Milwaukee Bucks Release Luca Vildoza, Trimming Roster to 19

With the final preseason loss game in the rear view mirror, the Milwaukee Bucks have some basic business to attend to over the final week of training camp. Most obviously, the roster that reinforced the Bucks’ main rostered players needs to be cut down, and today we saw the first domino fall as Luca Vildoza was released.

Vildoza, 27, might have one of the more unique statistical profiles in NBA history. If Milwaukee is his only stop in the league, Vildoza will conclude his NBA career with seven playoff games played…and zero regular season games played. No, really! He was signed in the final days of the 2021-22 regular season but never logged a minute of playing time until the first round against Chicago, when he delighted us all with an irresponsibly-cool pass to Thanasis Antetokounmpo in the final moments of a win over the Bulls.

Honestly, that dime alone was worth the invite to camp.

In the meantime, the Bucks still have more names to add to their list of “requesting waivers” before the season opener. Marques Bolden and Lindell Wigginton, who finished last season on a two-way contract with Milwaukee, have yet to be dropped from the roster and it’s not beyond general manager Jon Horst to find a way to keep one of them in place of A.J. Green, a current two-way player who thoroughly underwhelmed during Summer League and preseason.

Green is a shooting specialist who can do very little elsewhere, and he struggled to even deliver on his most marketable skill. With three-point percentages of 0.333 (in Vegas) and 0.250 (preseason), it’s easy to imagine what Wigginton (a jitterbug point guard who at least carried the offense over the summer) or Bolden (a rangy center who seems to have developed a jump shot of his own) could do in that spot instead.

In any case, no matter which player on the fringe of the roster makes the final cut, we know it won’t be Luca Vildoza. Here’s to you, Luca, we wish you good fortune on the next leg of your basketball journey.