J. Augustin through free agency, but had enough wiggle room to slot one more signing into it if they so chose. They did exactly that with Forbes and it’s a little noteworthy, given their cap constraints.
For frame of reference, Forbes’ minimum would have been at $1.7 million, given his four years of service to this point. Essentially Forbes is making $600,000 more next season on his current contract than had he signed a veteran minimum deal.
Forbes is actually making a little less under his current contract with the Bucks than his previous one with the Spurs as they signed him via his early bird rights two summers ago on a two-year, $6 million deal.
Now we’ll just have to see the implications of what signing Forbes to part of their MLE means for the Bucks and with the deals for Torrey Craig and Sam Merrill not yet official. Given how tight things will be in completing their roster, it’s interesting that Forbes was signed through the MLE under this context.