It finally appears that the Milwaukee Bucks have completed their roster going into the final week of the 2020-21 season.
Having long been interested in Maccabi Tel Aviv guard Elijah Bryant for some time now, the Bucks’ interest in the 26-year-old reignited over the week as reports surfaced that they were looking to sign Bryant, despite some hurdles standing in their way. It appears those hurdles have since been resolved.
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First reported by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, the Bucks are signing Bryant to a two-year deal. The Athletic’s Shams Charania confirmed that the Bucks will be waiving Rodions Kurucs as a corresponding move.
Along with that, Roi Cohen of Israeli Sport 5 was the first to report that the Bucks have negotiated a buyout with Maccabi Tel Aviv that reportedly ranges anywhere from $500,000 to $600,000 to secure Bryant’s services for his current club. Cohen also reported that Bryant will be leaving Israel Sunday to join the Bucks.
Milwaukee Bucks signing Elijah Bryant completes their long-standing interest in the combo guard
Of course, this completes the Bucks’ long-time interest in the BYU product who has spent his entire professional career overseas in Israel after having logged stints between Hapoel Eilat and Maccabi Tel Aviv.
To say that his time overseas has been well spent is certainly accurate as he was named to the All-Israeli League first team in his lone season with Hapoel Eilat and won the Israeli League with Maccabi Tel Aviv last season. Along with that, Bryant got some valuable EuroLeague minutes over his two seasons with Maccabi Tel Aviv and played up to the competition.
In his 51 appearances across all competitions, Bryant averaged 10.9 points on .477/.387/.840 shooting, 3.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 23.3 minutes per game.
Byrant certainly came on to the radar of all Bucks fans when he appeared with the club during their last Summer League run in Las Vegas. The Georgia native certainly balled out as seen by this 31-point performance that showed off Bryant’s scoring and shotmaking skills.
It’s safe to assume that with just one week remaining in the season, Bryant will loom larger in the Bucks’ plans next season and compete for a role in the team’s rotation. Considering we’ll likely see more changes on the wing, Bryant could look to carve out a role and make a seamless transition to the NBA level.
Obviously a lot has to break Bryant’s way in order for that to happen, but it all has the possibility of breaking the Bucks’ way with such a shrewd move. With that, welcome back to Milwaukee, Elijah!