Milwaukee Bucks Trade Rumors: Definite Interest In Ricky Rubio, Desire To Shed Salary

The latest NBA trade rumors continue to build on the buzz surrounding a potential Milwaukee Bucks interest in Ricky Rubio, but also express the Bucks’ desire to get rid of some of their larger salaries.

At this point it’s beyond any kind of surprise for Milwaukee Bucks fans to hear their team linked with Ricky Rubio.

The Spanish point guard was the subject of trade speculation involving the Bucks at the 2016 trade deadline and prior to last summer’s draft, and with Minnesota seemingly eager to move on from the 26-year-old in some ways it seemed inevitable that the link would emerge again now.

As the clock ticks down to Thursday’s trade deadline, it has become increasingly obvious that the rumors are more than just posturing on Minnesota’s part to drive interest, though.

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Minnesota-based Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News and 1500ESPN, has long reported about a Bucks interest in Rubio, and when he was joined by ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on his podcast, The Scoop, on Tuesday, that speculation was fleshed out further.

Windhorst affirmed just how serious Milwaukee’s interest is in Rubio, and also explained that the Bucks’ deadline intentions expand to the hope of ridding salary beyond just adding the Timberwolves guard.

Here’s a transcript of that section of the conversation:

"Wolfson: Have you heard of Milwaukee Bucks interest in Ricky Rubio?Windhorst: They have definite interest in him. The Bucks tried to trade for him last trade deadline. The Bucks would love to trade Matthew Dellavedova for him, but the problem is that doesn’t help the Wolves. Everything the Bucks are doing is to get off money. Dellavedova can be had, John Henson can be had, even Mirza Teletovic can be had. I think they would love to get in a three-way deal where they could send out Dellavedova or Teletovic and get back Rubio."

Beyond the Rubio mention, there’s a lot to unpack here.

If the Bucks are that eager to move on from Dellavedova and Teletovic’s contracts so soon after the ink has dried, that would be a further indictment of their summer business. Having already signed Plumlee to a bloated contract, and somehow having managed to trade him, questions would have to be asked about the front office’s strategic process if they were to quit on more recent signees.

Although Teletovic and Dellavedova have played far from the best basketball of their careers so far in Milwaukee, the fact does also remain that both represent excellent fits for what the Bucks are looking to do. The positive way Teletovic influences his teammates’ performances, even when he’s off his game, is a testament to that, and it leads you to believe that trading either player would just lead the Bucks back to free agency looking for others in the same mold.

That’s a process that could prove costly in the long-term, in time as much as money, as the Bucks really need to start progressing their young team around the superstar that Giannis Antetokounmpo has become.

Building upon that, even more egregious than the idea that Rubio would fit with this Bucks group would be the idea that moving him helps in any way to cut roster costs and create cap space. Rubio has two years remaining on his current contract and is still owed over $29 million. In other words, more than any of the three players the Bucks are rumored to want to move would be paid in that time.

While there may be a case for the Bucks to explore trades involving those players, it can’t be termed as to open up space if any move would be accompanied by the return of a Rubio contract which Minnesota is so eager to move that they may dump it in exchange for Derrick Rose‘s expiring deal.

Next: Milwaukee Bucks: 5 Point Guards To Target At NBA Trade Deadline

If these reports are true, the Bucks are on the edge of some murky waters and will need to tread carefully over the next 36 hours or so.