Muhammad excited for opportunity

Shabazz Muhammad was with the Minnesota Timberwolves in Portland when he learned his long-awaited buyout agreement was about to become a reality. He immediately made plans to head to Milwaukee, where he officially signed with the Bucks on Sunday after clearing waivers.

Arriving directly from Portland, Muhammad didn’t bring much with him.

What he does have in Milwaukee, though, is an opportunity. After languishing on the bench in Minnesota most of this season, he was cleared for action Sunday, although he did not play.

“Obviously, I think I’ll probably get some minutes off the bench — that’s why I came here, to help out,” Muhammad said before Sunday’s game. “Milwaukee’s a really good team. I think they’re in the seventh or eighth spot right now and it’s pretty close in the East, so definitely trying to give us that scoring punch off the bench, also help us with rebounding and stuff like that and a little transition, speed us up. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”

A 6-foot-6, 223-pound wing, Muhammad, 25, averaged 9.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 17.4 minutes per game while shooting 47.0% in his five seasons with the Timberwolves. This year, Muhammad appeared in just 32 games and averaged 9.4 minutes.

After re-upping on a minimum contract last fall after his rookie contract expired, Muhammad began to realize a change of scenery would be in his best interest.

“It’s definitely exciting,” he said. “I’ve been with Minnesota my whole career and just the chance to play again and get some minutes and be with new guys is pretty cool.”