Unrestricted free-agent Toni Kukoc will sign a one-year contract to return to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Kukoc is 35 and has become a key reserve for Milwaukee.  The deal is expected be final next week.  Terms of the contract were not announced.

Kukoc was acquired in a trade that sent forward Glenn Robinson to the Atlanta Hawks in 2002 and has applied his high basketball IQ with positive results as a Buck.

Kukoc put up 8.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 73 games last season.

"Not only do our players like playing with him, but the community has embraced him," Bucks general manager Larry Harris said. "He has a great passion for the game, a great intellect.  He's been through everything in this game. He's a great piece, and one of our focal points in free agency to get done."

Harris has repeatedly said that he was confident of retaining Kukoc.  Entering his 12th NBA season, Kukoc received widespread interest from around the league, including Miami and Sacramento.

Kukoc was in the final year of a contract that paid him $9.1 million.