Unrestricted free agent Chris Copeland has agreed to a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, a source confirmed to VigilantSports.com.
Chris Copeland was well-respected in the locker room.
Milwaukee is a great landing spot for Copeland. Bucks head coach Jason Kidd was his teammate in New York for one season, 2012-13, before Kidd decided to retire his jersey for the hottest seat on an NBA bench.
Also, the Bucks’ VP of Player Relations, Heather Denton, was previously with the Pacers — since the late 90s — and her assistant, Drew Franklin, is up there as well.
Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report first reported that an agreement had been reached.
Copeland, who was stabbed outside a New York City nightclub on April 8th while the team was in town to play the Knicks, will be ready to go for training camp in September. He spent much of the last two months working out at Bankers Life Fieldhouse while still under contract with the Pacers. In the second half of the 2014-15 season, rookie Damjan Rudež was played over Copeland.
His time with the Pacers (2013-15) never really worked out, in part because Team President Larry Bird was able to trade for veteran Luis Scola shortly after Cope signed with the team.
Even so, he was confident in his play — as he should be — and hoped to be with the Pacers for quite a while. So much so that he bought a house on the north side of Indy.
It was the Pacers, too, that gave him his first guaranteed contract in the NBA. And despite his limited role, he immediately was a fan favorite in town.
Before joining the Pacers, Copeland, who played his first five pro seasons overseas, arrived in New York on a training camp deal and then stuck with the team the remainder of the season. The Knicks had hoped to bring him back but they were in a poor salary cap situation and couldn’t make it work.
Copeland, a 3-point specialist, played in 91 games as a Pacer, including 51 games this past season. He scored 462 points and connected on 85 of his 246 threes attempted (34.5 percent).
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