Jake Fischer reports that the team is testing the trade waters for a backup big
According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Marc Stein’s Substack), the Milwaukee Bucks have been making calls to find a way to add a lob-threat type of center to complement Brook Lopez. You can find the piece here (most of it is behind a paywall, just FYI).
Fischer also noted that Lopez himself has generated a ton of interest in the trade market since last summer. Some of the options as far as tradeable bigs go (not just Bucks trade targets) include the Portland Trailblazers’ Robert Williams, the Utah Jazz’s Walker Kessler, and the Brooklyn Nets’ Day’Ron Sharpe. He also named Washington Wizards center Jonas Valančiūnas, Atlanta Hawks center Clint Capela and the Toronto Raptors big Chris Boucher, but Valančiūnas (outside of the three-point shooting) is very similar to Lopez, Boucher has a similar play style to Bobby Portis as a stretch big rather than a lob threat, and Capela’s $22.4 million salary makes it impossible for the Bucks to trade for him because the second apron rules won’t allow Milwaukee to aggregate salaries—unless they sent out of their big four in Lopez, Middleton, Giannis or Dame, which won’t happen.
Per Fischer, don’t expect a trade anytime soon for Williams. Blazers’ sources are confident in the pick-and-roll partnership between Williams and Portland’s young guards, like Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe. Despite a crowded frontcourt including former top-10 pick Donovan Clingan, DeAndre Ayton, and Duop Reath, Fischer doesn’t expect a trade until much closer to the February 6th trade deadline. If the Bucks were to make a play for the “Time Lord,” Bobby Portis would have to be part of the trade with Williams making $12.4 million to Portis at $12.5 million due to the second apron rules. A combo like Pat Connaughton plus MarJon Beauchamp would not work, for example.
The other two options in Kessler and Sharpe are still on their rookie contracts ($2.9 million and $3.9 respectively) making it much easier for the Bucks to navigate under the CBA. Player value-wise, they may still need to include Portis in either package, although here they could theoretically move off of Pat Connaughton’s $9.4 million contract instead. I could see Sharpe being moved as he’s on the last year of his rookie deal, so the Nets getting anything from him would be a plus as they navigate a rebuild. Sharpe fits the mold of a rim-running lob threat, but he doesn’t provide anything as a rim protector, averaging less than a block per game, while Williams and Kessler can rim-run and protect the basket (1.6 and 2.8 blocks per game respectively). Utah’s Kessler has generated a lot of interest and offers from other teams, yet the word from Fischer is that they have turned down those offers up to this point.
Either way, trade rumor season is in full swing and we’ll keep you updated as we learn more about what the Bucks are or could be doing before February 6th!