This is the kind of problem contenders say they want until it actually hits them. Because their latest development success story in Jericho Sims is suddenly stacking good game after good game, and with each performance, he’s making himself more valuable and more expensive.
For a Bucks team already squeezed financially, that’s not just a nice breakout story. It’s a looming roster problem.
Look at the recent run. Against Dallas, Sims logged 29 minutes and filled the box score with 8 points, 9 rebounds, a steal, a block, and a +28. Before that was a clean, efficient outing against the Clippers, then a double-digit scoring, double-digit rebounding performance versus San Antonio where his activity level stood out on both ends. Against Portland, he didn’t miss a shot, going 5-of-5 for 12 points while adding rebounds, playmaking, and defensive plays.
And at that point, five games is less a fluke stretch and more a pattern of a player settling into a role and maximizing it in the final games of an otherwise dreary season.
The problem is this. He's likely due for a raise that the Bucks probably can't give him considering where they're at financially. Some rebuilding team will offer Sims starter money and the chance to play 25+ minutes nightly, and he'd be smart to take it. Milwaukee's already deep into the luxury tax with a roster that might be getting blown up this summer. They don't have the flexibility to pay Sims what he's earning through this recent play.
Jericho Sims' recent run of games is forcing teams to take notice
Jericho Sims keeps doing exactly what the Bucks need from their backup center, and it's probably going to cost Milwaukee his services this summer. He's doing exactly what Milwaukee has been begging for from its frontcourt: running the floor, finishing lobs, defending in space, and bringing a level of athleticism that this roster simply does not have outside of Giannis.
Compared to how he was when he first arrived in town, he's now a solid, athletic backup big man who doesn’t need touches. He doesn’t slow the game down. He fits. And that’s the problem.
Players who fit like this — young, switchable, energetic bigs who don’t kill your offense — get paid. That's just where the league is right now. The natural asking price dictated by the market these days is not necessarily max money, but enough to matter. Enough that a cap-strapped team like the Bucks has to think twice.
With all the dead money still owed to Damian Lillard going forward, Milwaukee is already juggling big contracts and limited flexibility. Matching even a modest raise for Sims could mean sacrificing depth elsewhere or locking themselves further into a tight financial corner.
Some team with cap space is going to offer Sims real money this offseason, probably around the range of $4-6 million a year, and Milwaukee won't be able to match without making painful cuts elsewhere. That's how you lose useful role players when your cap situation is completely wrecked.
The Milwaukee Bucks can't lose what Jericho Sims provides, but they're probably going to anyway
Sims’ emergence quietly highlights what’s been missing all along in this era of Bucks basketball. The Bucks didn’t need more aging size or half-court scoring bigs. They needed someone who could move, survive in transition, switch onto guards, and keep possessions alive without demanding the ball.
Sims has been that — and now the rest of the league is seeing it too.
Jericho Sims playing his way off the Bucks isn't a criticism of him in the slightest; it's more an indictment of Milwaukee's financial mismanagement. They constructed a roster so poorly that they can't afford to keep the minimum-contract players who are actually contributing when they inevitably get market-rate offers elsewhere.
If he keeps this up, his market value is likely going to balloon to a point where Milwaukee might not get the chance to keep him. And in a twist that feels all too familiar for this front office, they may have developed exactly the kind of player they need… just in time for someone else to pay him.
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