Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s extension deadline: what the Bucks would be paying for, and why they might wait

The Bucks have until 6 p.m. ET on Monday, October 19 to decide what Jaime Jaquez Jr. is worth to them, and they have to make that call after watching him in a Milwaukee uniform for only one preseason. If no deal is signed by then, the forward plays out the final year of his rookie-scale contract and heads into restricted free agency next summer.

Jaquez was part of Milwaukee’s return in July’s Giannis Antetokounmpo blockbuster with Miami, alongside Tyler Herro and Kel’el Ware. On the site’s Bucks salary page, he is listed at $4.25 million through June 2027. Any extension would start in 2027-28, so this season’s payroll stays the same whatever happens Monday.

The numbers on the table

No terms from the talks have been reported. The public markers come from analysts and from one recent deal for a former teammate:

Marks set his number close to Jaquez’s free-agent cap hold. In practice, that means Milwaukee would pay about what it would have to reserve for him next summer anyway. A first-year salary of $17.8 million would be a bit more than four times his current listed salary.

Why the Bucks might wait

The argument for paying him comes from last season. Marks pointed out that only three other reserves since 1982-83 have matched his line of 15-plus points, five-plus rebounds and four-plus assists per game, and that he shot a career-high 50.7 percent. The argument for waiting is that nobody yet knows his role under new coach Taylor Jenkins. Behind the Bucks Pass framed the choice as paying a starting wing more than $20 million a year or keeping a high-end reserve. His first two preseason games, 6-of-19 shooting in total, did not settle that question.

The rest of the roster complicates it. Herro ($30.00 million), Kyle Kuzma ($20.49 million) and Caris LeVert ($14.46 million) are all listed through June 2027. Those three account for nearly $65 million of the $77.09 million in listed contracts that expire next summer. If Milwaukee extends Jaquez now, it commits money before deciding on Herro. If it waits, restricted free agency still lets it match any offer sheet, but another team would set the price.

Jaquez has not sounded worried. “My contract is the one that’s going into next year,” he said at media day. Deadline-day deals are common, though: Marks counted 17 of the last 34 rookie extensions signed on the final day.

What comes next

The window closes at 6 p.m. ET Monday. The Bucks open the regular season on Wednesday, October 21 at the Washington Wizards (Game Center), with or without a long-term answer on Jaquez.