Final impressions of Milwaukee Bucks signing Jeff Teague over Austin Rivers
At this point, both Teague and Rivers will play somewhat meaningful roles for playoff teams for the remainder of this season. Probably more so in Rivers’ case, given the terrible injury to Murray and the hole that the 28-year-old Rivers is looking to fill upon heading to Denver.
As an aside, perhaps the very public reporting that painted Rivers as an inevitability to sign with the Bucks only to see them go with Teague instead is a byproduct of how the Bogdan Bogdanovic situation unfolded in the offseason.
After all, this wasn’t the first instance of the Bucks signing a player that wasn’t previously reported on since that occurred as we saw in the case of signing Axel Toupane to a two-way contract after it was erroneously reported they planned to sign Myles Powell to such a contract.
Now all Bucks fans will be looking at where and who the Bucks will be turning to sign with their vacant roster spot. But being up so close to the luxury tax line before knowing if Jrue Holiday will achieve some of his likely contract bonuses, it will be a while until we likely see the Bucks fill out their last roster spot. That is if they will at all and they will have until the last day of the regular season to do so.
Either way you look at it, the Bucks opted for the security and familiarity that Teague brings to the table and at a role they desperately needed to fill. But Rivers has shown to be a capable contributor and brings a comparable amount of playoff experience.
Bigger questions face the Bucks as they hit the final stretch of the regular season and are looking to improve upon their playoff experiences of the last two seasons. Picking Teague over Rivers won’t make a meaningful difference in the long run, but Milwaukee will be hopeful that Teague can continue his impactful play as the season goes along.