Milwaukee Bucks: Grades and reactions for the Tyler Zeller trade

Trade motivation

The Bucks have been short on center depth ever since trading Greg Monroe as a part of the Bledsoe deal, and they’ve honestly been fortunate to have navigated up until this point without an injury to either John Henson or Thon Maker.

Marshall Plumlee has provided further cover on his two-way deal in recent weeks, but with plenty of time already spent with the Bucks, his NBA eligible days will be set to run out in no time.

With the East opening up somewhat in recent weeks, a team like the Bucks have good reason for plugging any holes that could be covered over at a reasonable cost. Milwaukee boasts one of the very best players in the Eastern Conference and a talented supporting cast.

Perhaps an avenue to a deep run opens up this year in the East, and if that’s the case, the lack of depth or even a varied profile at center would have been among the worst possible reasons for the Bucks to ultimately be left wondering what could have been.

At 7’0″ tall and weighing 250lbs, Zeller offers something different to both Maker and Henson. He’s not likely to challenge for the starting spot, but he safeguards Milwaukee against matchups where the rail thin Maker can be pushed aside with nothing short of contempt.

The Bucks had an obvious need for a player like Zeller, and now they’ve filled it.