The Bucks are looking to be active in the trade market heading into the deadline once again. Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints and Sam Amick of The Athletic had reports yesterday, jam-packed with Bucks-related news. It included updates on their pursuit of Zach LaVine and Jerami Grant, a new player from the Western Conference they checked in on, and potential suitors for Bobby Portis should the Bucks move him. Let’s dive into the latest rumors, just under a month until the February 6th trade deadline.
Top targets
Starting with Siegel’s lengthy report, he reiterated that the Bucks’ top two targets are Kings guard Zach LaVine and Blazers wing Jerami Grant. We’ve seen a lot of noise around those two, particularly LaVine, who the Bucks have been interested in since last season, when he was still with the Bulls. As for Jerami Grant, Jack wrote an article on what a deal could look like on Tuesday, and he and I discussed how Grant could fit with the Bucks on the podcast yesterday.
Grant would provide a marginal offensive upgrade over Kyle Kuzma, be some facsimile of the “big wing” the Bucks have been looking for, and they could get some draft capital back for taking on his contract. While that would be enticing, Grant still has $102.6m left over the next three years, the last year a player option worth $36.4m. That, combined with subpar rebounding for his size and only slightly better three-point shooting than Kuzma, isn’t worth it in my eyes.
LaVine, on the other hand, has a track record as a good offensive player who can create his own shot and spot up, too. While LaVine is making $15m more than Grant, he has only the remainder of this season and a player option worth $49m that he will assuredly pick up. Some of the luster has worn off LaVine this season, as he has been out the last three weeks due to an ankle injury and didn’t return until the Kings hosted the Bucks on Sunday.
He’s down to his lowest scoring total since the 2023–24 season at 20.0 PPG, when he played just 25 games. His defense has diminished, and his iffy playmaking has also dropped a bit. On the plus side, he’s a good secondary creator from the perimeter after playing behind guys like DeMar DeRozan and a younger Karl-Anthony Towns. He’s also put up some remarkable scoring numbers himself, averaging over 24 PPG five times in his career. While I doubt he reaches those marks with other mouths to feed, adding a player like LaVine would be beneficial.
For the Bucks to acquire either player, they would have to include Kuzma’s $22.4m cap hit. For Grant, all they would have to include is a player making a minimum contract to make it work financially like Cole Anthony, Amir Coffey, or Andre Jackson Jr. For LaVine specifically, it would have to be Kuzma, Portis, and a minimum contract being sent out to Sacramento.
Siegel also mentioned the idea of the Warriors hopping in as a third or fourth team in a deal to ship out Jonathan Kuminga, should the Bucks get LaVine or even another player. To be clear, that was just an idea, and there was no reporting behind that whatsoever. Regardless, the pair of Western Conference wings might be the top two players the Bucks are going after as trade season continues to heat up.
Long-shot targets
Outside of those two players, the Bucks have been connected to three more players, but all of them feel like real long shots. The most significant bit of news from Siegel’s reporting relating to the Bucks was the fact that they checked in on another Western Conference player:
“The Bucks recently made calls to the Phoenix Suns, checking in on the availability of Jalen Green, sources said. However, the Suns are not interested in moving the young guard and view him as a potential deadline addition for themselves when he returns from injury.”
Green would’ve been an interesting fit in a potential three-guard lineup next to Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins, or even if the Bucks decided to ship one of those two players out to make the deal work. But the Suns have a steady rotation of wings with Dillon Brooks, Ryan Dunn, and Royce O’Neal, so adding Kuzma to that mix makes little sense. I’m also sure that Phoenix, who are just 2.5 games out of sixth in the Western Conference, doesn’t want to move one of their few young and enticing prospects.
Another player the Bucks kicked the tires on, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, was Trae Young. That was all before the Wizards and Hawks finalized a deal to send Young to the Wizards for C.J. McCollum and Corey Kispert, a deal first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN. Another name the Bucks have been linked to, and not for the first time, is Anthony Davis.
Predictably, the Luka Doncic for Davis trade has not worked out at all. Davis’ injuries have piled up; he’s played just 27 games in the 11 months he’s been a Maverick. Amick is reporting that Davis’ camp doesn’t see a long-term future for himself in Big D, and that they should use Davis to help the rebuild effort around Cooper Flagg. Here’s what Amick said about the Bucks’ interest in Davis specifically:
“League sources say the Milwaukee Bucks are also among the teams that have registered interest in trading for Davis, though a deal appears unlikely. The Bucks have been aggressive in their search for more talent to put alongside superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and expressing interest in Davis falls in line with that pursuit. But their scarce asset base and lack of sizable contracts could limit the attractiveness of a potential trade package.”
If this were a simple two-team trade, the Bucks would need to send out Kuzma, Portis, KPJ, and Gary Trent Jr. to make it work financially. It would be easier if they sent out Myles Turner instead. Still, the Bucks moving on from Turner is very unlikely, considering he’s just 37 games into his tenure in Milwaukee and the financial maneuvering they had to do to bring him in. All of this is to say that the Bucks and GM Jon Horst are looking at every potential option to make the team better and convince Giannis to stay long term.
Bobby Portis’ market
The last bit of Bucks news amongst all these reports was about their backup big man, Bobby Portis. According to Siegel, there are several teams interested in getting Portis, should the Bucks opt to make a bigger move:
“Multiple teams around the league are keeping an eye on Milwaukee to see what happens with Portis, a tough-minded big man who can stretch the floor and be an instant source of energy coming off the bench for playoff-contending teams. The Charlotte Hornets, Suns, and Warriors are among the handful of teams mentioned as suitors for Portis in a buy-low spot, assuming the Bucks include his contract to make a substantial upgrade in a different trade. Maybe even a team like the Lakers, who desperately need toughness in their frontcourt, would view Portis as a viable option.“
I strongly disagree with the idea that Portis would be a buy-low candidate for a team at this stage. He’s been on a good run offensively for the Bucks over the last 10 games, averaging 16.3 PPG while shooting 49.6% from the field, 47.8% from three on 4.6 attempts per contest, and 93.8% from the free throw line. Should the Bucks decide to ship out Portis in any trade, he could be rerouted in a separate transaction, like in the example Siegel brought up earlier, where the Kings send Portis and potentially other pieces to Golden State for Kuminga. The Warriors need another big man desperately, and I think the Bucks could command a couple of second-round picks for Portis.
There’s a lot of smoke around the Bucks, and there is seemingly a significant push to add someone. Out of everyone listed here, let us know who you think Horst should target in the next month to make a playoff push.
