No thanks to their cap situation, Jon Horst and company are left to sift through the scraps of the league. But Nico Harrison might have just given the Bucks the perfect point guard solution for their one year sans Daman Lillard. The Milwaukee Bucks may have just found their next backup point guard—and it's all because the Dallas Mavericks are running out of room.
According to longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, the Mavericks are interested in re-signing guard Dante Exum, who was a critical part of their bench unit last season. But with Dallas nearing the 15-man roster limit and pushing to sign veteran guard D’Angelo Russell, Exum might get squeezed out of their plans.
“League sources say that the Mavericks also have interest in re-signing guard Dante Exum, who becomes a free agent Monday,” Stein wrote.
“But signing Russell or any other veteran guard with their taxpayer midlevel exception would take Dallas' roster to a full 15 standard contracts. There won’t be room for Exum if the Mavericks get to 15.”
That’s where the Bucks could potentially come in if they so desire.
Dante Exum is both a perfect basketball and cap fit, and Bucks fans should be relieved
Milwaukee’s backcourt rotation is still very much in flux.
Damian Lillard is expected to miss extended time, Kevin Porter Jr. remains unsigned after having turned down his player option, Ryan Rollins was just tendered his qualifying offer, and undrafted rookie Mark Sears is still raw. The Bucks desperately need a steady ballhandler who can keep the offense running for a season, and Exum quietly fits the bill better than most realize.
Exum averaged 8.7 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.7 rebounds through just 20 games this season before he was hit with a broken bone in his left hand that sidelined him for the rest of the season. That's not the best showing nor sample size in the world, but his 43.4 percent shooting clip from deep should be more than enough reason for the Bucks to take a chance on the 6-foot-5 combo guard.
On top of that, he generally held his own defensively against multiple positions and showed he could thrive without dominating the ball. It's not hard to imagine his cutting, length, and decision-making making him a perfect low-usage guard next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, while his ability to defend bigger guards would be a welcome change from Milwaukee’s undersized units last year.
In Exum's last full season for the Mavericks in 2023-24, the Mavericks' opponents scored -3.3 fewer points per 100 possession while the Mavs scored +8.3 more points per 100 in the minutes that Exum was playing. He was good for the 97th and 79th percentiles in offensive and defensive rating, respectively, for that season, according to Cleaning the Glass.
Even better: the Bucks can sign him cleanly given the tools they have at their disposal. Exum is well within reach using either the full $14.1 million mid-level exception or the $4.7 million bi-annual. Either route keeps them under the tax apron and avoids triggering a hard cap.
This wouldn’t be a splashy signing by any means, but it could be a smart one. Exum doesn’t need starter minutes to make an impact. He needs a defined role, a stable system, and trust from the staff-- things Doc Rivers can definitely offer (considering Exum is more established in this league than the Bucks' rookies), especially if the Bucks strike out on keeping Kevin Porter Jr.
Milwaukee has bigger roster problems to reckon with this offseason, and those should definitely be addressed later on down the road. But if they want to quietly stabilize a vulnerable position group, Dante Exum could be the right answer at the right price. They just have to make their case known before other teams do.