As the Milwaukee Bucks navigate the offseason, Bobby Portis is a name to watch.
Rumors have suggested that Portis will opt out of his player option, something that was to be expected.
One of the better six men in the NBA, there's a scenario where Portis could be a starter for the Bucks next season. With the expectation of Brook Lopez leaving in free agency, Milwaukee has a glaring hole at the center position.
When Portis starts, he's nearly guaranteed to have at least 15 and 10, evident by his 13.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game a year ago off the bench.
Portis has value around the league, and that could cause some confusion for Milwaukee this offseason. When looking at his potential contract, however, The Athletic believes there are a few scenarios that could play out.
“Portis has a player option for $13,445,754 for the coming season, which he could opt out of to get a deal for the $14.1 million nontaxpayer MLE somewhere else. However, one other intriguing option would be for him to opt in to the final year and then sign a two-year extension off that with a 5 percent raise, taking the total package to $43 million for the three years and nearly matching what’s available on an MLE deal.
“The reason for the Bucks to play ball on this is that Portis’ contract would immediately be tradeable if the extension didn’t boost his annual salary by more than 5 percent and didn’t go beyond three years,” they wrote.
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It wouldn't be surprising to see Portis receive even more than that, as he's likely better than a $14.1 million player.
He has some defensive issues, but he's a legit scoring threat off the bench and is an above-average rebounder.