Following the addition of a pair of youngsters, the Milwaukee Bucks became the fifth NBA team to complete its 2024 training camp roster this year. The Bucks announced last night that they signed James Akinjo and Liam Robbins to Exhibit 10 deals.
Akinjo appeared in two 2024 summer league for the Bucks, tallying four points on 2 of 2 shooting in 11 minutes while posting two assists and four turnovers. Meanwhile, Robbins missed the summer league due to injury.
Milwaukee Bucks Becomes 5th NBA Team To Fill 2024-25 Roster, In-Depth Look At Bucks Training Camp Roster
Akinjo is a 6-1 point guard who went undrafted out of Baylor in 2022, where he was selected to the All-Big 12 first-team and third-team all-American. He spent the 2022-23 season with the G-League’s Westchester Knicks.
Akinjo split time with Stockton and Wisconsin this past season, compiling 9.5 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals in 21.3 minutes. He produced one double-double and knocked down 1.5 threes with shooting splits of 43.9/41.7/70.4%.
Robbins is a 7-foot center who went undrafted out of Vanderbilt in 2023, where he was selected to the SEC First-Team and named the conference Defensive Player of the Year. He signed a training camp deal with New Orleans in 2023 but suffered a stress reaction in his fibula and was waived. The 25-year-old signed with the G-League Birmingham Squadron in January but was injured before appearing in a game.
The pair join Philip Alston on a training camp deal. Alston reportedly agreed to an Exhibit 10 contract at the beginning of the month. The 6-6 forward, who went undrafted out of Loyola Chicago in 2024, tallied 4.6 points and 2.3 rebounds with a shooting slash line of 50.0/25.0/75.0% in three Bucks summer league squad appearances.
If Alston officially signs the Exhibit 10 deal, Milwaukee’s training camp roster will be full at 21 players. The Bucks have 15 players’ standard contracts and 14 fully guaranteed deals, with salaries totaling $208.8 million and a cap hit of $194 million. Therefore, the Bucks are over the second apron by over $7 million.
Andre Jackson Jr. is the only player on a standard deal that is not fully guaranteed ($945,949). They also have three players on two-way deals. Anzejs Pasecniks, Ryan Rollins, and Stanley Umude are minor-league players, though Pasecniks and Umade have small guarantees.
Bucks Offseason
Milwaukee has spent freely over the last seven years, and the Bucks have gotten quite a bit of bang for their spending. The Bucks have paid over $189 million in taxes over the last seven years. But the Bucks also have the most wins during this span, with 364 victories and seven playoff appearances, including an NBA championship in 2021. They also won six Central Division crowns.
While Milwaukee has been good during the regular season, the Bucks have seen their season end in disappointment over the last three seasons. After getting eliminated in the Eastern Conference semis in 2022, the Bucks have won just three postseason contests over the past two seasons. The Bucks were eliminated in five games by eighth-seed Miami in 2023 and six contests by sixth-seed Indiana in 2024.
Milwaukee was a top-10 offensive team last year and had the eighth-best starting lineup. Their weaknesses were defense, offensive rebounding, and the bench. Backcourt depth was a particular weakness.
The Bucks, projected to pay nearly $75 million in luxury tax this year, have done a solid job addressing those issues. The Bucks signed veteran point guard Delon Wright while adding Gary Trent Jr. and defensive wing Taureen Prince. They also drafted youngsters AJ Johnson and Tyler Smith this year.
Projecting Bucks Depth Chart
Expect Milwaukkee to keep 15 players on its opening night roster. The Bucks do have a few things to figure out during training camp.
Starting Five: Damian Lillard, Pat Connaughton, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez.
Second Unit (In order): Bobby Portis, Gary Trent Jr., Taureen Prince, Delon Wright.
Fighting For No. 10 spot: Andre Jackson, AJ Green, Marjon Beauchamp.
No. 13-15: Chris Livingston, AJ Johnson, and Tyler Smith.
2-way contracts: Anzejs Pasecniks, Ryan Rollins, and Stanley Umude
Training Camp Deals: James Akinjo, Liam Robbins, Philip Alston
Two-Way Players
Pasecniks is a 7-1, 28-year-old center from Latvia who was a first-round pick of the Orlando Magic. He spent the last three seasons in Spain, playing for Zunder Palancia in 2023-24, after appearing in 28 total games over two campaigns for the Washington Wizards (2019-21).
Rollins is a 6-4 combo guard and a 2022 second-round draft pick who played in 13 combined games for Washington and Milwaukee. The 22-year-old had a sold NBA Summer League campaign with the Bucks, totaling 12.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 steals with shooting splits of 47.8/33.3/76.5%.
Umude is a 6-6 26-year-old guard who showed some promise with Detroit this past season, scoring in double-figures in seven of 24 games. Overall, he averaged 5.2 points and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 44.0/ 45.3/90.6%
Don’t expect the Bucks to make any changes with their two-way players. The lone exception is that Pasecniks is totally overmatched, or Robbins is overly impressive. Therefore, Akinjo, Robbins, and Alston should begin the season with the Wisconsin Herd of the G-League.
