ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Friday that the Milwaukee Bucks and AJ Green have agreed to a two-way contract. The signing follows the 2022 NBA Draft, in which Green went undrafted.
Green, a four-year player at Northern Iowa, is coming off of a season where he was First-team All-MVC and won Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year. Over his college career, he was First-team All-MVC and Conference Player of the Year twice.
Reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks signing AJ Green following 2022 NBA Draft
Green has the potential to be a diamond in the rough player for the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite being a four-star recruit and having offers from major college programs, Green committed to Northern Iowa to play for a coaching staff that included his father.
Green was able to put his talent on display as soon as he arrived. He put together solid averages of 15.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game, while shooting 41 percent from the field, 34.8 percent from three, and 86.4 percent from the free throw line. Those numbers were good enough to earn him MVC Freshman of the Year honors for 2019.
Green followed that up by winning Conference Player of the Year in the next two full seasons that he would play. Green’s sophomore year would be his best year, where he had averages of 19.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game, while shooting 41.6 percent from the field, 39.1 percent from three, and 91.7 percent from the free throw line.
Green would only play in three games in his third college season before undergoing season-ending hip surgery. He would return as a redshirt junior, winning his second Conference Player of the Year award by finishing with averages of 18.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He also shot 41.0 percent from the field, 38.7 percent from three, and 91.5 percent from the charity stripe in his junior season.
Green will get an opportunity to show what he has at the NBA level, being on a two-way contact. Jon Horst pointed to wanting to upgrade shooting and playmaking in his offseason presser, and Green will help them upgrade their perimeter shooting. He also has some playmaking in him, though I wouldn’t consider his playmaking to be something that he specializes in.
Green might run into some problems defensively due to him not being an elite athlete. I’m not saying that he’s not athletic at all. He’s actually a solid athlete, but he just lacks the lateral quickness that you see out of the game’s top defenders.
Overall, I love the signing of AJ Green for the Bucks. He was a four-star recruit of of high school and probably would’ve been a lot more well-known of a prospect had he gone to a bigger school.
As he develops, there’s a possibility that he could become a sharpshooter for Milwaukee. The Bucks have tried to bring in other sharpshooters in guys such as Bryn Forbes and Kyle Korver, but they haven’t been able to find a long-term answer there. It’s a minimal risk signing for the Bucks on an undrafted player, but has the potential to be a huge steal for them if he can develop nicely.
Stay tuned for more offseason Milwaukee Bucks news.