Bucks Sign ABA MVP Bogoljub Markovic

Overview

• The signing was recorded on the NBA.com transaction log as a standard NBA contract and reporting attributes the deal to use the second-round pick exception for a four-year, $9.3 million agreement with a team option on the final year, though exact guarantees have not been publicly confirmed.
• Markovic was the Bucks' 2025 second-round pick who spent the last season as a draft-and-stash player for Mega Basket in Serbia, where he averaged 18.3 points, 9.1 rebounds and earned ABA League MVP honors.
• The second-round pick exception lets teams sign a drafted player outside the fixed first-round rookie scale, which teams commonly use to offer multi-year, minimum-equivalent deals while limiting guaranteed cost and salary-cap impact.
• The addition adds low-cost frontcourt depth to a much younger Milwaukee roster that has shifted after the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade and recent draft choices, including rookie-contract players Jaime Jaquez Jr., Ke’el Ware and Kasparas Jakucionis and first-round picks Brayden Burries and Nate Ament.
• What to watch next are the guarantee details that will clarify Milwaukee's financial risk and how Markovic adapts in training camp and preseason as he competes for rotation minutes on a development-focused team.