NBA Free Agency 2020: Open Thread

This week has been a long month, and it’s still not over.

Yes, NBA free agency officially opens tonight, meaning that teams are finally able to actually contact players and gauge their interest in reaching an agreement. The Milwaukee Bucks are going to be active no matter what (investigations be damned!), and the biggest news that could break is the decision facing Giannis Antetokounmpo and re-signing the designated veteran’s extension (aka “the supermax”) to stay in Milwaukee.

If you’re interested in the Bucks’ current cap situation, you’re not alone, and the situation remains fluid because of the tumultuous few days we’ve experienced. However, the few things we know are as follows:

• Players currently under contract: $110.4M (Giannis, Khris, Jrue, Brook, Donte, Thanasis, D.J.)
• Cap holds: $1.5M (Frank Mason III’s qualifying offer, making him a restricted free agent)
• Dead money: $5.0M (Larry Sanders and Jon Leuer)
• Salary cap: $109.1M
• Luxury tax: $132.6M
• Tax apron (“hard cap”): $138.9M

Barring any unforeseen movement on the Bogdan Bogdanovic front, the Bucks will likely have the ability to use the full midlevel exception (taxpayer MLE, worth $9.7M) in addition to veteran minimum deals. Of course, if there are any trades that get worked out, everything gets jumbled up again. Good thing we’re used to that, after this week!

We’ll be sure to update this thread with any relevant Bucks news as it happens, so let us know what you’re seeing and hearing in the comments. We’re on this ride together, wherever it takes us.

UPDATE: So the Bucks look to move on past Bogdan, likely putting the final nail in the coffin.

UPDATE: If you wanted more information about why the Bogdanovic deal fell apart, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Eric Nehm have you covered.

Some points to take away from the article:

• Other teams are expected to now flock to Bogdanovic, including the Atlanta Hawks (who were mentioned previously and have cap space) and the Los Angeles Lakers (because of course). There are some who believe that having Bogdanovic on their roster could help in efforts to attract Giannis’ attention if he decides to explore alternatives to Milwaukee.
• Giannis had been actively persuading Bogdanovic to come to the Bucks. However, “sources say Bogdanovic had a number of concerns about that situation even before word spread that there would be a league investigation into the matter.” The article does not call out what those concerns are.
• The whole mess is terrible timing for the Bucks’ front office, both in terms of needing to pivot and figure out alternatives and the optics of having a deal fall through so close to Giannis’ window to sign the extension this offseason. But take some solace, because the Bucks are “expected to remain aggressive.”

In free agency news, fan favorite DJ Augustin has been reported (by a somewhat connected source, emphasis on somewhat) to have attracted interest from Milwaukee. As a quick point guard who shoots well from three and can operate a pick-and-roll, we’re fans of the addition.

UPDATE: As of 9:15pm, Milwaukee has not made any moves nor been mentioned in any rumors. Let’s check in on Jon Horst (via Kyle Carr)...

But seriously, it’s been a quiet night so far for the Bucks. Plenty of deals have been made, and few of them have involved players that have been tied to Milwaukee through media reports. It might be a long while before we see anything come through.

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