Beno Udrih picks up players option: will play for Milwaukee Bucks next season - NBA Update
John Hammond, Milwaukee Bucks GM announced on Wednesday that backup point guard Beno Udrih has picked up the player option on his contract and will play for Bucks in the 2012-2013 season.
The Slovenian had a player option worth of $7.8 million on his contract for next season, the last season of his 5 year contract that he signed with Sacramento Kings.
Ever since he was traded to Bucks as a part of a three-way deal (that also included Charlotte Bobcats) his stats and on-court time both took a nose dive.
In 2010-2011 season with Kings, Beno averaged 13.7 points and started 64 of 79 games. He played an average of 34.6 minutes per game. But in this season with Bucks, he only played an average of 18.3 minutes in 59 games coming off the bench.
After running a successful season (2010-11) and shooting an impressive 50% from the field, he could only average 5.9 points on 44% shooting in 2012. The reason was his inconsistent minutes on the court. He was allowed an average of 18.3 minutes per game and the lack of time took its toll on his performance as he could only average 3.8 assists per game in contrast to 4.9 last season.
The guard was greatly exasperated and it was initially projected that he will play for some other team. However his stats and age combined didn’t help him to find a better offer anywhere else.
Udrih can be off great support coming off the bench. He can be used as a 6th man and if given more time on the court he can add offensive depth to the team. The 8 year veteran can be used as a backup for starting point guard Brandon Jennings.
He has all the capability to share Jennings burden and the game against Portland Trail Blazers on April 7 was a testament of his mastery. He netted 21 points and dished out 6 assists in 27 minutes.
Udrih was drafted by San Antonio Spurs in 2004, in his rookie season he won the rookie of the month award and also played for the rookie team in the All Star weekend. In 2007 he was sent to Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for the second-round draft pick.
However he couldn’t play for a single game with Minnows as they immediately waived him off. In the same season he was roped in by Kings as a backup point guard. He quickly established himself as an essential constituent for Kings’ victory. However after spending 4 seasons with Sacramento he was sent to Milwaukee.
The 29-year-old added spark to the Bucks offense and after his addition Milwaukee offense was ranked 5th in the league for scoring.
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