Four 2016 first-rounders made the USA Basketball select team: No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram, No. 5 pick Kris Dunn, No. 14 pick Denzel Valentine and No. 25 pick Brice Johnson.
And then there’s No. 36 pick Malcolm Brogdon, the only 2016 second-rounder on the roster.
Brogdon clearly made an impression on Jerry Colangelo at Virginia, and the least-heralded select-team rookie will have a chance to show why in the NBA next season.
Brogdon signed a three-year contract, according to Yahoo Sports, and his salaries will be: $925,000, $955,249 and $1,050,262. Just the first two seasons are guaranteed.
I’m surprised Brogdon settled for so little. Conditions are favorable for second-rounders, and the Bucks have a few million left in cap room. Would they have really let Brogdon sign the required tender -- a one-year contract, surely unguaranteed at the minimum, teams must offer a second-round pick to maintain his rights -- rather than pay more than he got?
Even if he signed the tender, it’s unlikely Milwaukee would’ve waived Brogdon so soon after drafting him. That’d make the team look bad.
And next summer, the Bucks would’ve had to offer Brogdon a fully guaranteed$1,105,249 qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. That’s higher than his 2017-18 salary. The alternative -- Milwaukee letting him becoming an unrestricted free agent -- wouldn’t have been so bad, either. He could have negotiated with all 30 teams rather than only the one that drafted him.
Alas, Brogdon gets more security with this deal -- not enough where I’d advise him to sign it, but everyone has their own appetite for risk. Now, he can be a little more patient about finding a role in Milwaukee’s wing rotation.
