Takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ first summer league game: What’s the deal with Jordan Nwora?
Earlier this summer it was announced that the Bucks extended a qualifying offer to Jordan Nwora, giving him the opportunity to sign on for this season and become a free agent in the summer of 2023. While he has shown promise at points of his Bucks career, Nwora has been marred by his offensive decision making and overall defensive play.
True, this will only be his third year in the league, and it often takes a while for players to adjust to the speed and physicality of the pro game. This is what makes the summer league so important for guys like Nwora, who will likely not get a ton of run throughout the upcoming season outside of garbage time or load management games. He needs to play as much as he can in order for him to improve and for the Bucks to continue evaluating his progress.
There isn’t much reason to speculate on why Nwora hasn’t signed the qualifying offer and isn’t playing, as there could be a myriad of legitimate basketball and non-basketball reasons for it. It is possible that he and his agent are sending out feelers around the league to see if teams would be willing to match or exceed that offer with the possibility of giving him more playing time and money than he’d get with the Bucks.
Pictures from the Bucks official account showed Nwora attending the summer league game, which is likely good news for his contract status. Either way, the longer he sits out, the more questions it raises for all parties involved.
The Bucks play their next summer league game is Monday night against the Boston Celtics.