Milwaukee Bucks extend qualifying offer to Jordan Nwora

Eric Nehm of the Athletic reported on Twitter Wednesday evening that the Milwaukee Bucks have extended a qualifying offer to Jordan Nwora.

Jordan Nwora has been with the Bucks since 2020 when Milwaukee selected him 45th overall out of Louisville. Nwora has served primarily as a depth piece though has started on occasion during games where some, most or all of the regular starters are sitting out. Nwora has started 15 games total for the Bucks, two his rookie year and 13 last year. While Nwora has shown the capability to be a solid scorer, his scoring outbursts are usually more correlated with volume than efficiency.

As a reserve Nwora has averaged 7.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists over two seasons with the Bucks. Drafted for his size and offensive abilities, Jordan Nwora has managed just 41.5 percent on field goals, however has shot a respectable 37 percent on his 3-point attempts and a solid 80.9 percent on free throws. The concerning aspect of Nwora’s game is his turnovers. Jordan Nwora as mentioned averages just 0.7 assists per game, he also averages 0.9 turnovers.

Jordan Nwora, should he find himself on the Bucks roster for the 2022-23 season, will need to make improvements in several areas, cleaning up his turnovers and continuing to grow on offense. That being said the place where Nwora needs to show the biggest improvement if he wants to earn consistent playing time next season, is on the defensive end. Nwora wasn’t known for defense when he was drafted and while he has good size and athleticism that suggest he has the capability to become a good defender, it just hasn’t happened for him yet.

That said, the Milwaukee Bucks have seen enough to decide to extend Jordan Nwora a qualifying offer, what does that actually mean though?

Firstly it means that Jordan Nwora has the opportunity to sign the qualifying offer the Bucks have extended and return to the team for the 2022-23 season on a deal worth about $2 million. Jordan Nwora would then be an unrestricted free agent in 2023.

However, if Jordan Nwora opts not to sign his qualifying offer, he becomes a restricted free agent, thus making him available to receive offers from other teams that the Milwaukee Bucks would then have the opportunity to match should they desire to do so.

If Jordan Nwora does elect to sign the qualifying offer and be under contract with the Bucks, it doesn’t automatically mean that Jordan Nwora is playing in Milwaukee next season. General Manager Jon Horst could include Nwora in a trade to make money work out or to include some extra incentive to whichever team he deals with. We are less than a year removed from the trade where Jon Horst flipped Sam Merrill and two second round picks for Grayson Allen. With Jordan Nwora, a second round pick from the same class and a handful of second round picks up his sleeve, could Jon Horst have another tricky trade up his sleeve?

Free agency begins tomorrow night at 5 pm central time, stay tuned for analysis on what the Milwaukee Bucks do.