The Milwaukee Bucks enter the 2026 free agency period with some financial options at their disposal because they reduced their payroll quite drastically last season.
The Bucks have the following options as they began negotiating with their own free agents at the conclusion of the NBA Finals on June 13 and can with players from other teams beginning at 5 p.m. CT on June 30.
Free agent contracts cannot be signed until July 6, however.
Milwaukee starts the offseason about $15 million below the luxury tax line, and they cannot exceed the tax line of about $200 million. The team must stay below that line for this season to avoid the very punitive “repeater tax” penalties instituted by the 2023 collective bargaining agreement.
The Bucks have access to:
Both exceptions can be split among multiple players, as long as the first-year salaries of all those players do not add up to more than the total value of the exception.
Both exceptions can be used to trade for players, if the total value of the 2026-27 salaries of traded and signed players using the exception doesn’t go over the total value above. In a trade, the BAE can be used only for a player who has at most two years left under contract starting with the 2026-27 season. The NTMLE can be used only to trade for a player who has at most four years left under contract, beginning in the 2026-27 season.
Who are the Milwaukee Bucks free agents?
Teams were allowed to negotiate with their own free agents after the conclusion of the NBA Finals.
Which Milwaukee Bucks players have options?
The Bucks currently have four players with player options and one player with a team option.
Other roster decisions
Pete Nance Jr.’s $2.49 million contract becomes fully guaranteed on July 4.
Jericho Sims picks up player option
Big man Jericho Sims plans to exercise his $2.8 million player option on June 25, per HoopsHype, a USA TODAY NETWORK property. Sims played in 67 games for the Bucks last season and averaged 5.5 rebounds and 5.0 points per game.
Gary Harris picks up player option
HoopsHype, a USA TODAY-Network property, confirmed on June 22 that guard Gary Harris picked up his 2026-27 player option of $3.8 million. It was an expected move by the veteran guard. Harris, who will be 32 years old in September, had been working out with Bucks guard Ryan Rollins and player development coach Donovan Ham in France in late June.
Harris appeared in 48 games for the Bucks last season, shooting 41.2% from behind the 3-point line.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Bucks face key roster decisions | Free-agency tracker
Reporting by Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Owczarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
