Giannis Antetokounmpo is ostensibly evaluating whether to sign a super-max extension with the Bucks.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee had its sign-and-trade for Bogdan Bogdanovic fall apart, faces a tampering investigation and now had to re-work its deal for Pat Connaughton after the originally reported terms weren’t salary-cap legal.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Free agent guard Pat Connaughton is returning to the Bucks on a longer than originally anticipated deal – 3 years, $16M -- agents Jeff Schwartz and Jordan Gertler of @ExcelSM_bball tell ESPN. https://t.co/4sWp1un9Xb
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
The Bucks are re-signing Connaughton through Early Bird Rights. But Early Bird contracts must be for at least two seasons, not including options. The original deal was for only one season before a player option.
Milwaukee could have signed Connaughton to the original terms through the mid-level exception. Except D.J. Austin then took up too much of the mid-level exception for that.
So, Connaughton will get an Early Bird contract – one worth nearly twice as much as the original deal.
Here are the old terms and new terms, assuming reported total salaries are precise and max raises:
| Season | Old terms | New terms |
| 2021-22 | $3,990,385 | $4,938,272 |
| 2022-23 | $4,309,615 | $5,333,333 |
| 2023-24 | $5,728,395 | |
| Total | $8,300,000 | $16,000,000 |
Player option
This looks like a costly mistake for a team encumbered by a hard cap… and trying to convince a superstar to entrust it with the next stage of his career.
