There’s a certain excitement that comes with a player being selected in the NBA Draft, but, strangely, when it comes to the final picks of the second round, it’s not always the best thing for their career. Some players, with the help of their agents, will even orchestrate their way to go undrafted, so they can sign with whichever franchise will give them the best chance of making the roster, and that’s exactly what Mark Sears did.
With concerns over his size and defensive ability, the Alabama star and first-team All-American fell out of Round 2 on Thursday night. However, he signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks in the immediate aftermath, and that was the best possible landing spot to begin his NBA career.
Alabama's Mark Sears, a first All-American, has agreed to a two-way NBA deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, sources tell ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 27, 2025
With Damian Lillard out, Mark Sears will have a chance for a significant role as a rookie
The Bucks had one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and opted to take Serbian forward Bogoljub Markovic 47th overall, so Sears wasn’t the most coveted player on their board, but his playmaking a shooting made him a priority UDFA for Milwaukee.
After returning from a blood clot that threatened his career, multi-time NBA all-star Damian Lillard tore his Achilles in the first round of the playoffs, which will almost certainly sideline him for the entirety of next season. The injury reignited the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade conversation that has simmered for much of the former MVP’s time in Milwaukee, but he appears to be staying put for at least one more season.
Though Lillard is out, his $54 million salary limits Milwaukee’s offseason flexibility, so the Bucks could need real minutes from Sears in his rookie season. Kevin Porter Jr. and AJ Green filled much of Milwaukee’s backcourt minutes with Lillard out last season, and both are signed for 2025-26, but Gary Trent Jr. is off to free agency, freeing up even more backcourt minutes.
Antetokounmpo is impossible to guard one-on-one, so whoever is on the floor with the 7-foot Greek superstar is going to get open shots, something Sears will welcome after two seasons as the clear No. 1 option for Alabama. Sears’ shooting tailed off last season, dropping nearly 10 percent from his prolific 2023-24 campaign, but he’s still more than capable of knocking down an open jumper, running off screens, and generally thriving without the ball in his hands.
It was obvious that a role change was coming for Sears, with fewer opportunities to operate the pick-and-roll and an even bigger target on his back defensively. That adjustment will be made easier by playing off one of the league’s best players. That is, if Sears makes the team, and that journey begins in the NBA Summer League.
What is a two-way contract
Sears signed a two-way contract with the Bucks, so he’s not a full-time NBA player just yet. Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry more players than the standard 15-man roster limit throughout the regular season. Players on a two-way deal can spend up to the entire year in the NBA’s G-League; in Sears' case, that would be with the Wisconsin Herd, Milwaukee’s G-League affiliate.
There are limitations that come with two-way deals. Teams may not carry more than three two-way players, and players on two-way contracts may not spend more than 50 games on the active NBA roster during the regular season. The game limit varies based on when the player signed the two-way contract, and can be manipulated with “under fifteen” games in which the team has fewer than 15 active players on a full NBA contract, but for Sears, the limit should be about 50 games.