Wait It Out And Get A Real Asset
This seems obviously better than the first option, right? Some assets are better than no assets, after all. The catch is that there’s no guarantee anybody bites on Moose in the next three days, meaning no deal gets done.
At this point it seems like a stretch to expect anybody to pay for a center. Let’s look at the last few trades that have gone down in the NBA: the Bucks traded Miles Plumlee to the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail Blazers sent Mason Plumlee to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic and the Sacramento Kings sent DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans for not much.
The Pelicans, Nuggets, Trail Blazers and Hornets were most, if not all, of the teams actually looking to add a big man. They all have already. With the Philadelphia 76ers shopping a younger, cheaper option in Jahlil Okafor much more aggressively than the Bucks are shopping Moose, it seems unlikely anybody pays up for Monroe.
Still, anything is possible at or around the NBA trade deadline. Crazier deals have happened than Greg Monroe getting swapped for a future first round pick and some random contract at the deadline. I just wouldn’t bet on such a deal going down. So what do the Bucks do now that the Moose seems here to stay for the next few months?