With the offseason fast approaching, Brew Hoop is forecasting the market for each of Milwaukee’s upcoming free agents. So far, we’ve covered Brook Lopez, Taurean Prince, Kevin Porter Jr., Bobby Portis, Ryan Rollins, and Gary Trent Jr. Today, I’ll round out the series by talking about Jericho Sims.
Jericho Sims, 6’10” center, 26 years old
Sims was one of multiple 2025 trade deadline acquisitions for the Bucks, and he was probably the least anticipated. In 3.5 years with the Knicks, the team that drafted him, the young big man averaged 2.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks in 13.4 minutes per game. Many New York fans considered him a bad player. However, his age, athleticism, and defensive prowess were intriguing for the Milwaukee faithful, who had been starved of seeing such traits on the roster. There was hope that Sims could make an impact as a backup, and he rewarded the believers.
In 14 games with the Bucks, Sims averaged 2.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in 15.0 minutes. He took 1.8 field goals a night and converted on 68.0% of them. Those numbers are relatively paltry, but don’t get it twisted—he was a positive contributor. A thumb injury in March cut his regular season short, but he earned a rotation spot in the playoffs, playing 11.6 minutes per game while appearing in all five first-round contests. His ability to move his feet and execute multiple schemes defensively felt like a breath of fresh air after watching exclusively Brook Lopez-anchored drop coverage for six years. Sims is also able to soar to catch lobs and block shots in a way that very few Giannis-era Bucks have been capable of. With the big fella on the court, the Bucks allowed 2.2 fewer points defensively (71st percentile) and reduced the offensive rebounding rate of their opponents by 3.9% (95th percentile) according to Cleaning the Glass. Sims has his warts, namely his ball skills and decision-making, but he provides real value.
Role
As discussed, Sims played 15 minutes a night for the Bucks this past regular season and 12 in the postseason. That’s about what his role should look like going forward. His defense and athleticism are too necessary for Milwaukee to leave him out of the rotation, but his offensive limitations put a serious cap on how much he can play. Basically, he’s the stereotypical energy backup center.
Things get murky, though, when looking at Milwaukee’s center situation. Brook Lopez may be on his way out, Bobby Portis isn’t really a starting-caliber player, and Giannis doesn’t want to play the five full-time. If Sims returns, he may be slated to take on some serious responsibility in the frontcourt. Jericho Sims: NBA starter feels unlikely, but he could see 20–25 MPG early on in the 2025-26 season.
If Sims signs with someone other than the Bucks, he’d probably play the 10–15 MPG role he’s best suited for, unless he goes to a weaker team like Brooklyn, who has more playing time to hand out. Drew Timme played 28.2 MPG for them last year, and Sims is a substantially better player than he is.
Potential Suitors
Sims is the type of plug-and-play big that could play spot minutes anywhere. There should be several teams in the market for a new backup center this summer, including:
Celtics: Luke Kornet and Al Horford are both unrestricted free agents.
Kings: Sacramento doesn’t have any reliable rim protection.
Lakers: It’s been well-documented how badly the Lakers need center help. Jaxson Hayes, Alex Len, and Christian Koloko are free agents. Luka Doncic could make Sims look quite good.
Nets: Day’Ron Sharpe is a restricted free agent, Nic Claxton may be on the move, and the team has the cap space to overpay for Sims if they so please.
Nuggets: The Nuggets have been searching for a backup center for what seems like forever. DeAndre Jordan is an unrestricted free agent. They do have DaRon Holmes coming back from injury, but he hasn’t played an NBA game yet, so it remains to be seen how much he can be relied upon next year.
The Bucks will be able to pay Sims whatever they want (we’ll get to that in a minute), but it would be surprising to see him command any more than five or so million, making him an affordable target for most franchises. All of the teams above could use the taxpayer portion of their midlevel exception (up to $5.7m) on Sims and stay beneath the second apron—where using any part of the TPMLE hard-caps teams—except for Boston, who is so far over the second apron that they couldn’t offer Sims more than the minimum.
Potential Contract
Because Sims hasn’t changed teams via free agency in over three years, the Bucks have Bird rights on him this summer. That means they can offer him any contract up to his max without worrying about the salary cap, the aprons, or any exceptions. Therefore, unless a team with major cap space (Brooklyn or Detroit) wants to offer Sims a big bag, he should be back in the Cream City.
As mentioned, Sims will probably end up making somewhere around $5m. Anything more than a minimum may seem like an overpay relative to his numbers, but he’s more valuable than the average reserve center available on the market. After all, he’s 26 years old and just gave the Bucks good minutes in the playoffs. However, he’s not productive or young enough to deserve closer to $10m. Milwaukee would be better off finding a cheaper backup in free agency or the draft if that’s what he wants. For what it’s worth, 69% of you Brew Hoop readers believe the Bucks should resign Sims at any cost.
How much would you pay Jericho Sims to keep him with the Bucks? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!