After more and more reports came out in the last 24 hours that the Bucks were increasingly likely to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo through the deadline, the most recent intel from ESPN’s Shams Charania also indicated they were going to move on to other trades. Almost immediately after, we got notification that Milwaukee had completed their first deal of 2026, sending veterans Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey to Phoenix for big man Nick Richards and former Wisconsin Badger Nigel Hayes-Davis.
A name that might
be familiar to casual NBA fans, Richards was a speculative trade target for Milwaukee last year before Charlotte flipped him to Phoenix. He developed into a solid rim-protecting center during four-plus years as a Hornet, topping out at just under 10 PPG and eight RPG, plus good block numbers for a 22–26 MPG guy. The Suns packaged Josh Okogie and three second-round picks for the 6’11” Kentucky alum in January 2025, then he assumed their starting center gig from Jusuf Nurkic, who was later traded to the Hornets in a separate deal. He maintained his typical production, but Phoenix pivoted this offseason: first, they acquired the 10th pick in last year’s draft as part of their return for Kevin Durant, using it to select Duke center Khaman Maluach. Then, in their third trade with Charlotte of 2025, Phoenix dealt a future first for another Duke center, third-year vet Mark Williams.
That all left the 28-year-old Richards on the outside looking in of Phoenix’s big man rotation. He was on the floor for each of their first 21 games, but for more than 10 minutes in just nine of them. Since December 1st, he’s seen only seven games of action, and only once for more than 8 minutes. He hasn’t played since January 13th. This year, he’s averaging 3.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 0.5 BPG on 49.3% shooting, far below his career 63.1% FG%. But he has a reputation as a good interior defender and occasional lob threat, who also developed a decent touch from floater range prior to this season. Perhaps he’ll develop some P&R chemistry with Kevin Porter Jr. or Ryan Rollins. He’s on an expiring contract worth $5m, and if the Bucks decide they want to keep him around, they’ll be able to use his Bird rights for a new deal over the summer. Our pals at Bright Side Of The Sun had a preview of him before the season that you may want to read.
Hayes-Davis is a name that will definitely be familiar to Wisconsin basketball fans after a stellar career as a Badger. He was a key reserve as a freshman on Wisconsin’s 2014 Final Four team, then a starter and the third-leading scorer on their 2015 squad that fell to Duke in the national championship game. Adding Davis to his surname in 2021 to honor his stepfather, the 6’7” forward spent nine games with three teams way back in 2017–18 before taking his talents to Europe. Throughout multiple seasons in Turkey, Lithuania, and Spain, including with powerhouses Fenerbahce and Barcelona, he became one of the Euroleague’s top performers, setting a single-game scoring record with a 50-point game in 2024. After leading Fenerbahce to their second Euroleague title last year and winning Final Four MVP, NBA teams became interested again.
Phoenix snapped him up on a minimum deal, but in 27 games stateside, he hasn’t looked the part of an NBA player: he’s averaging 1.3 PPG on .326/.125/.500 shooting in just 7.2 MPG. The now 31-year-old hasn’t factored into the Suns’ rotation either: after logging double-digit minutes four times in their first five games, he’s mostly been a deep reserve, with 24 DNPs. Since the new year, he’s only seen garbage time in six contests. It’s possible Milwaukee will just waive him to open up their 15th roster spot, since they have plenty of breathing room beneath the luxury tax threshold.
Anthony was signed to a veteran’s minimum this summer after being waived-and-stretched by Memphis, who acquired him as salary ballast in the Desmond Bane trade. Though he had a productive first couple weeks in a Bucks uniform (11.1 PPG on .516/.333/.500 shooting in his first seven games), he soon began to struggle in his typical 15–20 minutes per game. His shooting numbers cratered to 42.4% from the field and a career-worst 30.6% from deep. Even right before Kevin Porter Jr. came back from his opening night injury, he was largely out of the rotation until the last few weeks due to further Bucks injuries. He actually had a few nice nights in that span, but his Milwaukee tenure will go down as disappointing. But for a minimum contract, it’s no real skin off the Bucks’ back.
Coffey was signed to an Exhibit 9 deal and given a standard contract after preseason, but the six-year vet never made an impact in Milwaukee. He saw scarce rotation minutes in the opening few weeks, did basically nothing with them, then was relegated to garbage-time duty until January. Somewhat surprisingly, his contract became guaranteed earlier last month as the Bucks probably hoped they could flip them at the deadline, so it worked out. He too re-entered the rotation due to injuries since mid-January, and actually started Milwaukee’s last two games. He had his best game of the year yesterday evening with 16 points and five boards on 7/8 shooting. Maybe that pushed this deal over the finish line!
All in all, this is a good deal for the Bucks. They took two unproductive vets and turned them into a big man with some real NBA credentials. We’ll see what this means for Bobby Portis and Jericho Sims, the latter of whom has been underwhelming. Financially, this adds about $2.4m to Milwaukee’s payroll, decreasing their tax room from $11.5m to $9.1m. Their standard roster remains full.
