The Milwaukee Bucks have been making a mess of things lately, and their decision to decline MarJon Beauchamp’s team option for 2025-26 —first reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania —is yet another head-scratcher.
The Milwaukee Bucks are declining F MarJon Beauchamp’s fourth-year rookie option worth $4.8 million in 2025-26, sources tell ESPN. Beauchamp, the No. 24 pick in 2022 NBA Draft, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. pic.twitter.com/orf27PdSyE
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 31, 2024
Beauchamp, the 24th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, turned just 24 years old in October. Though Bucks head coach Doc Rivers is known to have more faith in veteran players, the Washington native was turning a corner last season before Milwaukee brought Rivers in as Adrian Griffin’s replacement.
Bucks’ MarJon Beauchamp Decision Brings Doc Rivers Question
In his first 34 games of 2023-24, Beauchamp was playing 15.7 minutes per game. Though he wasn’t lighting up the scoreboard, he shot 40.3 percent from three and played strong defense. The fact that Beauchamp quietly accepted a bit role when he has the potential to score at a higher rate also spoke to his team-first mentality.
Beauchamp scored 30.1 points per game at Yakima Valley Community College in 2020-21.
The following season, he averaged 15.1 points per game with the G League Ignite.
He’s never averaged under 12 points per game in any of his Summer League appearances. In the 2023-24 preseason, he averaged 11.0 points in 19.9 minutes per game while shooting 44.4 percent from three.
Suffice it to say, he’s better than the average end-of-bench player. If Rivers wasn’t so dogmatic about giving minutes to veterans, he might see that. Yet, instead of having and developing a young two-way talent off the bench, he would rather rely on someone like Pat Connaughton. With all due respect to Connaughton, who is a competitive wing, Beauchamp simply has more upside. He’s a more capable scorer and longer defender thanks to his 7-foot-1 wingspan.
The ‘D’ In ‘Doc’ Can’t Stand For ‘Development’
What’s particularly concerning about the Bucks’ Beauchamp decision isn’t even that they’re prepared to lose a rotation-caliber player for nothing.
The biggest issue is that Milwaukee is unlikely to develop any of their most recent draft picks under Rivers, including 2024 No. 23 pick AJ Johnson, based on his decisions since taking over as head coach. Like Beauchamp, former UConn guard Andre Jackson Jr. was removed from the rotation when Rivers replaced Griffin as head coach. Former Kentucky forward Chris Livingston spends most of the time riding the pine.
While Jackson and Livingston were both second-round picks in 2023, their draft position doesn’t give a scouting report. Jackson, a two-way playmaker, entered the NBA as a high-level defender. Livingston is another two-end player who could make a living in the NBA as a stretch-forward.
Interestingly, Livingston and Beauchamp are both repped by Klutch Sports. In fact, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul purposely angled Livingston towards Milwaukee, believing that he would develop properly with the Bucks. That was before Rivers was made the head coach though.
If Rivers and Co. had more draft capital at their disposal, perhaps their issues with player development would be easier to stomach. Yet, the Bucks have no picks in the vaunted 2025 NBA Draft. They don’t control any of their first-round picks until the 2031 NBA Draft. They don’t even have any second-round picks until the 2031 NBA Draft.
