The Milwaukee Bucks will sign former Utah Jazz player Marvin Williams off the buyout market. That will make it four former Jazzmen playing for the Bucks.
About two weeks ago, I wrote an article about how the Bucks were on pace to make history with three former Utah Jazz players. Make that four on Monday.
After watching the trade deadline come and leave, former Jazzman Marvin Williams found himself still stuck on a rebuilding Charlotte Hornets team.
The two sides agreed to a buyout on Williams’ expiring contract, and he plans to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks according to Adrian Wojnarowski.
Milwaukee is waiving Dragan Bender, clearing the way to sign F Marvin Williams as soon as Monday, league sources tell ESPN. Williams buyout is complete with Charlotte and will be waived as soon today.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2020
Williams, who is 33 years old, still has a lot left in the tank. He’s big enough to guard power forwards and is just two seasons removed from knocking down 41 percent of his triples.
In a lot of ways he is similar to Robert Covington, who was a highly sought commodity this deadline. He never lived up to his lofty draft slot (second overall in 2005), but has shown he brings balance to a team on and off the court.
Williams had his big breakthrough back in 2015-16, when Steve Clifford coached the Charlotte Hornets to a surprising 48-34 record in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets went on to make a seven game series with the Miami Heat, bringing back excitement to Queen City they missed for 14 years.
The front office decided to keep the band together, handing out hefty contracts to Williams, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, and Nicolas Batum. The latter two in particular never lived up to their contracts and the Hornets front office didn’t have the flexibility to give Kemba Walker the supporting cast he needed.
Walker left in free agency last summer, and the Hornets were leftover with these veterans on a roster that should really be in full rebuilding mode. Now that Williams is on the Bucks, he will be yet another familiar face in Brew City.
Kyle Kover (38), Wesley Matthews (33), George Hill (32) and Williams will all make a run at the NBA championship this June. None of these guys have ever won a championship in their careers, in fact no player on the Bucks roster has won a chip.
The Bucks haven’t brought home the Larry O’Brien trophy since 1971 when they had Kareem Abul-Jabbar. What a story it would be for smaller market teams to win their first title in decades in both the NFL (Kansas City Chiefs) and NBA (Bucks).