Justise Winslow is a name that longtime fans of the Miami Heat likely recognize. Miami drafted him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft out of Duke University, and he spent the first five seasons of his NBA career with the Heat.
He never quite lived up to his predraft expectations during his Heat tenure, but years after his stint in Miami, Winslow has landed with one of the team’s rivals in the Eastern Conference in the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks have reportedly inked him to an Exhibit 10 contract. The deal opens the door for a variety of options and could result in him landing with Milwaukee’s G League squad if the team waives him.
Winslow last played in the NBA for the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022-23 regular season. He averaged 6.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.0 steal per contest across 29 games played (11 starts) while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from deep.
The 28-year-old spent the 2023-24 season playing for the Toronto Raptors’ G League affiliate. He appeared in 20 regular-season games with the team and logged 18 starts.
While a player can’t see NBA action on an Exhibit 10 contract once the season starts — the deal would need to be converted — Winslow may get a shot in the coming days with a Bucks team that is hoping to make a deep run in the 2025 NBA Playoffs after the squad was bounced early on in the playoffs the last couple of seasons.
Milwaukee lost to the Indiana Pacers in the opening round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. The season prior, the Bucks got bounced in the first round by the Heat despite the fact that Milwaukee was the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The last time the Bucks — who employ one of the best players in the NBA in Giannis Antetokounmpo — won a playoff series was all the way back in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, when Milwaukee won its first-round series against the Chicago Bulls before falling to the Boston Celtics in the second round.