Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
Last updated: 9/30/2019
2025 Free Agents - Jericho Sims
Sims was drafted late in the 2nd round in 2021, going 58th overall. Considering his draft slot, he had a pretty encouraging rookie season, playing in over 500 minutes of non-garbage time across 33 games, according to Cleaning the Glass, and played even more than that in '22-'23 despite the Knicks adding a quality back-up center in Isaiah Hartenstein in 2022. However, he suffered from injuries in '23-'24 and didn't play as much. Those minutes continued to decline in '24-'25, and the Knicks traded Sims to Milwaukee, where he was not in the regular rotation. Sims is a rim-runner, and hardly shoots anything that's not a dunk or lay-up. He has hit 76% of his shots at the rim, which is a very good number. He's a lob threat in pick-and-roll, and can finish dunks off cuts or just hanging around in the dunker spot for dump-offs. He also attacks the offensive glass well for tip-ins and put-backs. Free throw shooting could become a problem for Sims, as he has only hit 53%, which is consistent with his final year at Texas. Poor free throw shooting is also not a great sign that he could ever expand his range at all. Sims has some really defensive potential due to his athleticism. Not only can he sky for some big blocks as a rim protector, he moves his feet pretty well on the perimeter. You wouldn't want him switching onto guards or wings often, but if he has to late in the shot he has a decent chance of holding steady. He has some nice discipline on verticality that should only improve with time and more NBA reps. Despite playing behind guys like Mitchell Robinson, Hartenstein, and Karl-Anthony Tows, Sims has been able to get a decent amount of playing time, even playing some power forward in two-big lineups. He has shown potential to be a high-level back-up, but his limited playoff minutes in 2024 were not great, as he seemed overwhelmed a bit, like a deer in headlights. The Bucks didn't trust him with any playoffs minutes in 2025. Sims is also slightly older, as he will be nearly 27 years old when the '25-'26 season starts.
Summary
Sims will be an unrestricted free agent with a $2.3 million cap hold and Full Bird rights, meaning the Bucks will have no restrictions on re-signing him. If a player has a smaller cap hold than his starting salary, his team can use cap space to sign-free agents before using Bird Rights to re-sign its own free agents. Since the Bucks will most likely be operating over the cap, they won't be able to take advantage of Sims's low cap hold. If Sims is brought back by the Bucks on a multi-year contract that is above the minimum, they could benefit from frontloading his contract, as it could give them additional flexibility in the future. However, doing so could potentially push them into the luxury tax (or higher into the tax, if already in it) depending on what happens with their other free agents. Other teams will have multiple ways to sign Sims as even teams without cap space could use the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, or possibly even the Taxpayer MLE or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. There's even a chance that he only gets minimum offers.
Cap Considerations
Nick Richards (3-1 years, $15 million, 2022) Jaxson Hayes (1+1 year minimum, 2023) Dwight Powell (2+1 years, $12 million, 2023)