Bucks Waive Guard, Sign Former First Round Pick Ahead of Season

Milwaukee is making moves with the start of the regular season in sight.

Nov 3, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Logo for the NBA In-Season Tournament for game between the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks are making moves with the start of the 2024-25 regular season in sight.

Per the league's transactions log, Milwaukee has cut guard James Akinjo. Akinjo had been inked to an Exhibit 10 training camp deal since August. He previously had suited up for the Bucks' G League affiliate club, the Wisconsin Herd, as well as the Sacramento Kings' NBAGL squad, the Stockton Kings, during the 2023-24 NBA season.

Should he link up with the Herd again and stick around for at least 60 days, the 6-foot-1 guard out of Baylor will become eligible for a bonus worth up to $77,500.

An All-Big 12 First Teamer and All-American Third Teamer while at Baylor, Akinjo nevertheless went undrafted in 2022. He linked up with the Atlanta Hawks for his inaugural Summer League run, then joined the training camp roster of the Westchester Knicks, the NBAGL affiliate of the New York Knicks. His G League rights were traded to the Stockton Kings in September 2023, before they were flipped again to the Herd in February 2024.

Across 38 regular season G League bouts (eight starts) with the Westchester Knicks, Stockton Kings and most recently the Herd, Akinjo averaged 11.9 points on .451/.412/.692 shooting splits, 5.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals a game. In his 14 games with Wisconsin, the 23-year-old point guard averaged 9.7 points on .515/.571/.600 shooting splits, 3.9 assists, and 1.1 steals a night.

The Bucks have since pivoted, signing free agent power forward/center Henry Ellenson to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 training camp agreement, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. The 6-foot-10 former Marquette big man was selected with the No. 18 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.

Ellenson didn't make much of an impression on the Pistons, and was eventually cut halfway through the 2018-19 season. He then inked a 10-day deal with the New York Knicks, impressing the club enough to earn a standard deal that March. He inked a two-way deal with the Brooklyn Nets for the 2019-20 season, but was eventually cut. Ellenson saw his draft rights flipped by Brooklyn's G League team, the Long Island Nets, to the Toronto Raptors' NBAGL affiliate, the Raptors 905. He eventually signed a 10-day deal with Toronto later that season. He has since spent stints abroad with a pair of Spanish squads, Monbus Obradoiro and Club Joventut Badalona, both of the Liga ACB.

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