Milwaukee Bucks guard Pat Connaughton has found his way back on an NBA roster.
And in an interesting turn of events, it’s with the team that had just waived him less than a week ago.
Connaughton is returning to the Charlotte Hornets, NBA’s hottest team, to continue his 11th NBA season. The Hornets had waived him Feb. 4, two days before the trade deadline.
As a corresponding move Feb. 9, the Hornets released Malaki Branham, a player they had just received in a three-team trade with Washington and Dallas on Feb. 5, which also included former Bucks star Khris Middleton going from the Wizards to the Mavericks.
Connaughton, who spent seven years with the Bucks, from 2018 to 2025, is in his first season with the Hornets. He’s averaging a career-low 7.0 minutes per game and 2.9 points off the bench in 22 games.
During his run with the Bucks, he played in 440 games, with 66 starts and averaged 6.8 points per game on 44.1% shooting, including 35.5% on three pointers.
Connaughton had a career-high 9.9 points per game during the 2021-22 season with the Bucks. He was also a key member off the bench during the team’s NBA championship season in 2021 and has been instrumental in the community through his real estate company and foundation.
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Connaughton rejoins a Hornets team that enters play Feb. 9 as winners of nine straight games, tied for the second-longest winning streak in franchise history and its longest since April 1999.
In the process, the Hornets (25-28) passed the Bucks (21-29) in the standings and moved into the Eastern Conference playoff play-in picture as the 10th seed. Milwaukee is in 12th place.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pat Connaughton re-signs with Hornets a few days after being waived
Reporting by Christopher Kuhagen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
