Milwaukee Bucks officially release backup point guard

The Milwaukee Bucks made an official announcement regarding backup guard Vasilije Micic. On July 7, the pair agreed to a contract buyout.

Micic was brought from the Hornets to the Bucks as part of the trade that sent Pat Connaughton and two second-round picks to Charlotte. Now, he’ll be a free agent.

In the aftermath of the buyout, Micic has surveyed his options overseas rather than continue to pursue an NBA career. Micic previously played in the EuroLeague from 2014-23, averaging 13.8 points, 2.4 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game before venturing into NBA.

In the NBA, after initially landing with the Oklahoma City Thunder — and not being part of the rotation — Micic landed with the Charlotte Hornets, where over the next season and a half he averaged 9.0 points and 4.7 assists per game in 66 appearances (37 starts). 

Per The Athletic’s Eric Nehm, the decision was made in connection to the team waiving Damian Lillard in an effort to reduce the Bucks’ cap hit for next season.

“As part of a buyout, Micić agreed to give back $6.1 million, which shrunk the Bucks' cap hit on his contract from $8.1 million to only $2 million,” Nehm said. “That move enables the Bucks to stretch the contracts of both Lillard and Micić and avoid crossing over the stretched money threshold laid out in the NBA's collective bargaining agreement. No team is allowed to have more than 15 percent of its salary cap taken up by stretched money, and those two moves would help the Bucks avoid that next season.”

The Bucks will now look to get busy on the market after the financial gymnastics they’ve done as they try to build a contender while Giannis Antetokounmpo is still in town.