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The NBA game scheduled for Friday, January 22, 2021 between the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
The game is being postponed due to the number of unavailable players for the Wizards, contact tracing for other players on their roster, and the length of time preceding the game during which the team was unable to practice.
The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tonight between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics at TD Garden has been postponed in accordance with the league’s Health and Safety Protocols.
Because of ongoing contact tracing with the Heat, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tonight’s game against the Celtics.
Giannis Antetokounmpo yesterday signed a multi-year extension with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Per multiple reports, Giannis’ contract extension is a “supermax” deal for five years, $228 million.
“This is a big moment for me and my family and I want to thank the Bucks organization for believing in us,” said Antetokounmpo. “You took a chance on us eight years ago and now putting my signature on a contract like this is unreal – but it’s all because of hard work. This is my home and I’m going to continue working hard and do my best to make the Bucks, our fans and the city proud. Let’s have fun, win and make these years count.
“Giannis is a once in a generation player and we are beyond excited for him to remain with the Bucks,” said Bucks Co-Owners Marc Lasry, Wes Edens and Jamie Dinan. “Giannis positively impacts everyone around him on and off the court and he brings a staggering dedication to winning and leadership to our organization. His work ethic and desire to be the best epitomize what the Bucks stand for and what our future holds. We thank Giannis and his family for their long-term commitment to Milwaukee and we look forward to many years of success. This is a momentous day for the Bucks, our fans and the state of Wisconsin.”
“Giannis’ NBA career began as an 18-year old from the Sepolia neighborhood north of Athens, Greece,” Bucks General Manager Jon Horst said. “Through hard work, determination and an unequaled desire to be the best, Giannis has developed into a relentlessly driven, 26-year old, two-time Most Valuable Player, Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Star for the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s an incredible teammate, a kind and caring person, an affable member of the Milwaukee community, and the leader of our team who sets the tone for our organization. We are thrilled for Giannis and his family and are tremendously proud to sign him to this well-deserved contract extension.”
The Milwaukee Bucks will be retaining the services of Giannis Antetokounmpo for years to come.
On Tuesday, the superstar forward tweeted that he has agreed to sign the Bucks’ contract extension offer.
Per multiple reports, it’s a super-max deal for five years, $228 million.
Many NBA teams whose future plans were to target Giannis in free agency must now sigh in dispair, and focus their attention elsewhere.
This is a major win for Milwaukee. It will also make their free agent signing efforts easier.
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The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has completed a four-team trade with the Denver Nuggets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Pelicans have acquired Steven Adams (via Oklahoma City) and Eric Bledsoe (via Milwaukee), as well as two future first round draft picks from Milwaukee and the right to swap two additional future first round picks with the Bucks.
In exchange, the Bucks have acquired Jrue Holiday and the draft rights to Sam Merrill, the 60th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft (via New Orleans).
Also, the Nuggets have acquired the draft rights to R.J. Hampton, the 24th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft (via Milwaukee).
And the Thunder have acquired a future first round draft pick (via Denver), George Hill (via Milwaukee), Zylan Cheatham, Josh Gray, Darius Miller and Kenrich Williams (via New Orleans) as well as two second round draft picks from the Pelicans (2023 via Washington, 2024 via Charlotte).
“Jrue Holiday’s contributions to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, both on and off the floor, serve as shining examples to everyone in our Pelicans family,” stated Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin. “They are a statement of what we want to represent and, frankly, what we have to live up to moving forward. He and his wife Lauren have worked tirelessly to affect the quality of life of those around them and we are honored to have been a part of their journey. We are also thankful for the positive impact that Darius, Kenrich, Josh and Zylan have had on our organization and we wish them nothing but success in their future efforts.”
Adams, 7-0, 265, has spent his entire seven-year career in Oklahoma City, appearing in 530 career regular season games with the Thunder, holding career averages of 9.8 points on .589 shooting from the field, 7.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.9 steals and 1.0 blocks. The New Zealand native appeared in 63 games in 2019-20, averaging 10.9 points on .592 shooting from the floor, 9.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks. Selected 12th overall out of the University of Pittsburgh in the 2013 NBA Draft, Adams ranks fifth all-time in OKC/Seattle franchise history in blocks (531) and first in field goal percentage.
Bledsoe, 6-1, 214, appeared in 61 regular season games for Milwaukee last season, averaging 14.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 0.9 steals. Selected 18th overall out of the University of Kentucky in the 2010 NBA Draft, Bledsoe has appeared in 631 career regular season games with the LA Clippers, Phoenix and Milwaukee, holding averages of 14.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals. The Birmingham, Alabama native is coming off back-to-back seasons with NBA All-Defensive Team honors after being named to the First Team in 2019 and Second Team in 2020.
“Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe are not only fiercely competitive and driven to succeed at the highest levels, they are proven winners with a team-first mentality,” Griffin added. “As we continue to build towards the sustainable success our ownership demands and our fans so richly deserve, we are grateful to be able to do so with such high-quality teammates and human beings.”
Holiday, who was originally acquired by New Orleans in 2013, has appeared in 415 regular season games in a Pelicans uniform, averaging 17.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.5 steals over the last seven seasons. Holiday leaves the franchise ranked fourth all-time in games played (415), minutes (13,913), and points (7,321), third in steals (638), second in assists (2,833) and the leader in three-point field goals made (628). While in New Orleans, Holiday helped lead the Pelicans to two playoff appearances in 2015 and 2018, was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2018 and Second Team in 2019, and was the recipient of the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award this past season.
Cheatham, 6-5, 220, spent his rookie season as a two-way player for New Orleans after going undrafted out of Arizona State in 2019, appearing in four games with the Pelicans. Cheatham played in 34 games for the Erie BayHawks of the NBA G League last season, averaging 16.3 points on .530 shooting from the field, 11.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.0 steals.
