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.
Examining Bryn Forbes’ potential role with the Milwaukee Bucks
While Forbes is coming off his Spurs stint where he had emerged as a starter for the last two years, he may face some obstacles in locking down a similar role upon coming to Milwaukee
There’s no question that Forbes enters a Bucks team as one of their best off-ball shooters, but the 27-year-old is coming into a reshaped Bucks rotation that has a multitude of options and players looking to establish themselves in Milwaukee. The fact that the Bucks quickly snatched up veteran wing Torrey Craig on the heels of Forbes’ addition goes to show how much the Bucks thought to stock up on their wing rotation, along with their holdovers of Pat Connaughton and Donte DiVincenzo.
Certainly, Forbes brings a much needed dose of shooting to the Bucks’ wing rotation and essentially takes of over for Kyle Korver as the Bucks’ most accomplished 3-point sniper at that position on their roster.
Could that help Forbes generate some instant chemistry with the Bucks’ primary shot creators? It very well could, given the gravitational and spacing threat he provides, especially playing off players that create plenty of space for others like Antetokounmpo, Holiday and Middleton.
For Forbes to crack the rotation and be able to see a good chunk of minutes, perhaps not up to the levels he had in San Antonio, requires him to play up to the Bucks’ standards of competing defensively. Given his size and physical limitations, that may be the biggest challenge in being able to see the floor for heavy minutes.
Looking at Bryn Forbes’ fit with the Milwaukee Bucks
Obviously bringing in someone of Forbes’ shooting caliber fills arguably the biggest need the Bucks had to address this offseason.
It’s easy to look at the career 40 percent shooter Forbes has been at the NBA level and view him as a plug and play option for the Bucks. The fact that he’s coming off a season in which he hit 111 catch-and-shoot triples and shot 39.5 percent on such shots just shows the shooting pedigree Forbes brings to Milwaukee, per NBA.com/stats.
If that isn’t enough, Forbes’ range is also a positive asset for a Bucks team that has regularly let it fly from well behind the 3-point line. Forbes is among a rare class of shooters to have hit at least 115 triples and shot 39 percent on 3-pointers taken from 25 to 29 feet last year.
It’s clear just what kind of scoring and shooting spark Forbes can bring to the court off the ball. But those defensive limitations loom large over Forbes’ fit in Milwaukee, especially given how they prioritize the defensive end as part of their defensive identity.
It doesn’t help that Forbes logged the highest defensive rating of any Spur last season, even in what was a rebuilding year. While he possesses decent physical tools with a 6’5″ wingspan, Forbes’ undersized nature is ironically too big to ignore as opposing teams will surely go mismatch hunting anytime Forbes is on the floor for high-leverage minutes. That is if he’s on the court for those kind of minutes.
Again, it can’t be be overstated how much of his physical deficiencies will prove to be the biggest impediment. But Forbes will certainly be specialized even more so in Milwaukee, given the system and creators he’ll be playing around.
What’s the grade on Bryn Forbes’ deal with the Milwaukee Bucks?
There’s no question that Forbes provides the best answer for the Bucks’ middling shooting woes, especially from within their new wing rotation.
The fact that he can create such a shooting rhythm without needing the ball in his hands is as crucial to inserting in any lineup configuration, especially one that will be in need of some kind of shooting spark. And alongside any of their primary creators, Forbes has the potential profit off of the spacing the Bucks’ offense provides, especially coming from a team like the Spurs.
The former Spartan brings a skill set that will get him on the floor for minutes, but being able to keep up defensively is certainly the biggest obstacle in being able to stay on it.
It’s curious that the Bucks used what was left of their MLE to bring aboard Forbes, but is the difference in between signing at that price versus what would have been his minimum that much to quibble over? It could be in terms of filling out their 15-man roster, but the Bucks may be better served by a midseason signing at the prorated salaries they’d be working with at that point.
Again, Forbes has the skills needed to make a lasting mark during his time in Milwaukee. How the reconfigured wing rotation shakes out is anyone’s guess, but bringing in someone of Forbes’ shooting abilities may go a long way in being able to raise the team’s overall 3-point efficiency.