Bucks sign two to Exhibit 10 contracts, roster now likely full

James Akinjo and Liam Robbins will join the team for training camp and preseason

Yesterday afternoon the Bucks made two minor roster moves that seemingly took their roster to its offseason limit of 21 men with the signings of former Baylor point guard James Akinjo and Vanderbilt seven-footer Liam Robbins. Courtesy of The Athletic’s Eric Nehm:

That’s the press release from the team above. Akinjo finished his collegiate career with a year at Baylor after he transferred twice from Georgetown and Arizona. He was a Third-Team All-American in Waco, teaming with current Spur Jeremy Sochan to lead the Bears to a Big 12 regular season title. He spent time with the Wisconsin Herd last year in Oshkosh after run with the Knicks’ and Kings’ G League affiliates (who also had him on Exhibit 10s the last two years), plus the Hawks in Summer League since going undrafted in 2022. He’s 23 now and still looking for his first regular-season NBA action.

Robbins had quite the senior season with the Commodores in 2022–23, shooting 36.5% from deep (52 attempts) in addition to the strong scoring and block numbers. He too transferred thrice from Drake to Minnesota to Vanderbilt, where he spent two years under former NBA All-Star, 2009–10 Buck, and legendary national anthem singer Jerry Stackhouse. New Orleans had him on an Exhibit 10 last year and was a two-way candidate, but a stress reaction in his fibula curtailed those chances. He was on the roster of the Pelicans’ affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama last year but didn’t appear in a game. Now 25, he’ll hope to be healthy enough to see the court for the first time as a professional.

Milwaukee reportedly signed Summer League forward Philip Alston to an Exhibit 10 earlier this month, though this hasn’t been made official. If and when it’s announced, the Bucks’ expanded offseason roster will be full, but they don’t need to cut it down until opening night on October 23rd. Teams can carry up to 21 guys through the entirety of the offseason and into preseason, where any can appear in games. But based on how little last year’s Exhibit 10s Jazian Gortman and Drew Timme played, don’t expect to see much of this year’s trio in the Bucks’ four preseason games earlier in October.

As a reminder, Exhibit 10 deals are fully non-guaranteed. The Bucks can waive any of these signees before the regular season starts and their roster is capped at fifteen standard contracts and three two-way contracts. Since all of those eighteen spots are full, there seems little to no chance any of Akinjo, Robbins, or Alston make the team out of camp. However, the Bucks retain their G League rights by signing them to these current deals, and if they spend at least 60 days in Oshkosh, they get a $77.5k bonus.