Gray, 6-0, 180, was a two-way player for New Orleans last season, appearing in two games with the Pelicans. The LSU product appeared in 37 games with the Erie BayHawks of the NBA G League, averaging 22.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 2.3 steals.
Miller, 6-6, 225, missed the 2019-20 season after recovering from a ruptured right Achilles tendon. The University of Kentucky product has appeared in 253 career regular season games, all with New Orleans, holding averages of 6.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists. In 2018-19, Miller appeared in 69 games, posting averages of 8.2 points (career-high), 1.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. In addition to his NBA experience, Miller has also played overseas in Germany, where he won three consecutive German League championships with Brose Bamberg from 2015-17.
Williams, 6-6, 210, appeared in 85 games for New Orleans from 2018-20, averaging 4.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists. In 2019-20, the TCU product appeared in 39 games for the Pelicans, averaging 3.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
Merrill, 6-5, 205, completed a four-year collegiate career at Utah State, appearing in 131 career games, averaging 16.8 points while shooting .420 from three-point range, 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.0 steals. Most recently, Merrill appeared in 32 games during his 2019-20 senior campaign, averaging 19.7 points while shooting .410 from three-point range, 4.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists, while earning All-Mountain West First Team honors.
Veteran guard DJ Augustin will be joining a contender.
Per multiple reports, the 33-year-old will be signing a 3-year, $21 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Drafted by Charlotte with the 9th pick in the 2008 NBA draft, Augustin’s NBA career average is 9.9 points, 1.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.
Last season, playing for the Orlando Magic, he averaged 10.5 points and 4.6 assists.
The Orlando Magic have acquired two future second round draft picks from the Milwaukee Bucks (a second round pick owed to Milwaukee from Indiana in either 2022, 2023 or 2024 and Milwaukee’s second round pick in 2026) in exchange for the Magic’s second round draft pick (45th overall) in the 2020 NBA Draft.
The 2020 NBA draft, which like many other 2020 events, had to be rescheduled due to the coronavirus pandemic. It will take place tonight.
The Bucks are about to upgrade their backcourt. Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune:
The New Orleans Pelicans are trading the star two-way guard to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, George Hill and three first-round picks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The move largely completes the transition from the team’s last playoff run in the 2018. Star big man Anthony Davis was traded to the Lakers in 2019, and previous coach Alvin Gentry was fired in August.
Now that Holiday has been sent north, the lone player from the roster that swept the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the playoffs in 2018 still under contract is Darius Miller, who missed the entirety of last season with an Achilles injury.
Three first round picks? That’s a lot for the Bucks to give up.
For the Pelicans last season, Holiday averaged 19.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game. For the Bucks last season, Bledsoe put up 14.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists, while Hill off the bench averaged 9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.1 assists.
Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named the 2019-20 NBA Most Valuable Player.
This is the second straight NBA MVP Award for Antetokounmpo, who becomes the 12th player to earn the honor in consecutive seasons.
A native of Greece, Antetokounmpo is the first player from Europe to be selected as the NBA MVP more than once. Antetokounmpo, 25, also joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James as the only players to win multiple NBA MVP awards by the age of 25.
Antetokounmpo was previously named the 2019-20 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. He joins Michael Jordan (1987-88) and Hakeem Olajuwon (1993-94) as the only players to be selected as the NBA Most Valuable Player and the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. (The NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award was first presented in the 1982-83 season.)
Antetokounmpo received 85 of 101 first-place votes and earned 962 total points from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters as well as the NBA Most Valuable Player Award fan vote. Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James received the other 16 first-place votes and finished in second place with 753 points. Houston Rockets guard James Harden (367 points) finished in third place, followed by Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić (200 points) in fourth place and LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (168 points) in fifth place.
Players received 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for each second-place vote, five points for each third-place vote, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote. The voting was conducted based on regular-season games played through March 11. The seeding games, which were played July 30 – Aug. 14 as part of the season restart, did not count toward voting for the NBA MVP Award or the league’s other traditional end-of-season awards.
In games played through March 11, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.6 points, 13.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.04 steals and 1.02 blocks in 30.9 minutes in 57 games. During that time, he ranked third in the NBA in both scoring average and rebounding average. Antetokounmpo also shot 54.7 percent from the field and sank 83 three-pointers, which is 31 more threes than he made in any of his previous six seasons.
Behind Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee posted an NBA-leading 53-12 record in games played through March 11, a mark that included an 18-game winning streak Nov. 10 – Dec. 14. The four-time NBA All-Star selection helped the Bucks excel on both ends of the court as they led the league in net rating (outscoring opponents by 10.7 points per 100 possessions), scoring offense (118.6 ppg) and defensive rating (101.6 points allowed per 100 possessions) in their first 65 games of the season.
Antetokounmpo was honored as the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Month for October/November, December and January, in addition to being named the NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week four times. He was also voted as a starter to the NBA All-Star Game for the fourth consecutive season, serving as a team captain for the second year in a row.
The Heat are up 3-0 on the Bucks, who had the best regular season record in the league and were favorites in the series. Here’s the South Florida Sun Sentinel reporting:
As for the state of the Bucks’ mental state, perhaps this from Giannis Antetokounmpo after Game 3 summed it up best:
“Miami is a great team. You know they are going to play hard. They play hard for 48 minutes. To be able to beat them, you have to match that. You can’t play hard for 36 minutes, you can’t play hard for 24 minutes, you have to play hard for 48 minutes to beat a team like that. We knew that coming into this series. They were playing harder than us. We’ve got to play harder and we’ve got to play better. That’s it.”
The Bucks face an incredibly uphill battle in keeping their championship hopes alive.