UPDATED: Milwaukee Bucks sign and waive Ibou Badji

The big man spent time in Portland last season

Per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to terms with Ibou Badji:

It remains to be seen what type of contract it will be, but all signs point to it shaking out as a non-guaranteed Exhibition 10 pact. In that scenario, it wouldn’t count against the cap and leaves the potential for it to be converted to a two-way contract. It also positions the player to get a bonus up to $77.5K should he be waived by his NBA team and spends a minimum of 60 days with the team’s G League affiliate. This also may indicate that Philip Alston may not be coming after all, as the team has never announced anything official about his reported signing last month.

Badji has a history with the Bucks, as the team previously signed him in 2022 then was waived before the 2022-23 campaign. He then joined the Wisconsin Herd before heading to Portland on a two-way deal. He eventually surfaced at the NBA level with the Trail Blazers in 2023 and appeared in 22 games last year. During that time, he averaged 1.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks.

The Bucks and Herd do still hold his rights, so it seems that he’ll return to Oshkosh to begin the year. Looking ahead, it’s likely that he won’t be a part of the Bucks’ plans this year, but could make a splash of sorts in the future. Milwaukee’s off-season roster now sits at 21 players.

Last, here are some highlights he had during his time in Portland:

And dating back to his stint with the Herd:

We’ll keep this piece updated should anything else be announced.

UPDATE: As many teams do every year around this time, and a few other teams have begun doing in the last several days, the Bucks did the ol’ sign-and-waive with Badji, per Keith Smith of Spotrac:

The Bucks did this with some players last October, notably Glenn Robinson III. Hoops Rumors confirms it was an Exhibit 10 deal for Badji, so he can report to the Herd in Oshkosh and collect that $77.5K bonus if he sticks around. This means the roster is still officially at 20 players and there’s a slot open. So although Alston’s Exhibit 10 was only reported and never announced by the Bucks, he still could be filling that final roster spot come training camp in just over two weeks, should the team make his deal official.