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We're twelve hours into the biggest free agent bonanza in NBA history and -- for better or worse -- we have yet to see our first deal in Milwaukee. On a night that saw Nicolas Batum, Andre Drummond, Hassan Whiteside and Bradley Beal re-sign with their teams and Timo Mozgov go from afterthought in Cleveland to $65 million man in Los Angeles, the Bucks were somewhat active but stayed out of the signing fray -- at least for now.
In the "well wouldn't that be splashy!" department, Bill Simmons tweeted this am that the Bucks were pursuing (read: being leveraged by)...wait, Dwyane Wade?
Keep hearing that the Bucks are making a stealth play for D-Wade. He needs one team to offer him 4 years for big bucks for Miami leverage.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) July 1, 2016
I wouldn't expect much to come of this, but it could help Wade get some more respect from the Heat, who have been busy trying to re-up Whiteside (and securing a hopeful meeting with Kevin Durant). Thus, they don't have the money to pay Wade anything close to his market value.
On the flip side, the Bucks could have a shot at Bulls combo guard E'Twaun Moore, who could be a good value play as a 3-and-D combo guard:
Source: Bucks were one of teams to contact Bulls guard E'Twaun Moore right away. Has interest from multiple teams, according to @KCJHoop.
— cfgardner (@cf_gardner) July 1, 2016
Reported Bucks target Kent Bazemore met with the Houston Rockets last night amid a report from Zach Lowe that his agent was shopping for a deal in the $19-20 million per year range. Meanwhile, the Bucks also reportedly called Cavs restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova last night but were hardly alone. Via Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com:
The Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks and Milwaukee Bucks have all reached out to the camp of the Australian backup point guard to gauge interest, league sources informed cleveland.com.
The interest is mutual, I'm told.
The Cavaliers have let it be known that they would like to retain his services, but it could potentially get too pricey for them. At this juncture, contract dialogue hasn't taken place. It remains a feeling-out period.
The Bucks haven't exactly put any target in their crosshairs yet, but anything can change quickly at this time of the year. As always, stay tuned.