Reactions to Milwaukee Bucks signing Iverson Molinar

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Milwaukee Bucks have signed former Mississippi State guard Iverson Molinar to a free-agent contract. Molinar declared for the 2022 NBA Draft following a stellar season at Mississippi State that got him First-team All-SEC honors, with averages of 17.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game.

Reactions to the Milwaukee Bucks signing Iverson Molinar following 2022 NBA Draft

I would never be losing my mind over signing an undrafted free agent, so I hope that’s not what you were expecting to get out of me. I will say that this is a low-risk, high-reward signing for the Bucks.

Molinar brings Milwaukee a player who has the ability to make shots from the outside. His junior season at Mississippi State was an outlier from his other two, as he only shot 25.2 percent from three after shooting 37.1 percent, and 43.6 percent during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

In spite of his perimeter shooting percentages going down during his junior season, his free throw percentage improved to 86.8 percent, after shooting 76.8 percent, and 80.4 percent in his freshman and sophomore seasons. The free throw percentage staying high can be an indication that his junior season was a fluke and that he will be a solid perimeter shooter at the next level.

That being said, there are some kinks that he will have to work out if he wants to make Milwaukee’s roster. There are times when he has a tendency to try to do too much and it will result in some high turnover numbers for him. Maybe that problem will fix itself in the NBA, considering he’ll be playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton. He won’t have to be the team’s go-to guy.

Another problem that he has is that he sometimes has questionable shot selection. Shot selection is an issue in a lot of guys that were great scorers in college because most of the time they have to carry the load for their teams. Not being surrounded by other top talent can lead to guys forcing shots, especially at a school like Mississippi State that isn’t known as one of college basketball’s premiere places for talent.

At 6-foot-3, he would be undersized to play the 2. He also isn’t very strong, so he doesn’t have the physicality to make up for it at this point in his career. He’ll need to get stronger to be able to finish around the rim in the NBA, as he struggled to finish above larger defenders in college. That may be chalked up to having bigs such as Walker Kessler and Oscar Tshiebwe in his conference, but there will only be better rim protection in the NBA.

Due to his athleticism and shooting ability, this could turn into a good find for the Bucks. Molinar will have the opportunity to impress the team in Summer League and training camp to earn a roster spot.

Stay tuned to see what else happens this offseason for the Milwaukee Bucks.