Milwaukee Bucks Blog – Page 27 – NBA Blog

A Kevin Love to Cavs trade is expected

Here’s Yahoo Sports with the latest on the Cavaliers and Timberwolves:

The Minnesota Timberwolves have reached an agreement in principle to send All-Star forward Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a protected 2015 first-round draft pick, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

Cleveland is making the deal with Minnesota with a firm agreement Love will opt out of his contract in 2015 and re-sign with the Cavaliers on a five-year, $120 million-plus contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

The deal cannot be finalized until Aug. 23, because Wiggins, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, cannot be traded until one month after the signing of his rookie contract. The two teams have agreed to the deal, but neither would have recourse if the other decided to pull out of the arrangement before it can be formally completed this month. No third team is involved in the Cavaliers-Timberwolves trade agreement.

Bucks adding Greg Foster to coaching staff

Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel blog with a Bucks update:

Coach Jason Kidd’s coaching staff is nearly complete with the addition of Greg Foster, who was a player development coach with the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

A source confirmed reports that Foster will join the Bucks staff and serve as one of the bench assistants.

“It is a great opportunity for Greg,” 76ers president and general manager Sam Hinkie told csnphilly,com. “We hate to lose him, but we don’t want to stand in the way of people when opportunities present themselves.”

Jerryd Bayless excited to play for Coach Kidd

Free agent Jerryd Bayless signed with the Milwaukee Bucks in large part because of Jason Kidd.

The 6-foot-3 guard played for Memphis and Boston last season, averaging 9.3 points in 72 games. Now he gets a chance to play for Kidd, who left the Brooklyn Nets this summer to coach the Bucks.

“The thing that was most intriguing was Kidd,” Bayless said Thursday at the Bucks’ training facility. “He can help me in a variety of different ways. There aren’t a lot of guys like him that come around.”

— Associated Press

Milwaukee Bucks sign Jerryd Bayless

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free agent guard Jerryd Bayless, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

According to the Associated Press, “Bayless signed for two years at $3 million per season.”

Bayless, 25, split the 2013-14 season between the Memphis Grizzlies and Boston Celtics, and averaged 9.3 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 72 games (19 starts). He was acquired by the Celtics in exchange for Courtney Lee on Jan. 6, and while with Boston, set season highs of 29 points – including a career-high 12 field goals made – on Feb. 26 vs. Atlanta and nine assists vs. San Antonio on Feb. 12.

Originally selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 11th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Bayless was traded to the Trail Blazers prior to his rookie season. Over his six-year career, Bayless has spent time with Portland, New Orleans, Toronto, Memphis and Boston, and has recorded career averages of 8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 381 games (59 starts). He has been to the playoffs three times with Portland (2009, 2010) and Memphis (2013), averaging 9.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 23 games (two starts).

Bayless played one season at Arizona in 2007-08 where he became the first freshman in school history to lead the team in both scoring (19.7 points) and assists (4.0). In 2007, he was named a McDonald’s All-American as a high school senior at St. Mary’s (Phoenix).

Bucks sign second round draft pick Johnny O`Bryant

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed second round draft pick Johnny O’Bryant, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

The 36th overall selection in the draft, O’Bryant (6-9, 256) appeared in all five games for the Bucks’ entry in the 2014 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas and averaged 8.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 18.2 minutes per contest. In the summer league finale vs. Golden State on July 18, O’Bryant posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

A native of Cleveland, Miss., O’Bryant played three collegiate seasons at Louisiana State University, averaging 12.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists over his career. He was named to the All-SEC First Team by the coaches in 2013 and 2014, and earned All-SEC Second Team honors from the AP in 2014. O’Bryant is one of 14 LSU players to record at least 1,000 career points (1,157) and 700 career rebounds (702). He recorded 25 career double-doubles as a Tiger and scored 10+ points in 28 games his junior season. He also led the team in scoring his sophomore season, averaging 13.6 points per game.

Video: Jabari Parker summer league highlights

Enjoy these video highlights of Milwaukee Bucks rookie Jabari Parker from 2014 summer league:

Bucks land Kendall Marshall via waiver wire

The Milwaukee Bucks have been awarded the contract of guard Kendall Marshall (6-4, 195) on a waiver claim, General Manager John Hammond announced today. Marshall was waived by the Los Angeles Lakers on July 18.

Appearing in 54 games for the Lakers in 2013-14, Marshall, 22, averaged 8.0 points, 8.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds per contest. In his best stretch of the season in January, he tallied at least 10 assists and scored at least 10 points in five consecutive games. He ranked fifth in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.18) and shot a career-high 39.9 percent from the 3-point arc. Prior to being called up by the Lakers, Marshall appeared in seven games for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA D-League and averaged 19.4 points, 9.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds.

Originally drafted by Phoenix with the 13th overall selection in the 2012 NBA Draft, Marshall appeared in 48 games for the Suns as a rookie and averaged 3.0 points, 3.0 assists and 0.9 rebounds per game. Prior to the 2013-14 campaign, Marshall was traded by Phoenix with Marcin Gortat, Shannon Brown and Malcom Lee to Washington for Emeka Okafor and a 2014 first round draft pick. Marshall, Brown and Lee were waived by the Wizards on October 28, 2013.

