The Grizzlies agreed to deal guard Grayson Allen to the Bucks for guard Sam Merrill and two future second-round picks, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.
Allen, who is entering his fourth NBA season, had a breakout year for Memphis in which he started 38 of 50 games and averaged 10.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.2 APG. The former Duke star has knocked down 38.1% of his three-point attempts during his three-year career, and he’ll give the Bucks another perimeter option.
Milwaukee will absorb Allen’s contract using a $4,886,515 traded player exception generated by a deal this past winter that sent guard D.J. Augustin to the Rockets, according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer (Twitter link).
Allen has an expiring $4.1M contract and is eligible for a rookie scale extension. Merrill has a 500K guarantee on his contract, and his $1.5M deal will become fully guaranteed if he’s on Memphis’ roster through Sunday, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. It’s uncertain whether Memphis plans to keep Merrill, a 2020 second-pick who appeared in 30 regular-season games with the Bucks.
Milwaukee’s projected luxury tax bill will jump via this acquisition. Its luxury tax penalty will increase from $36M to $44M, Marks notes in a separate tweet. Milwaukee is right at $200M in salary and luxury tax, Marks adds.
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