The Milwaukee Bucks have shocked the world once again, sweeping in to sign the best remaining free agent at this fairly late stage of the summer.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Milwaukee has inked former L.A. Clippers swingman Amir Coffey to a one-season deal.
Free agent forward Amir Coffey has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell ESPN. Coffey spent his first six NBA seasons with the Clippers, averaging 9.7 points, 47.1% field-goal shooting and 40.9% from 3 in 2024-25. pic.twitter.com/mHHrD3qwZa
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 14, 2025
According to The Athletic's Eric Nehm, Coffey is only signing for a non-guaranteed training camp deal, meaning he will be competing for a roster spot. This is a bit of a stunner, as Coffey could probably outplay $22.4 million starting small forward Kyle Kuzma right now.
Per a league source, it is a training camp deal for Amir Coffey. ESPN was first to report the signing.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) August 14, 2025
Coffey played 72 games and started 13 times for the Clippers last season, where he averaged 9.7 points in 24.3 minutes per game. He shot 40.9 percent from 3 as well.
The 6-foot-7 former Minnesota Golden Gopher, 28, hds spent all six of his pro seasons with the L.A. Clippers prior to this move. He enjoyed a breakout season on the 50-32 Clippers last year, as a 3-and-D release valve off the bench. Should he make the team's roster, Coffey could potentially unseat Gary Trent Jr. or Kumza for either the starting shooting guard or small forward role.
He is a legitimate catch-and-shoot wing who can effectively defend, the kind of player Milwaukee thought it was adding in Prince last summer, but one with more upside and aggression. We're not saying the Bucks are adding Bruce Bowen on a minimum deal, but Coffey has room to grow and is the exact kind of perimeter piece the Bucks needed (well, in fairness, they also need a starting-caliber point guard).
In 72 healthy games last year (13 starts), Coffey averaged a career-best 9.7 points on .471/.409/.891 shooting splits, plus 2.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.6 steals a night.
Coffey helps round out a solid summer recovery plan for general manager Jon Horst, after the team lost its second-best player (and likely second-best trade asset), nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard, to an Achilles tendon tear in this spring's playoffs. That injury is one of the most brutal in the league, and will likely sideline Lillard for the entire 2025-26 season.
Given that All-NBA Bucks superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is clearly growing impatient with his team's three consecutive first-round playoff exits, Horst clearly felt he could ill afford to let Lillard languish on the bench all year. So he opted to stretch-and-waive the 35-year-old, who went on to sign with the Portland Trail Blazers instead.
Horst used the added cap room to sign 3-and-D former Indiana Pacers starting center Myles Turner, fresh off a Finals run. He also brought in former Orlando Magic free agent guards Cole Anthony and Gary Harris, beyond re-signing some essential Bucks role players to below-market deals.
Now, Coffey's signing is the latest nice bit of business for Horst. These new pieces aren't going to be enough to vault Milwaukee into championship contention, per se, but if some of the minimum signings pop, there's a chance the Bucks will be able to package them into a deal to offload, say, the Kuzma contract for a true floor-raising complementary role player.
Milwaukee technically has all 15 of its standard roster spots occupied, but the contract of guard Andre Jackson Jr. only becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the regular season, meaning Coffey in theory beat him out for that final spot in training camp.
Given that, again, Coffey might already be better than Kuzma — who unfortunately would prove a bit more expensive to waive than Jackson — and that he fulfills a more pressing roster need, this writer thinks he could have a leg up over the young guard.
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