Bucks guard Vaughn isn’t worrying about contract
Rashad Vaughn entered this season knowing that the stakes had been raised, that it was time to make a jump.
That didn’t change last Monday when the 21-year-old Milwaukee Bucks guard learned the team was not going to pick up his fourth-year contract option for 2018-’19. Vaughn, in his two-plus seasons after being selected 17th in the 2015 draft, hadn’t made the kind of impact the Bucks were hoping for and the team decided the $2.9 million he would have been paid would be better left unencumbered heading into the off-season and free agency.
In that moment, doubt, uncertainty or any number of thoughts could have crept into Vaughn’s mind. He had essentially been rejected by the only NBA team he’s known, putting his future in doubt for the first time in his
professional career.
But that’s not where his mind went when he found out about his contract situation.
“None really, you know,” Vaughn said when asked about his thoughts at that moment. “Just move on. It’s a business; all you can do is move on. I wasn’t really trippin’.”
Regardless of his contract situation, this season was always expected to be a pivotal one for Vaughn. He had underwhelmed in his first two campaigns, first struggling to 29.3% shooting from three-point range while putting up the fourth-most attempts on the team as a rookie. Then, in his second year, he was passed by other players as the Bucks retooled their roster, leaving little playing time as his minutes dwindled from 1,001 over 70 games as a rookie to 458 in 41 games the next season.
Following the drop in playing time, Vaughn hoped he could use the offseason to grow as a player and prove he was worthy of a larger role on the team. He worked hard over the summer, performed well at summer league in Las Vegas and changed his eating habits in an effort to put himself in the best position possible heading into training camp.
So far, Vaughn has had mixed results. He’s played in five of Milwaukee’s nine games, averaging 10.3 minutes per appearance but receiving more than 10 minutes of playing time in just two of them. His best performance came on Oct. 29 against the Atlanta Hawks when he scored 12 points while making 4 of 6 three-pointers all in the first half.
The next day, Vaughn learned he’d be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. But that didn’t change anything for him as far as how he goes about his business.
“Just from a professional standpoint you’ve got to approach it the same,” Vaughn said. “At the end of the day your name gets called to get in and when you get in you’ve still got to produce regardless of circumstances. My approach is still the same regardless of what’s going on.”
Vaughn’s uncertain future also doesn’t affect the way coach Jason Kidd does his job or how he handles Vaughn going forward. Kidd said he hasn’t had any special conversations with Vaughn since his option was not picked up.
In his mind, there’s no need. “For him he’s got to work,” Kidd said. “He’s an employee of the Bucks, there’s really not a conversation. He has a job to do and that’s to get better as a basketball player. That’s as simple as it gets.
“He’s got to work and he’s got to be consistent on the floor. If he does that everything else takes care of itself.”
How everything ultimately takes care of itself is totally up in the air for Vaughn. For the first time since the draft, his future is unknown. He’s still young with plenty of potential, which means he could be playing anywhere at this time next season.
For Vaughn, one of the more upbeat and affable players in the Bucks locker room, that level of uncertainty isn’t scary. It’s a challenge — and an exciting one at that.
“Definitely exciting to be in this position,” he said. “I believe something good is going to happen and that’s not going to change.
“I’m not really down about it. It’s not a negative thing in my day; it’s not bringing me down. … It’s never going to affect how I feel or how I move. It could be a good thing. It could be a great thing. That’s how I’m looking at it.”