Nic Antaya/Getty ImagesJevon Carter has agreed to a three-year, $20 million deal with the Chicago Bulls, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespnFree agent guard Jevon Carter has agreed on a three-year, $20 million deal with the Chicago Bulls, his agents Mark Bartelstein and Reggie Brown of <a href="https://twitter.com/PrioritySports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PrioritySports</a> tell ESPN. Carter leaves the Bucks to bring Bulls his perimeter toughness. <a href="https://t.co/AjqjxN3rKO">pic.twitter.com/AjqjxN3rKO</a>
The veteran point guard overtook George Hill in the Milwaukee Bucks' depth chart midway through the 2022-23 season, and his status as backup behind Jrue Holiday was solidified with his trade to the Indiana Pacers in February.
The timing couldn't have been much better for the 27-year-old, who had the opportunity to opt out of the second year of his two-year, $4.3 million contract. He certainly played his way into a pay raise, so opting out was an easy call.
In 81 games, Carter averaged 8.0 points and 2.4 assists and shot 42.1 percent from three-point territory. His best performance came in a 136-132 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in November, when he finished with 36 points and 12 assists.
The 6'1" playmaker's impact significantly lessened in the playoffs, though. He averaged just 1.3 points in the first round against the Miami Heat and didn't get onto the floor for the decisive Game 5.
Still, The Athletic's John Hollinger ranked him as the seventh-best point guard in this year's free-agent class:
"Carter excels at ball pressure and can reliably knock down open 3s (39.7 percent career) but struggles to score inside the arc and isn't a notably good distributor or creator. Because of that, Carter basically operates as a 3-and-D player even though he's nominally a point guard and needs to play with other shot creators to maximize his impact."Coming off their shocking postseason exit, this was a massive summer for the Bucks.
Milwaukee already fired Mike Budenholzer and hired Adrian Griffin as head coach. The next objective on the list was determining whether to double down on the current supporting cast around Giannis Antetokounmpo or move in a slightly new direction.
Defensive Player of the Year finalist Brook Lopez is an unrestricted free agents, and the same will apply to Holiday in 2024 if he declines his player option. Khris Middleton has reportedly re-signed with the team on a three-year, $102 million deal, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
With a collective bargaining agreement that's more punitive toward high-spending teams coming down the pike, The Athletic's Eric Nehm wrote how "every single dollar is going to matter this offseason" and that it "will be the toughest test of (Jon) Horst's career as Bucks general manager."
The front office had to consider Carter's future within that context.
If Horst hoped to bring the West Virginia product back to Milwaukee, he had to set a clear limit to what the team was prepared to offer. Maybe he had already resolved to evaluate other options at point guard, a replacement who's perhaps more effective in the postseason.
Either way, the Bucks will need to fortify their backcourt following Carter's departure.
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