Report: Former UW Point Guard Bronson Koenig to Join Milwaukee Bucks

Big Shot Bronson Koenig, a derivative nickname I just made up and probably isn’t exactly warranted at this point, appears to be heading to the Milwaukee Bucks after unsurprisingly not being selected in last night’s draft. The report comes from Michael Scotto, and while he doesn’t indicate that Koenig is signed to any two-way contract yet, he’ll have the same chance to earn one as anyone else Milwaukee brings to Summer League this year.

Some will hem and haw over this as a prototypical homer selection, particularly given even the ginger-haired menace Mike Bruesewitz got a chance to play with the Bucks in Summer League. I’ll come flat out and say I’m slightly in the bag for Koenig, and please feel free to paint me as a cardinal and white colored glasses wearer, but I think Koenig has some of the pull-up shooter skills Milwaukee could utilize at the point position.

He shot 39.3% on over seven attempts from three last season, although he struggles to get to the line with less than two attempts per game from the charity stripe. He doesn’t possess the quickness to really blow by guys, and he’s only 6’1” with a 6’4” wingspan. It would be tough to imagine him getting some of the surprising finishes Malcolm Brogdon did last year, where he seemingly only finished due to his lengthy wingspan.

He was an excellent passer in high school, and while some of those dynamic passes weren’t as present in college, I feel like he can handle the pick and roll fairly well and find passing lanes more often than he was able to in Wisconsin’s swing offense. If you’re interested in reading more about Koenig’s game, I recommend checking out this in-depth piece from Bucky’s 5th Quarter.

Milwaukee is just starting to build out who could fill their two-way contracts next season, and Koenig’s the first domino to fall. We’ll see who else could be joining him in Vegas over the coming weeks.

UPDATE:

Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel indicated that Koenig will indeed occupy one of the two-way contracts for the Bucks. New this year, each team is alotted only two of these contracts that pay more than a traditional G-League salary and allow for players to easily swing between the big leagues and their developmental team. We should expect to see plenty of Koenig with the Wisconsin Herd this season.