Bucks join hunt for Bradley Beal — on one condition

Alex Kirschenbaum

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Bucks join hunt for Bradley Beal — on one condition image

The Milwaukee Bucks' roster appears to still be in flux, even after team general manager Jon Horst already made a surprising splash in free agency.

Horst opted to bring in 3-and-D free agent center Myles Turner by waiving-and-stretching the $112.6 million contract of injured point guard Damian Lillard, meaning the club's cap will be saddled with $22.5 million of dead money for Lillard across the next five seasons.

The Bucks also drafted Mega Basket big man Bogoljub Markovic and inked shooting guard Gary Harris, but otherwise the club took care of incumbent free agents Bobby Portis, Kevin Porter Jr., Taurean Prince, Gary Trent Jr. And Jericho Sims. The Bucks also traded to acquire point guard Vasilije Micic from the Charlotte Hornets.

Will these moves around two-time league MVP power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo help the Bucks enjoy another deep playoff run?

It seems Milwaukee isn't necessarily done looking to fortify its backcourt, at least.

According to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the Bucks are said to be open to signing embattled Phoenix Suns shooting guard Bradley Beal — should Beal become a free agent via buyout. The Miami Heat had been talking with Phoenix about a possible trade for Beal, but those conversations have since fallen apart.

Beal still has multiple years left on his contract, and given that he'll never make anything approaching the $110.8 million left on his deal on the open market, one wonders just how much money he's ultimately willing to surrender in a buyout negotiation.

The 6-foot-4 Florida product, 32, may not quite be the dynamic scorer he was during his three-time All-Star prime, but he's still a solid shooter. In 53 games for a hapless, 36-46 Suns squad last year, Beal averaged 17.0 points on.497/.386/.803 shooting splits, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds a night.

Senior Editor