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Per ESPN.com:
According to a source who spoke to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, free agency center Brook Lopez has signed a two-year, $48 million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
This offseason, the Bucks were successful in keeping both Lopez and star guard Khris Middleton, retaining the foundation of the team that won the title in 2021, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Houston had a strong interest in re-signing Lopez, but Milwaukee was able to fend them off.
Via ESPN.com:
Three-time All-Star forward Khris Middleton has declined his $40 million player option with the Milwaukee Bucks to become a free agent, his agents Mike Lindeman and Jeff Schwartz told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday night.
A return to the Bucks on a new deal remains a possibility.
Via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Three-time all-star Khris Middleton had a procedure on his right knee shortly after the Milwaukee Bucks’ season ended, league sources told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
He is expected to begin court work in July.
It is the same knee he suffered a torn meniscus in during his junior year at Texas A&M in the fall of 2011, which forced him to miss two months of action and ultimately played a role in falling to Detroit in the second round of the 2012 draft.
The Milwaukee Bucks yesterday hired Adrian Griffin as their new head coach.
Griffin, who becomes the 17th head coach in franchise history, brings 15 seasons of NBA coaching experience to the Bucks, most recently spending the last five seasons as an assistant coach with the Toronto Raptors.
“Adrian is a widely-respected coach and former player, who brings great leadership and experience to our team,” said Bucks general manager Jon Horst. “His championship-level coaching pedigree, character, basketball acumen and ability to connect with and develop players make him the ideal choice to lead our team. He has earned this opportunity.”
“I’m incredibly honored and grateful to Wes, Jamie, Dee, Jimmy and Jon to be named the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks,” said Griffin. “The Bucks are a championship organization and I’m thrilled to work with an established roster of high character and talented players. I’m excited to be back in Milwaukee and I can’t wait to get started.”
“Adrian is well-regarded throughout the NBA, and we believe that his vast experience working under and playing for successful head coaches makes him the right person to guide our team in competing for championships,” said Bucks co-owners Wes Edens, Jamie Dinan and Dee and Jimmy Haslam. “Following a widespread coaching search, we are extremely impressed by Adrian’s leadership and communication skills and welcome him to the Bucks family.”
Via the Toronto Star:
Adrian Griffin is finally getting a shot to run his own show.
NBA sources confirm that Griffin, the former Raptors assistant, is poised to become the head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks.
The 48-year-old Griffin had been with the Raptors since 2018 and served as the stand-in head coach whenever Nick Nurse had to miss a game.
The Milwaukee Bucks have parted ways with head coach Mike Budenholzer.
Per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Budenholzer, hired before the 2018-19 season, oversaw one of the most successful five-year runs in the history of the franchise during which the team went 271-120 (69.3%) in the regular season under his leadership.”
“The decision to make this change was very difficult,” said Bucks general manager Jon Horst. “Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks’ first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.
“This is an opportunity for us to refocus and reenergize our efforts as we continue building toward our next championship season.”
More from the Journal Sentinel: “Budenholzer was named the NBA coach of the year after the Bucks won 60 games in 2018-19 and they followed that up with a 56-win season in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 campaign.”
Via the Sun Sentinel:
The news was major for the Milwaukee Bucks and relatively minor for the Miami Heat on the injury front for the two teams ahead of Monday night’s Game 4 in their opening-round Eastern Conference playoff series at Kaseya Center.
Bucks All-Star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo returned to the court Monday morning for the Bucks’ shootaround, the latest step in his recovery from the lower-back contusion sustained in the Heat’s Game 1 victory a week ago Sunday in Milwaukee.
It’s not yet known yet if the Bucks will have Giannis Antetokounmpo back in action for Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Heat.
Via ESPN.com:
“We’ll continue to monitor him,” Budenholzer said following a team film session Sunday. “We’ll see how he feels from the session today and see how he wakes up tomorrow.”
Antetokounmpo, who is listed as questionable for Monday’s game, missed the past two games with a lower-back contusion, which has limited him to 11 total minutes in the series. He has not played since April 16.
The Heat currently lead the series 2-1.
Via the South Florida Sun Sentinel:
It might not have appeared that way Sunday, but the Milwaukee Bucks have already shown this season they can have their way with the Miami Heat even when Giannis Antetokounmpo is not fully healthy.
That is especially meaningful at the moment with the Bucks All-Star forward dealing with a back contusion and Milwaukee down 1-0 to Heat in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference opening round NBA playoff series that continues Wednesday at 9 p.m. at Fiserv Forum.
On March 24, despite Antetokounmpo being lost 6:28 into the game due to a knee injury, the Bucks throttled the Heat 128-99.
Via the Denver Post:
Age is just a number like Jeff Green is just a basketball player.
When the 36-year-old launched himself into thin air on Saturday, soaring over and above Giannis Antetokounmpo for a gravity-defying jam, there was no telling what city he’d land in.
“Oh, man,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “That was impressive.”
On the strength of Green’s hops, Nikola Jokic’s brilliance, Jamal Murray’s marksmanship, and a tenacious defensive effort that stymied Antetokounmpo in the second half, the Nuggets throttled the Bucks, 129-106, on Saturday evening.
For a team stuck in neutral, eagerly awaiting the start of the postseason yet with a few meaningful games still left, it was an emphatic statement of how dangerous the Nuggets can be when they commit defensively. Milwaukee scored 40 points in the second half, and the Nuggets outrebounded their opponent, 48-40.
“That is big-time defense against a very good offensive team,” Malone said.