Milwaukee Bucks reportedly interested in trading for Warriors’ JaVale McGee or Zaza Pachulia

The Milwaukee Bucks have reportedly discussed potential center trades with the Golden State Warriors for one of JaVale McGee or Zaza Pachulia.

Since the deal that landed Eric Bledsoe, sending Greg Monroe in the opposite direction to Phoenix, the Milwaukee Bucks have been left very thin in terms of center depth.

As the NBA’s annual trade deadline slowly starts to creep toward us, there’s every chance that the Bucks will make a deal, and it’s guaranteed we’ll hear the team’s name mentioned in plenty of trade rumors.

That process started on Monday, as following the Golden State Warriors’ Christmas Day win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Marcus Thompson of The Athletic reported that the Bucks have discussed potential trades for one of the Warriors big men.

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Thompson laid out the key details, as follows:

"“Multiple sources confirmed the Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks have discussed a trade. Nothing is imminent, but the Bucks are on the market for a center and the Warriors are overstocked. The on-and-off conversations between the teams have included the Bucks inquiring about [Zaza] Pachulia and [JaVale] McGee. No doubt, they’ve asked about [Jordan] Bell but that conversation ended quickly.”"

Thompson indicates that not only is a deal for Bell a non-runner as Golden State’s staff are excited by what they’re seeing from the second round rookie, but that it will likely also prove difficult to prise Pachulia away from the Warriors too.

Of course, Pachulia has twice been a Buck in his NBA career to date, most recently as a key component of the team that surprised in making the playoffs as the sixth seed and then giving the Chicago Bulls all they could handle in 2015.

Pachulia’s veteran savvy and intelligent defensive contributions would likely make him most appealing to the Bucks, but Thompson reports that for those same reasons, he’s a player Golden State is unlikely willing to part with.

That leaves McGee as the most likely candidate. The 29-year-old revived his career in becoming a high-impact player for the Warriors last season, but with the addition of Bell he has seen his already limited minutes take a further step back this season. Thompson notes:

"“McGee hasn’t been happy with his minutes. This is on top of not being happy the Warriors only offered him a minimum contract back in the offseason and told him the starting role wasn’t on the table. McGee isn’t causing problems at all, but it only makes sense to consider moving him if another team is interested.”"

Perhaps that opens up the possibility of the Warriors being willing to move McGee as effectively a salary dump, and if that was the case, the Bucks have a couple of obvious options to open up a roster spot.

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This may just be the start of Milwaukee exploring their options around the NBA, though, so expect further buzz surrounding centers in the coming weeks.