The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free agent center DeMarcus Cousins.

Cousins, 31, is a 10-year NBA veteran with averages of 20.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocked shots in 606 career regular season games with the Kings, Pelicans, Warriors, Rockets and Clippers.

“DeMarcus is incredibly talented and his size, toughness and experience will help us,” said Jon Horst. “He will provide added depth to our front court rotation and we look forward to working him into our system.”

Cousins most recently played in 41 games (11 starts) last season with Houston (25 games, 11 starts) and the Los Angeles Clippers (16 games), combining to average 8.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 17.4 minutes per game.

The Milwaukee Bucks will sign Ja'Vonte Smart of the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the G League to a Two-Way contract. Smart has averaged 22 points per game in the G League this season.

The Bucks will waive Justin Robinson to create a roster spot for Smart.

The Milwaukee Bucks are signing free agent center DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins has not played in the NBA this season. He was waived by the LA Clippers at the end of the 2021 preseason.

Cousins will be signing a non-guaranteed veteran minimum contract with the Bucks. Milwaukee was one of seven NBA teams with an open roster spot. The Bucks have been without center Brook Lopez for all but one game this season. Lopez has been sidelined due to back soreness.

Last season, Cousins played in 41 combined games with the Clippers and Houston Rockets. Cousins averaged 8.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game in his 10th season in the NBA.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Semi Ojeleye will miss at least three weeks with a "significant" calf injury. Ojeleye missed all of preseason and the Bucks first four games of the regular season due to the injury.

Ojeleye has played in 11 games for Milwaukee and has put up the worst numbers he's had since his rookie season with the Boston Celtics. Ojeleye is averaging three points in 19.8 minutes per game. He's shooting a career-worst 25.5% from the floor.

Milwaukee signed Ojeleye to a one-year deal for the veteran minimum this past offseason. The hope was that Ojeleye would be a cost-efficient replacement for some of the minutes the Bucks lost when P.J. Tucker left for the Miami Heat.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have been named the NBA's Players of the Week.

Leading the Bucks to a 3-0 record last week, Antetokounmpo averaged 33.3 points, 16.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 58.2% from the field.

In home victories over Toronto, Chicago and Philadelphia, Lillard averaged 28.3 points (43.3% FG, 39.3% 3-PT, 100% FT), 2.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.00 steal and 1.67 blocks.

During the 20-21 season, the Milwaukee Bucks had been "almost fanatical in adhering to the league’s draconian virus protocols," writes Matt Sullivan at Rolling Stone.

As the Bucks began The Finals with the Delta strain beginning to hit the United States, their traveling party expanded to include wives, girlfriends, entourages and extended families. 

There was also uncertainty whether Giannis Antetokounmpo was vaccinated. 

“We were very concerned that Giannis wasn’t vaccinated and that, with all of this exposure from all these different people,” said one official from the Bucks.

“It hit everybody pretty quickly, but the biggest thing was: Just make sure Giannis tests negative.”

During The Finals, approximately a dozen people associated with the Bucks and Phoenix Suns tested positive for COVID-19. There were six vaccinated staffers, including coaching and medical staffers from the Bucks; family members and people in both franchise entourages; and one player, Giannis’ brother and teammate Thanasis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis Antetokounmpo says he is now vaccinated. Giannis avoided being a close contact to his brother in the days leading up to the positive results which allowed him to keep playing.

Khris Middleton has tested positive for COVID-19 after missing Sunday's game with what was initially believed to be a non-COVID illness. 

"We thought he just had a head cold or some type of non-COVID illness," Budenholzer said. "And then, [he] didn't feel good again the next day. Got tested and has come back positive."

The NBA has also had Tobias Harris and Kevin Love test positive for COVID-19 since the beginning of the week. 

A player who tests positive has to sit out for a minimum of 10 days, which could knock Middleton out for potentially the next six games.

Milwaukee Bucks wing Khris Middleton has entered the NBA's Health and Safety Protocols. At this point, it's unknown if Middleton tested positive for COVID-19, or if he was deemed a close contact. That designation will determine how many games Middleton may miss.

Through six games, Middleton has averaged 20 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Middleton's absence is the latest in a long list of illness/injury issues for the Bucks. Fellow starters Jrue Holiday (sprained ankle) and Brook Lopez (sore back) are also out. In addition, Donte DiVincenzo has yet to play this season, as he rehabs from a foot injury suffered during the 2021 NBA Playoffs.