Capsules of Bucks players on training camp deals

The Milwaukee Bucks announced their training camp roster the other day, which includes the familiar faces of returning players and a couple of rookies.

Three are also four players with Milwaukee on training-camp deals, hoping to make enough of an impression to earn a contract with the Bucks, with another team or maybe land with the G League Wisconsin Herd.

Here’s a capsule look at those four players:

Treveon Graham

A 6-foot-5 swingman, Graham has carved out a role as a backup over a four-year career after being undrafted out of VCU, where he was a three-year starter.

Graham ended up signing with Utah, which allocated him to the Idaho Stampede in the G League. In 46 games in 2015-16, he averaged 15.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.

After the season, Graham signed a two-year contract with Charlotte. He played 90 games for the Hornets, averaging 3.7 points over 13.8 minutes.

Graham signed with Brooklyn in 2018-19. He appeared in 35 games – with 21 starts – for the Nets, recording 5.3 points per game.

In the offseason, he was dealt to Golden State as part of the Kevin Durant trade, then a day later sent to Minnesota.

Graham played in 33 games, with 20 starts, for the Timberwolves, averaging 5.2 points per game, before he was involved in another swap, this time sent to Atlanta in mid-January.

Graham averaged just 12.1 minutes and 3.3 points with the Hawks – his lowest amounts since his rookie season.

EJ Montgomery

The 6-10, 228-pound Montgomery decided to turn pro after his freshman year at Kentucky, where he played just 15.1 minutes per game and averaged 3.8 points and 4.1 rebounds.

Montgomery decided to return to the Wildcats and as a sophomore upped his numbers to 24.1 minutes, 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds while shooting 51.8% from the field.

Again, Montgomery submitted his name for the NBA draft. This time he didn’t go back to Kentucky.

The Bucks signed him Nov. 30.

“At 6-10 with perimeter skills, athleticism and an ability to block shots, someone is going to get a big-time prospect with EJ,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said after Montgomery declared for the draft. “His skill set is where the game is going. EJ has always had those tools, but what I’m so proud of is how he progressed, not only through his two seasons here but especially the last month of the season.”

Justin Patton

The 7-foot center left Creighton after one season in which he was named Big East Freshman of the Year after averaging 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds and shooting 67.6% from the field.

Patton was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2017 draft by Chicago, but he was sent to Minnesota as part of the Wolves acquiring Jimmy Butler.

A foot injury that summer hurt his progress as a professional and, upon recovering, he spent most of the season with Iowa of the G League, where he averaged 12.7 points and 5.4 rebounds. He made his NBA debut April 1 – it was also his only game played with Minnesota.

Patton was included in a trade with Butler, the pair heading to Philadelphia. He appeared in three games for the 76ers and 11 with their G League affiliate in Delaware before being waived.

Patton was acquired by Oklahoma City and he played in five games with the Thunder and x with the G League’s Oklahoma City Blue.

The Thunder traded him to Dallas in late January with the Mavericks waiving him the next day.

The Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G League team, claimed Patton off waivers and he played in seven games, averaging 12.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.4 blocks.

His path to Milwaukee took a couple of more twists – Patton was signed by Detroit in June and traded to the Los Angeles Clippers after the draft. A week later, Los Angeles waived him and Milwaukee signed him at the end of November.

In all, the former No. 16 overall pick has played 49 minutes in the NBA.

Nik Stauskas

The player also known as Sauce Castillo spent last season playing in Spain, where he averaged 8.2 points per game.

The 6-6 guard out of Michigan, who was the Big Ten Player of the Year as a sophomore, was the No. 8 overall pick in 2014.

However, in his five NBA seasons he’s never averaged more than 9.5 points per game, which he did with Philadelphia in 2016-17.

Stauskas has been well-traveled as a pro, and we don’t just mean playing overseas. He was drafted by Sacramento, where he played his rookie year. Dealt to Philadelphia, he stayed with the 76ers for 2 1/2 seasons, traded to Brooklyn in December 2017. He signed with Portland as a free agent in July 2018 but his stay there was short, as the Blazers dealt him to Cleveland on Feb. 4. His time with the Cavaliers was even shorter. Three days after acquiring him, Cleveland sent him to Houston in a three-team trade … and the Rockets then flipped him to Indiana … which waived him one day later.

After all that. Stauskas re-emerged with Cleveland one week after being traded to the Cavs.

Stauskas has played 335 NBA games and holds career averages of 6.8 points and 19.9 minutes while shooting 35.3% from 3.