NBA Rumors: Former Lakers SG Wesley Matthews to Sign Contract with Bucks

Wesley Matthews is on the move.

The Milwaukee Bucks signed the guard on Friday, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic. Terms were not immediately disclosed.

This comes after the Los Angeles Lakers signed him to a one-year deal for the 2020-21 season, and he helped them reach the Western Conference Finals. 

Matthews did not have an NBA home to start the 2021-22 campaign, but he'll now return to Milwaukee, where he started 67 games during the 2019-20 season.

The undrafted free agent out of Marquette has been in the league since 2009-10 and has played for the Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, Bucks and Lakers throughout his career.

While Matthews played five years with Portland and into a fourth with Dallas, he has been something of a journeyman of late. He split time with three different teams in 2018-19 and then played just one season with the Bucks and one with the Lakers.

That pattern remains the same with this deal.

Matthews was an important scorer during his prime and averaged double-digit points per game in nine straight seasons from 2010-11 through 2018-19, including when he poured in a career-best 16.4 points per night in 2013-14 for Portland.

However, he averaged just 4.8 points and 1.6 rebounds across 58 games for the Lakers in 2020-21 while shooting 35.3 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from three-point range. The shooting numbers were significant drops for someone who has shot 42.1 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from deep in his career.

The 35-year-old Matthews is past his prime, but he still brings veteran leadership and plenty of playoff experience with 52 postseason games on his resume.

He's also been a solid defender even in 2020-21, when opponents shot 2.8 percent worse overall and 4.0 percent worse from three-point range than their normal averages when he defended them, per NBA.com.

If he can bring defense and shooting for spurts off the bench and remain an experienced presence on the roster, Matthews can carve out a role for the 2021-22 Bucks.