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After initial interest was reported two weeks ago and a face-to-face meeting occured on Tuesday, it appears as if the Bucks and Chris Copeland are on their way to joining forces, according to multiple reports.
Source: Bucks & Chris Copeland have verbally agreed to a 1-year contract. Cope & Jason Kidd have a good relationship from Knicks teammates.
— Jared Zwerling (@JaredZwerling) July 23, 2015
Free agent Chris Copeland has agreed on a one-year, $1.1-plus million contract with the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources tell RealGM.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 23, 2015
We've covered this pairing already, but let's go through a refresher on Copeland's appeal in case you missed anything.
As for Copeland, he struggled to do much of anything consistently in Indiana last season, slumping to just 31% shooting from deep and missing the last week of the season after being stabbed outside a New York nightclub on April 8. That bit of drama capped off a hugely disappointing season for the former Colorado star, though it also shouldn't obscure the fact that Copeland shot 42% from deep while compiling above-average advanced metrics in each of his first two seasons in the league. He won't be any team's savior, and shouldn't be considered more than a stop-gap starter at best. But as an occasional placeholder who can stretch the floor for everyone else? Now that might be more reasonable."
With Jabari Parker recovering at his own speed and Jared Dudley and Ersan Ilyasova on other rosters, it wouldn't be surprising to see Copeland start the season as a stop-gap starter next to Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee could also slide Khris Middleton and Giannis up a position and start Greivis Vasquez in the backcourt as well. Who knows.
When finalized, the move would put the Bucks at 15 guaranteed contracts (plus Jorge Gutierrez's non-guaranteed deal), but they can carry up to 18 spots until the end of October and the start of the regular season. The Bucks could have offered Copeland up to $2.8 million using their cap room mid-level exception, so they'll technically still have around $1.7 million of that exception remaining once Copeland has signed.