Bucks open to Jaime Jaquez Jr. extension before Oct. 19 — and the $17.8M number that matters

MILWAUKEE — Oct. 14, 2026 — The Bucks have until Monday, Oct. 19, at 5 p.m. Central to decide whether Jaime Jaquez Jr. is part of their long-term plan or a restricted free agent next summer. Jaquez arrived in the offseason trade that sent Giannis Antetokounmpo to Miami, and he has not played a regular-season game for Milwaukee yet. General manager Jon Horst has said the team is open to extension talks anyway.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jim Owczarski reported Horst’s stance and floated a range of $15 million to $18 million a year as a realistic landing spot. The number that anchors the conversation is $17.8 million, Jaquez’s cap hold on Milwaukee’s books next summer. Any starting salary well above that figure would eat into the cap flexibility the Bucks are trying to protect.

What he did to earn the call

Jaquez finished as Sixth Man of the Year runner-up last season with the Heat. ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted he became one of only four players since 1982-83 to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and four assists off the bench, while shooting a career-high 50.7% from the field. His assists nearly doubled, from 2.5 to 4.7 per game, a jump that makes him more than a bench scorer in a rebuilt Milwaukee rotation.

Marks’ proposed deal is four years and $78.8 million, starting at the $17.8 million cap-hold figure and ending with a player option. That structure would keep Jaquez’s first-year number level with what the Bucks would carry for him anyway, so signing now would not cost them space compared with waiting.

Why Milwaukee might wait

The other path is patience. Taylor Jenkins is in his first season as Bucks coach, and the team could choose to see how Jaquez fits his system before setting a price. Kyle Kuzma is on an expiring contract and Nate Ament is in his rookie season, so the forward rotation is still taking shape. Without a deal, Milwaukee would still hold matching rights in restricted free agency, though recent standoffs like Jalen Duren’s in Detroit show how messy that route can get.

For a team rebuilding around the return from the Antetokounmpo trade, locking in one of those pieces at a cap-neutral number is the clearest argument for getting it done this week.