Milwaukee Bucks: NBA Trade Deadline Outlook

Untouchables

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jabari Parker

As an All-Star starter with a seemingly unlimited ceiling at the age of 22, it goes without saying that Giannis Antetokounmpo is not going to be up for grabs at the upcoming trade deadline. Combining his current ability and future prospects, it’s debatable whether there’s even a single player in the league that Milwaukee would consider swapping him for.

Although it gets a little more interesting when we consider the value of what have long been considered the Bucks’ other core pieces, the outcome likely remains the same.

Having just returned from injury, Khris Middleton isn’t in the kind of condition that would lead teams looking to contend in the coming months to pursue him for instant impact. Beyond that, although he’s a very valuable asset who would certainly pique the interest of team’s around the league, unless there was an unlikely scenario where the Bucks were offered a superstar from the opposite side of the table, it would seem safe to say that Middleton’s below market value contract is too much of a steal to send elsewhere.

In light of Jabari Parker’s recent knee injury, his short term value has disappeared and his long term value is up in the air. If the Bucks were to consider trading Parker right now, they’d be looking at a dramatically discounted return that may come back to bite them in the future. Still on his rookie deal, the Bucks have nothing to lose by keeping their faith in Jabari and hoping that he can make a full recovery again. His talent is a proven and valuable commodity, whether his body will hold up will be something the Bucks will just have to wait on.