Category: Milwaukee Bucks Blog

The Milwaukee Bucks announced their 2012 training camp roster today with the additions of Eddie Gill, Orien Greene, Mustapha Farrakhan and Alando Tucker.

Gill (6-0, 190) returns to Milwaukee after seeing action in six games with the Bucks during the 2008-09 campaign. An undrafted guard, he has averaged 3.1 points, 1.2 assists and 1.1 rebounds in 187 NBA games on the rosters of New Jersey, Memphis, Portland, Indiana and Seattle. A native of Aurora, Colo., he has played in the NBA D-League with the Asheville Altitude and Colorado 14ers. The 2008-09 D-League Impact Player of the Year, Gill averaged 15.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 7.4 assists over 112 career games. Last season, Gill participated in Australia’s premier league, averaging 13.3 points for the Townsville Crocodiles.

Greene (6-4, 208) was a second round pick by Boston in the 2005 NBA Draft (53rd overall) and tallied 3.2 points over 80 appearances (five starts) in his rookie year. He has played in 131 NBA games with Boston, Indiana, Sacramento and New Jersey, averaging 2.5 points, 1.2 assists and 1.5 rebounds. Greene spent the 2011-12 season with the NBA D-League’s Los Angeles D-Fenders, and played two seasons with the Utah Flash, averaging 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals in his D-League career.

Farrakhan (6-4, 175) averaged 13.5 points and 2.8 rebounds during his senior campaign at the University of Virginia. The guard from Harvey, Ill., led the Cavaliers in both points (418) and minutes played (956) during the 2010-11 season where he was the squad’s high scorer in 15 contests. For his efforts, Farrakhan earned 2010-11 Honorable Mention All-ACC accolades before spending the 2011-12 season with the NBA D-League’s Bakersfield Jam. There, he made 11 starts in 39 games, averaging 9.0 points and 3.4 assists.

Tucker (6-6, 205) joins the Bucks after spending the 2011-12 season with the NBA D-League’s Texas Legends where he averaged 14.5 points and 3.6 rebounds. After a standout collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin where he earned Big Ten Player of the Year and First Team All-America honors, Tucker was selected by Phoenix as the 29th overall pick in the 2007 draft. The Lockport, Ill., product has averaged 4.1 points through 51 career NBA games with the Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free-agent guard-forward Marquis Daniels (6-6, 200), General Manager John Hammond announced today. Terms of the contract were not disclosed in accordance with team policy.

Despite going undrafted in the 2003 NBA Draft, Daniels, 31, has carved out a nine-year NBA career with stops in Dallas, Indiana and Boston. The Auburn University product has averaged better than 10 points per game in a season on two occasions (10.2 ppg with Dallas in 2005-06; 13.6 ppg for Indiana in 2008-09), and he owns career averages of 8.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 489 games (113 starts). Daniel’s best statistical season came in 2008-09 when, in addition to the 13.6 points per game, he added 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals while starting 43 of the 54 contests in which he appeared.

Daniel’s teams have advanced to the postseason in five of his nine NBA seasons, where he has averaged 4.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 62 career playoff appearances. Daniels appeared in 20 playoff games with Dallas in 2006 when the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals before falling to Miami in six games.

Mbah a Moute, who will turn 26 years old on Sept. 9, underwent surgery to repair his right patella tendon in May, following the 2011-’12 season.

“I feel good. The knee is getting better,” Mbah a Moute said. “I’m right on track to be back for the beginning of the season. I’m just excited to be healthy again.”

Mbah a Moute was a restricted free agent last year during the lockout and got a late start with the Bucks due to his contract situation, as Milwaukee matched a four-year, $19 million offer made by the Denver Nuggets. Then he immediately encountered problems with his knee, problems that continued throughout the season and limited him to 43 games (22 starts).

“At this point I’m not sure,” Mbah a Moute said of being ready on the opening day of training camp in early October. “My goal is to be ready for camp, but if not, make sure I’m ready. I don’t want to rush that.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on August 31

Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings is hoping to have a contract extension in his pocket by the time the regular season opens on Nov. 2 in Boston.

Jennings is entering his fourth NBA season and is in line for an extension that could keep him with Milwaukee for four additional seasons.

But the 23-year-old had more than his contract on his mind during an interview Sunday morning at Homestead High School. Jennings was on hand to supervise a group of 200 youngsters on the second day of the Brandon Jennings Basketball ProCamp.

“It would be something I’d love to get done with and over with so I don’t have to worry about it,” Jennings said of the contract extension. “But the main thing is just to come into training camp a better player, a better leader … just lead the team to the playoffs.”

— Reported by Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free-agent center Joel Przybilla (7-1, 255), General Manager John Hammond announced today.

Przybilla, 32, returns to Milwaukee for his second stint with the Bucks after beginning his career with the franchise. The ninth overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft by Houston, Przybilla was dealt to Milwaukee in a draft-night deal in exchange for Jason Collier and a future first-round pick. He would go on to play three-plus seasons with the Bucks, averaging 1.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 141 games. Pryzbilla left Milwaukee as part of a three-team trade in 2004 that sent him to Atlanta and Tim Thomas to New York in exchange for Keith Van Horn.

A 12-year veteran in the NBA, Przybilla has averaged 4.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 580 career games split between Milwaukee, Atlanta, Portland and Charlotte. Przybilla has made three playoff appearances during his career (2001 and 2003 with Milwaukee; 2009 with Portland), and owns career postseason averages of 2.3 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

The BMO Harris Bradley Center board of directors and the Milwaukee Bucks have been discussing a new six-year lease that, if approved by the National Basketball Association, will provide stability for both sides as discussion continues over the possibility of a new, multi-purpose arena.

Details of the lease were not released. Information on an extended lease came from the minutes of the BMO Harris Bradley Center’s March meeting, which were released this week.

If approved by the NBA, a six-year lease would be, by far, the longest lease the two sides have had in years. In general, the Bucks and the BMO Harris Bradley Center have gone year-to-year on leases.

— Reported by Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel