Milwaukee Bucks Best Free Agents Signings of All Time

Highlights

The Bucks have struggled to bring in marquee names in free agency, but have still found success.
The best players they have found in free agency have been unlikely heroes, three of whom were big factors in their 2021 title win.
Brook Lopez is the best pickup they’ve had, after arriving on a bi-annual exception one-year deal in 2018.

The Milwaukee Bucks are a small-market team, which has made them an unlikely destination for marquee free agents. But that hasn’t stopped them from winning silverware, with the franchise boasting two NBA championships, the most recent coming in 2021.

They’ve become one of the best teams of the 2020s, relying on shrewd moves in free agency to improve the roster. Here are the five best free agency signings of all time for the Bucks.

5 Pat Connaughton (2018)

Contract: 2-years, $3.3 million

The Bucks brought in Pat Connaughton during the 2018 Free Agency to bolster their shooting after the Portland Trail Blazers let him walk. This move marked a full-circle moment for Connaughton, who was originally drafted via a Bucks pick in 2015 by the Brooklyn Nets.

Connaughton didn’t have the best start as a shooter in Milwaukee, averaging just 33 percent from three in his first two seasons. But the energy he brought, especially with his hustle on the glass, earned him a three-year extension worth $16 million.

Pat Connaughton – Milwaukee Bucks Stats

Category

Stat

PPG

7.0

RPG

4.2

FG%

43.9%

3PT%

35.7%

When the Bucks finally looked primed to win it all in the 2020-21 season, Connaughton stepped up as well. After averaging 37 percent from three during the regular season, he was shooting at a 38 percent clip in the playoffs. In the Finals, he took his play up a notch, averaging 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 44.1 percent from three to help the Bucks win their first NBA championship in 50 years.

In the following season, he earned a deserved contract extension, inking a three-year deal worth $30 million. He is now on the books until the 2025-26 season, where he has a player option worth $9.2 million.

4 Greg Monroe (2015)

Contract: 3-years, $50 million

Free agents rejecting the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks to join the Bucks was unheard of until Greg Monroe did it in 2015. He joined on a maximum deal, which was also the same amount offered by the other teams, making Monroe arguably the biggest marquee free agent signing they’ve ever had.

Unfortunately, Monroe didn’t fit well with the Bucks’ young core at that time, featuring Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, and Jabari Parker. In just a year, he became a bench player for the Bucks, a role that complimented him better in Milwaukee. He was also in the running for the Sixth Man of the Year award, averaging 11.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game in the 2016-17 season.

Greg Monroe – Milwaukee Bucks Stats

Category

Stat

PPG

13.1

RPG

7.5

APG

2.2

SPG

1.0

FG%

52.6%

However, small market teams don’t have the luxury of paying the big bucks for bench players, which meant Monroe had to be shipped. Midway through his third year in Milwaukee, the Bucks sent him to the Trail Blazers in a trade for Eric Bledsoe. He returned to the team on a 10-day contract in February 2022, but that was the last time he donned a Bucks jersey.

After stints in China and Puerto Rico, Monroe signed a contract with the Big 3 in April 2024, ahead of their seventh season.

3 Mo Williams (2004)

Contract: 3 years, $5.2 million

Mo Williams began his career with the Utah Jazz after being selected in the second round of the draft. He joined the Bucks in his sophomore year after signing an offer sheet that the Jazz didn’t match. While Williams wasn’t a high-profile signing like Monroe, the former Alabama star made a significant impact during a challenging period for the Bucks in the early 2000s.

It didn’t take him too long to become a fan favorite. In a regular season game against the Pacers in 2005, he led the Bucks to overcome a 14-point deficit and then scored a buzzer-beater game-winner as well.

Mo Williams – Milwaukee Bucks Stats

Category

Stat

PPG

14.1

RPG

3.5

APG

5.7

SPG

1.1

FG%

45.0%

3PT%

36.4%

When the Bucks traded away TJ Ford, Williams became a full-time starter and seized the opportunity. His averages went up from 12.1 points and 4.0 assists per game to 17.3 points and 6.1 assists per game in the 2006-07 season. This led to the Bucks rewarding him with a six-year, $51.5 million extension.

Despite averaging similar numbers on better efficiency in his fourth season, the Bucks traded Williams away after the 2007-08 season to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He played for a number of teams before retiring with the Cavs in 2017.

2 Bobby Portis (2020)

Contract: 2 years, $7.4 million

Bobby Portis joined the Bucks in 2020, citing the need to be part of a “winning culture” which he felt was absent on the Knicks. The Bucks had finished as the number-one seed in back-to-back seasons prior to Portis’ arrival but had failed to carry the momentum into the postseason.

Portis remained a bench player when he arrived in Milwaukee, offering some much-needed assistance on the glass, along with his impressive shooting ability. He hit career-highs in efficiency in his first season with the Bucks, averaging 52.3 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from three.

Those numbers took a slight hit in the postseason, but his energy off the bench was crucial for the Bucks as they went on to win the 2021 NBA championship.

Bobby Portis – Milwaukee Bucks Stats

Category

Stat

PPG

13.5

RPG

8.3

FG%

50.0%

3PT%

40.3%

He started two games in the Eastern Conference Finals when Antetokounmpo went down and perfectly played his part to help the Bucks close out the series. Since that inspiring run, Portis has become a fan favorite in Milwaukee.

In the off-season, Portis signed a new two-year deal worth $9 million with a player option in the second year. As expected, Portis continued to perform, and he was rewarded with a bigger payday in 2022 when he inked a four-year $49 million deal. He is on the Bucks’ books until the 2025-26 season when he will have a player option.

1 Brook Lopez (2018)

Contract: 1 year, $3.3 million

During the 2018 Free Agency, the Lakers gave up on Brook Lopez after just one year and didn’t want to bring him back. The Bucks pounced on this opportunity and signed him with their bi-annual exception, giving him a chance to prove himself after a down year in LA.

Lopez hit the ground running, as he took over the starting center spot from John Henson, who never lived up to expectations. His poor rebounding for a Bucks side that ranked 30th in the league in rebounds in the 2017-18 season, was far from ideal, but he compensated for it with his brilliant box-outs. And ever since he reinvented his game in 2016, ‘Splash Mountain’ was a threat from deep, which has been vital for the Bucks’ offense.

Brook Lopez – Milwaukee Bucks Stats

Category

Stat

PPG

13.0

RPG

5.2

BPG

2.2

FG%

48.2%

3PT%

35.4%

The Bucks won 60 games in Lopez’s first year, while he averaged a then career-high 2.2 blocks per game. These performances secured him a four-year, $52 million deal next year. Lopez’s defense kept improving, and he had his maiden All-Defensive team appearance in 2020. He was monumental when the Bucks won the title in 2021, starting every single game while being their defensive pillar.

After finishing as the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, Lopez received a massive two-year deal worth $48 million to stay in Milwaukee and he will enter the final year of his deal in the 2024-25 season.

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Publish date : 2024-06-22 17:15:00

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