Six battling for final roster spot
The Milwaukee Bucks may have made the conscious decision to keep their core together with 12 players from last season returning on guaranteed contracts, but there's still some roster intrigue as the team opened training camp Tuesday at its new downtown Sports Science Center.
Fourteen of the roster spots are accounted for by players on guaranteed deals. The last slot, though, is up for grabs. Over the next three weeks, six players — Joel Anthony, Gerald Green, Kendall Marshall, Gary Payton II, Brandon Rush and James Young — will compete to earn a place on the team.
Five of those players have multiple years of NBA experience, with Anthony and Green each with 10 years in the league, Rush with nine, Marshall with four and Young with three. Pay-
ton, a rookie last season, may not be as long in the tooth, but he is the incumbent, so to speak, considering he signed with the Bucks late last season and has been with the team all summer.
The veteran feel to this group of roster hopefuls is no accident.
"We had a plan, we had a strategy going into free agency understanding that the market was really tight," general manager Jon Horst said. "We remained patient throughout it and kept a spot open very strategically knowing that we had a need and try to find the best player we can with the most flexibility possible.
"We're going to have the opportunity to have one of those players contribute to the Milwaukee Bucks roster on kind of a minimal contract, which would be a great opportunity for us."
The nature of their presence at training camp isn't lost on these six players. They knew what they were signing up for and where they stand.
As clear as that position was, there was still some awkwardness on media day when all six were brought in front of the media at the same time, sitting shoulder to shoulder to someone who was battling for the same job.
"Competition is everything, that's something I've learned about this business," said Green, who played with Bucks coach Jason Kidd and current teammate Jason Terry in Dallas. "If you're not willing to compete for anything you won't hold that trophy up at the end of the day. It's just a testimony to all of us that are up here that we're willing to compete. I'm thankful to be here and to fight for a position."
The Bucks could go in multiple directions with the players at their disposal. Marshall, who played for the Bucks in 2014-'15, or Payton would provide point guard depth. Both do different things well, with Marshall known as a fantastic passer and facilitator and Payton receiving praise from Kidd for his effort on the defensive end.
Green, Rush and Young are all versatile wings who can switch on defense and fit well into the Bucks' flexible, aggressive scheme. Green and Rush are accomplished shooters who have played for successful teams, while Young, the 17th overall pick in 2014, struggled to gain traction during his first three years in Boston.
Anthony, a 6-foot-9 forward-center, is the lone frontcourt player among the invitees. While that isn't a position of need, Anthony has made a career out of surprising people. Undrafted out of UNLV in 2007, Anthony made the Miami Heat roster that fall and has not missed a season since, sticking with the Heat for seven seasons before making stops in Boston, Detroit and San Antonio.
The experience of Green, Rush and Anthony, who all have been on multiple teams that have made deep runs in the playoffs, is something they each believe could help them considering the Bucks have such a young roster.
"I know last year they were really good, really young," Rush said when asked what drew him toward Milwaukee. "They could have made it really far in the playoffs but they were a good team. It attracted me because of the young talent they have and I can come in and try to help the guys out being that I already won a championship with the Warriors."
It's possible the Bucks could keep three of the six players under their control. With both of their two-way contracts open, the Bucks could add Young and Payton — each of whom fit the criteria of have three years or fewer of NBA experience — in those two-way spots. That would allow them to spend most of their time in the G League with the Wisconsin Herd while easily moving up to the Bucks if needed.
That's a scenario that has not yet been discussed with Payton or Young, who are focused on making the NBA roster. For Payton, that means defending the spot that's been his this summer.
"All these guys know what it takes to make a team," Payton said. "For me, it's just to do what I do best, lock down and play defense and do what I can and just play and compete."