What will the Milwaukee Bucks do at the trade deadline? | The Athletic NBA Show

What will the Milwaukee Bucks do at the trade deadline? | The Athletic NBA Show

Trade deadlines coming up the Bucks aren’t really talked about a whole lot just as they don’t have a ton of assets to deal if they did make a trade what kind of player would they be looking for and are there like realistic names that are out there maybe that you’ve heard or

Maybe that fans talk about a lot yeah I mean I I think the the tough part is Jay Crowder has been out for the last nine weeks I believe it was he came back in the Bucks blowout lost and Cleveland uh on Wednesday I think that is kind of the

Archetype of player that you’re thinking about for the Milwaukee Bucks and this is any Contender right like you’re always looking for more Wing Defenders uh big Wing Defenders small wing Defenders like you’re just looking for Wing Defenders like that’s that’s kind of what you’re after um and and the Bucs

Have been looking for one of those for four years at this point this is every trade deadline comes around if we recorded this podcast last year one year ago I would have said the Bucks are looking for a wing Defender uh and two years ago I would have said the same

Thing and three years ago I would have said the same things so that’s always what you’re looking for U but this year I think it’s it’s maybe a little bit more concerning you don’t have one of the best defenses in the league and you know you’re looking at like oh it would

Be a real luxury to have this great Wing Defender I I think this year it’s it’s more of a neat like I I think Malik to be clear Malik Beasley is I mean he’s putting together the best shooting season in the league at the moment like he’s shooting near 50% I

Think his at five and a half per game he’s just he’s hitting all the wide open Catch and shoot threes he’s hitting jab step threes on people like he’s just having a really incredible season offensively but defensively he doesn’t really bring that type of tenacity that intensity that the Bucs have had over

The years so I think it’d be nice if they had another pitch to throw and again maybe that is Jay Crowder maybe that is Jay Crowder comes back and all of a sudden you use some small ball lineup ups that would be like Giannis at Center Jay Crowder at the four Chris

Middleton at the three uh and Andre Jackson at the two and then all of a sudden outside of Dame Lillard you’re six seven and above and you’re massive and you can you know try to eat up space that way that isn’t something we’ve really gotten to see thus far just

Because Jay Crowder’s been out for the last nine weeks so um I’d be curious to see kind of what that does but I I think that’s largely what you’re looking for what really hampers the bucks on the trade market right now is they don’t because of their topheavy roster and

This is true of a lot of teams around the League this is what modern roster building is you have a topheavy roster you have three guys eating up a lot of your salary cap and in the Bucks case four guys because Brook Lopez also has a

Big contract the middle area which to me is where in season trade deadline trades happen is between 10 million and 20 million in salary maybe up to 25 now or maybe it’s 15 to 25 however you want to look at it uh as the League’s salary cap

Is grown that’s where trades happen and the Bucks just don’t really have a lot of those contracts um you know you have a guy like Bobby poris who’s in that the lower end of that range you have a guy like Pat conon who’s even lower um and

Then all of a sudden you got to figure out like all right if if I put together Bobby poris Maran Bo champ and a second round pick I think salary-wise you know you get into the teens like the low teens uh and then are those assets good enough

Also do you feel like you can actually go around with only two big men in Giannis and Brook Lopez is that enough size is Jay Crowder actually a four and that’s fine or is he too small and you don’t have enough size and I think that’s kind of the the tough part like

If the Bucs want to make a trade here at the deadline it it’s probably has to be Pat conon or Bobby poris is your your salary cap like lead right like how you’re going to get to the spot where interesting players are available um and then you know do teams still want Maran

Bamp like has he done enough is he developing in the way that still makes him interesting and uh you know desirable do you look at that second round pick that they have that’s the Blazers so that should be a high second rounder this year um is that enough so

It’s putting that package together and then as far as players that you’re looking at I mean I think you probably have to with those realities in mind be thinking about you know like a guy in Brooklyn like Dorian finny Smith um that’s you know in that salary range

Where you could potentially make a deal um I mean you look at a guy like includ like Isaac okoro okoro has been more important for them recently because Darius Garland’s been out but maybe in another month when we get close to the deadline he’s not as important in

Someone that they want to move um in Phoenix Joshua kogi hasn’t played as Grayson Allen who Bucks fans ironically really hated for the last year is putting together a season on par with mik Beasley like he’s he’s he’s been really really good um but because Grayson Allen has emerged josher kogi

Has not you know been quite as impactful as he has in previous years and those are to me like if you’re looking at how the Bucks do stuff um that’s kind of got to be the range of player that you’re talking about and when you’re talking about that player that’s not a new

Starter right like that is not someone that’s replacing Malik Beasley that is another pitch that you can throw that is a just another way that you can go in the playoffs and then I I think when you get to that level and you think about it

In that way you have to be thinking about like all right is that actually is that worth it because you know you got Pat hon at home like maybe maybe Pat conon can do that maybe Jay Crowder can do that maybe I mean if you’re trying to find a young

Impactful defensive Wing you got some Andre Jackson at home why why not just just try that out and that to me is kind of where you got to go through all of this and try to figure out like all right we could potentially make a move and John horse has always been very

Aggressive he always wants to add to the team but you got to figure out if that is actually worthwhile is that something that you know is going to increase the likelihood of of you winning a championship or are you gonna get that person and it’s just not GNA work like I

Know the Bucks have been connected to PJ Tucker on the buyout market and it’s like okay yeah you could get PJ Tucker but it’s another situation where don’t you ready have some PJ Tucker at home like isn’t Jay Crowder five years younger than than PJ Tucker

In I mean I would guess in the exact same mold and the exact same role uh so that to me is where this is why you’re not hearing the Bucks connected to a lot of people because when you add up every part of the situation whether it’s

Salary cap assets uh actual roles that are available for the team you got to go through all this and figure out like how much sense does it make to make a trade like what are you actually adding what are you trying to find and do you

Already have that on your roster and it just needs to be used in a different way or or coached in a different way or deployed tactically in a different way um and that’s why I think it it gets a little bit difficult uh to try to figure

Out and and maybe it’s as simple as all right we got to figure out our own stuff first we we have a bunch of guys here we have a bunch of things here that we could figure out on our own before we go and make a trade for something new

The Athletic NBA Show discuss the Milwaukee Bucks’ trade plans.