Kofi Inkoom
The Milwaukee Bucks have reached an agreement to bring back free agent center Marques Bolden, who had been waived by the organization before the 2022-23 season, by offering him a training camp contract, according to a report by Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
The Bucks are signing Marques Bolden to a training camp deal, per a league source.
Bolden, 25, also signed a training camp deal with the Bucks last offseason. He was eventually waived before the start of the 2022-23 season.
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) September 5, 2023
Bolden, aged 25, had a brief stint playing in seven NBA games for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020 and 2021 but has primarily played in the G League, with his most recent two seasons spent with the Salt Lake City Stars.
Despite serving as a regular starter for the Utah G League team during the 2021/22 season, where he averaged 11.7 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in 21 regular-season games, playing around 30 minutes per game, the former Duke player had limited participation with just six appearances for the Stars last season due to a shoulder injury.
With the Bucks already having 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, it’s improbable that Bolden will secure a spot on their regular season roster. If his contract includes Exhibit 10 provisions, it could potentially be converted to a two-way deal before the regular season starts, but Milwaukee currently doesn’t have an available two-way slot.
Typically, players signed under Exhibit 10 contracts often end up being released and then joining their team’s G League affiliate. They can earn a bonus of up to $75,000 if they spend at least 60 days with the G League club.
However, assuming that the Salt Lake City Stars still maintain Marques Bolden’s returning rights, which seems to be the case, the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G League affiliate, would need to acquire those rights through a trade for Bolden to receive the bonus from the Bucks.
Currently, the Milwaukee Bucks have 20 players on their offseason roster, leaving one open spot, so they wouldn’t need to cut a player to accommodate Bolden.