Marshall played two seasons (2010-12) at the University of North Carolina where he teamed with current Bucks forward John Henson. As a sophomore, Marshall averaged 8.1 points, 9.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds and was named AP Third-Team All-America, The Sporting News First-Team All-American and received the Bob Cousy Award as the top collegiate male basketball point guard.

Bucks sign first round draft pick Jabari Parker

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed first round draft pick Jabari Parker, General Manager John Hammond announced today.

All first round draft picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, assuming they want to begin their NBA career right away. Therefore, this signing is standard operating procedure, and was expected.

The second overall selection in the 2014 NBA Draft, Parker played one collegiate season at Duke University, where he was a consensus First Team All-America selection. While with the Blue Devils, Parker also earned honors as a First Team All-ACC member, ACC Rookie of the Year and USBWA National Freshman of the Year. His 19.1 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game were both Top-50 in the nation, with the points per game average marking the fourth-highest effort ever by an ACC freshman. He is the fourth freshman in ACC history to lead the league in rebounding.

With 670 points and 306 rebounds, Parker became the 14th player in Duke history to record 600+ points and 300+ rebounds in the same season, and he is just the sixth ACC freshman to ever reach the 600-point plateau. He is also the first Duke freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. Parker posted a career-high 30 points (10-of-17, .588) to go along with 11 boards in a win vs. UNC on March 8. The 30-point effort was the most by a Duke freshman in the 238 games played in series history against the rival Tar Heels.

Additionally, Parker received First Team All-America honors from The Associated Press, NABC, USBWA, Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. Parker was a finalist for the Naismith Trophy, Oscar Robertson Trophy and John R. Wooden Award, and he was honored as the top freshman in the country through the Integris Wayman Tisdale Award by the USBWA. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week a record 10 times and was on the All-ACC Academic Team.

A native of Chicago, Parker attended Simeon Career Academy, where he led Simeon to four IHSA Class 4A state championships and averaged 18.4 points and 10.4 rebounds as a senior. He was named the 2013 Jordan Brand Classic Co-MVP, is a two-time Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year and Illinois Mr. Basketball winner, and was named National Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior. Parker has also played for USA Basketball, earning gold medals at the 2012 FIBA U17 World Championship and the 2011 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.

Pre-NBA Jason Kidd basketball success

Here’s the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporting on new Bucks head coach Jason Kidd, with a look back at his pre-NBA days:

Kidd has been making basketball headlines since he played for Bay area youth teams and starred for St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, Calif., in the early 1990s.

Frank LaPorte, Kidd’s high school coach, told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1991: “As an eighth-grader, Jason Kidd was the talk of the town.”

In his senior season, Kidd led his team to a second straight state championship, averaging 25 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and seven steals. He was named the Parade, USA Today and Naismith prep player of the year in 1992. In January 2012, he was selected as one of the 35 greatest McDonald’s All-American high school players.

Kidd was recruited by the top college programs in the country, including Kansas when Roy Williams was coach there.

“Jason was one of the three best high school guards I have seen in my 15 years in coaching,” Williams said in 1993. “Derek Harper, Kenny Anderson and Jason.”

But Kidd, who was born in San Francisco, turned away from the giants and signed with the University of California.

As a freshman, he averaged 13.0 points, 7.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 steals. He was chosen national college freshman of the year by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and made the 10-player All-Pac-10 team. His 110 steals set an NCAA record for a freshman.

Cal made the NCAA Tournament field and beat Duke on the way to the Sweet 16 before losing to Kansas. Midway through that season, Cal coach Lou Campanelli was fired and replaced by assistant Todd Bozeman. Kidd reportedly was among the Cal players who complained about Campanelli’s sometimes abrasive style. Cal athletic director Bob Bockrath fired him with 10 games left in the 1992-’93 season.

As a sophomore, Kidd averaged 16.7 points, 9.1 assists, 6.9 rebounds and 3.1 steals. He led the nation in assists with 272. He was chosen as a first-team All-American and Pac-10 player of the year.

Bucks owners admit process in getting Jason Kidd could have been smoother

Here’s the Associated Press, via the Minneapolis Star Tribune, reporting on the Milwaukee Bucks:

New Bucks owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens admitted Wednesday that there may have been errors in how Jason Kidd was lured to Milwaukee.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t happy to have him as the Bucks’ new head coach.

Kidd was formally introduced Wednesday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. Kidd said there were no hard feelings over his abrupt and surprising departure from Brooklyn, where he won 44 games and reached the second round of the playoffs as a first-year head coach but left after a failed bid for more front-office power.

His messy departure leaked to the media and Brooklyn agreed Monday to deal Kidd to Milwaukee for second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2019. The Bucks fired Larry Drew, who had no indication he wouldn’t be back for a second season.