Bucks Decline Fourth-Year Option on Former First Round Pick

The young Milwaukee player will become an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

Feb 8, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard MarJon Beauchamp (3) dunks as Minnesota Timberwolves forward Leonard Miller (33) and center Luka Garza (55) look on during the fourth quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks have, somewhat surprisingly, declined their $4.8 million fourth-year team option on swingman MarJon Beauchamp for the 2025-26 season, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN. This will make the former No. 24 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft an unrestricted free agent next summer, and essentially functions as a vote of no confidence in the young shooting guard.

As Charania notes, the 24-year-old has yet to find a guaranteed rotation spot in head coach Doc Rivers' lineups with the 1-3 Bucks. Across his first three seasons thus far, through 104 contests, the 6-foot-6 swingman has 4.7 points on .431/.353/.716 shooting splits, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.6 assists a night.

The NBA G League Ignite product has also spent some time back in the G League, suiting up for Milwaukee's NBAGL affiliate squad in Oshkosh, the Wisconsin Herd, for portions of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. In nine regular season contests for the Herd (eight starts), Beauchamp has averaged 21.1 points on .440/.300/.938 shooting splits, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals a night.

The way things are going for Beauchamp (and the 1-3 Bucks) this year, it seems likely he could be destined for even more time with the Herd during what seems likely to be his final year in Milwaukee. There's certainly a chance that, should he impress Bucks decisionmakers at some point this season, Milwaukee takes pains to re-sign him, but he'll now be able to test out the open market. Things have been bleak so far, however.

In his four bouts for the Bucks this season, he's averaging 1.8 points on .333/.250/1.000 shooting splits, and 0.3 steals a night in 2.3 mop-up minutes per. During Milwaukee's most recent game, a 119-108 loss to the Boston Celtics, second-year swingman Andre Jackson Jr. seems to have supplanted Beauchamp as the club's ninth man.

Beauchamp at least has the outline of a player that should be an ideal fit for Milwaukee: a 3-and-D wing capable of guarding multiple positions and making an open triple. But he's raw, and has clearly not shown enough to Rivers to earn any real run. The capped-out Bucks desperately need one of their young pieces to hit, but the team evidently doesn't think Beauchamp can get there.

But it's not over yet. Beauchamp has 78 more regular season games to make his case. Next up, Milwaukee will face off against the frisky Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.

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