Milwaukee Bucks, Richard Jefferson Share Mutual Interest in Potential Deal Once He Clears Waivers
Richard Jefferson's tenure in Cleveland finally came to an end on Saturday after the Cavaliers traded the veteran forward, second-year guard Kay Felder, a pair of future second round draft picks and cash considerations to the Atlanta Hawks for the draft rights to Greek forward Dimitrios Agravanis and Ukrainian guard Sergey Gladyr.
However, Jefferson's not going to suit up for the rebuilding Hawks. As expected, the team released him and ate his $2.5 million contract as soon as the deal became official.
Jefferson will become a free agent once he clears waivers, but it appears that he won't be on the market for long.
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According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin, the Milwaukee Bucks have expressed interest in signing Jefferson and the veteran forward seems to be interested in joining them as well.
"The Milwaukee Bucks have emerged as serious suitors in the pursuit of forward Richard Jefferson, league sources told ESPN.com. No agreement has been reached, but the Bucks and Jefferson, 37, have mutual interest in a possible deal once he clears waivers Monday, league sources said," Wojnarowski and McMenamin said in their report.
"Milwaukee is $2.5 million below the luxury tax threshold. Jefferson's minimum veterans's salary is $2.3 million — with a $1.5 million salary cap hit. If the Bucks claimed Jefferson off waivers, his salary would put the team $5,000 over the luxury tax," they added.
The Bucks already have an open roster spot after they waived Gerald Green on Saturday, so they don't have to clear any more space to sign him.
Jefferson is already past his prime, but he's still a productive contributor and his style of play should fit well with the Bucks.
Jefferson used to be a teammate of Bucks head coach Jason Kidd and he was a key member of the New Jersey Nets team that made two trips to the finals in 2002 and 2003.
