MILWAUKEE -- Bucks guard Beno Udrih has exercised his player option for next season to remain in Milwaukee, general manager John Hammond confirmed to FOX Sports Wisconsin.
Udrih will earn $7.8 million for the 2012-13 season, the second-highest amount of any player currently on Milwaukee's roster, behind only Monta Ellis' $11 million salary.
The Bucks acquired Udrih from Sacramento prior to last season in a three-team trade that also brought Stephen Jackson and Shaun Livingston to Milwaukee from Charlotte. Part of that trade also involved Milwaukee moving back from the 10th pick in the 2011 draft -- where Jimmer Fredette was selected -- to the 19th pick, where the Bucks drafted Tobias Harris.
Udrih, who will turn 30 on July 5, is coming off his worst statistical season in five years. After averaging between 11.0 and 13.7 points in his previous four seasons while with the Kings, Udrih scored only 5.9 points in his first year with Milwaukee.
A big reason for that decline in points is that Udrih played only 18.3 minutes with the Bucks after being a 30-plus minutes-per-game player in Sacramento.
However, all of Udrih's shooting numbers dropped last season as he set career-lows in three-point (28.8 percent) and free-throw accuracy (70.9 percent).
With Udrih returning to Milwaukee, the Bucks will enter the offseason free agency period about $8 million under the salary cap. Milwaukee has not yet used its amnesty provision, a clause in the new collective bargaining agreement that gives a team the option to release one player from its roster and not have that salary count against its cap room.
Follow Paul Imig on Twitter
