{"id":95583,"date":"2024-09-13T12:22:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T16:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=95583"},"modified":"2024-09-13T12:32:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T16:32:22","slug":"milwaukee-bucks-sign-shot-blocking-specalist-ibou-badji","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/13\/milwaukee-bucks-sign-shot-blocking-specalist-ibou-badji\/","title":{"rendered":"Milwaukee Bucks Sign Shot-Blocking Specialist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/05\/milwaukee-bucks-sign-the-best-2024-offseason-deal-in-gary-trent-jr\/\" target=\"_self\">Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> have reportedly signed big man <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/badjiib01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-13_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ibou Badji<\/a>, per HoopsHype&#8217;s Michael Scotto.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a deal with Ibou Badji, league sources told <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hoopshype?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@hoopshype<\/a>. Badji appeared in 22 games for the Portland Trail Blazers last season. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/LZmr3HtgkR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/LZmr3HtgkR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeAScotto\/status\/1834618396526190634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 13, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Badji most recently spent part of last season with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/30\/trail-blazers-lottery-pick-scoot-henderson-being-set-up-for-struggles\/\" target=\"_self\">Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>. On the year, he averaged 1.5 points and 2.3 rebounds. Badji mostly played as a bench player given his two-way contract status. However, the 21-year-old did receive one start last season.<\/p>\n<p>In a January loss to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/07\/dallas-mavericks-are-re-signing-former-nba-champion-markieff-morris\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, Badji was the team&#8217;s starting center. Badji scored no points, but he recorded four rebounds and two blocks. The big man also fouled out after nearly 15 minutes of play.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, it is unknown what the details of Badji&#8217;s contract with Milwaukee are. The Bucks already have their three two-way contract spots filled, so it is safe to assume they signed Badji to a training camp contract.<\/p>\n<h2>Milwaukee Bucks Sign Shot-Blocking Specialist<\/h2>\n<h3>Ibou Badji Has Ties With the Milwaukee Bucks Organization<\/h3>\n<p>Badji initially began his career in the NBA after signing with the Bucks as an undrafted free agent in 2022. However, he never appeared in a game for the main roster, only playing for the Wisconsin Herd of the G League instead before signing a two-way deal with Portland. Badji returned and also played in six games for the Herd last season before signing a second two-way contract with the Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n<p>This time around, it seems highly unlikely that Badji will play any type of role in Milwaukee right away. However, there is a world where Badji can eventually crack the rotation. Currently, the Bucks only have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lopezbr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-13_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brook Lopez<\/a> as a reliable center option. Of course, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/portibo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-13_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bobby Portis<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-13_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a> have experience playing the position, but this is something to monitor as the season goes on.<\/p>\n<p>Milwaukee also has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pasecan01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-09-13_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anzejs Pasecniks<\/a> on a two-way contract, but he will likely have a small role with the team next season.<\/p>\n<h3>What Ibou Badji Could Bring to Milwaukee<\/h3>\n<p>Since this is technically Badji&#8217;s third stint with the organization, it is clear he has some fans in Milwaukee. And, ultimately, there is a lot to like about the Senegal native. Depending on where you look Badji is listed anywhere from 7&#8217;0&#8243; to 7&#8217;2&#8243;. Regardless of what his official height is, one thing is certain&#8211;he will almost always be the tallest player on the court. His size and defensive presence are valuable. Additionally, he is a legitimate shot-blocking threat, averaging 2.7 blocks across 23 games in the G League. He is far from a polished, completely NBA-ready player. However, Badji has shown glimpses of upside in his limited playing time.<\/p>\n<p>Joining the Bucks is a low-risk, high-reward move for both sides. While Badji may not see minutes on an NBA court this season, the potential is there. And for a team like Milwaukee, who is simply just not getting any younger, signing a player like Badji could pay dividends later on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly signed big man Ibou Badji, per HoopsHype&#8217;s Michael Scotto. The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to a deal with Ibou Badji, league sources told @hoopshype. Badji appeared in 22 games for the Portland Trail Blazers last season. pic.twitter.com\/LZmr3HtgkR \u2014 Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) September 13, 2024 Badji most recently spent part of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":66651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,15,62,3],"tags":[983,1255,233,306],"class_list":["post-95583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-bucks","category-nba","category-news","tag-anzejs-pasecniks","tag-bobby-portis","tag-brook-lopez","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}