With Thursday’s NBA trade deadline looming, the latest intel on the Milwaukee Bucks suggests a buyout signing could be more likely than a trade.
The Milwaukee Bucks are fortunate enough to approach the NBA trade deadline with a record of 42-7, knowing that making deals isn’t a necessity for them to position themselves for the kind of title run that is expected of them this year.
That’s not to suggest that the Bucks will simply zone out between now and Thursday’s deadline, and it’s entirely possible that Jon Horst may still have some tough decisions to make.
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For those looking for a glimpse into the Bucks’ current state of play when it comes to the trade market, the Sunday evening edition of The Woj Pod, where ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks ran the rule over the Eastern Conference, certainly proved to be instructive.
In no real surprise to most Bucks fans, and certainly meshing with many of the articles we’ve posted on the subject of potential trades in recent weeks, the sense of Milwaukee’s current position on the market is described by Wojnarowski as “risk averse”.
Having said that, across the course of their conversation about the Bucks, Wojnarowski and Marks made it clear that they believe a path exists for the Bucks to get involved in deals for some of the more notable role players said to be available ahead of the deadline.
"“I think that Indiana pick that they have, that Brogdon pick, certainly has a lot of value. Whether you look at a Robert Covington or an Andre Iguodala, if Milwaukee wanted to do a deal for one of those players and get the build-up on contracts, I think that gets you in the ballpark.”"
Of course, it’s worth noting that this is not the first time that Covington’s name has been proposed as an option that could intrigue the Bucks, although that’s not to suggest that any conversation about a deal has actually taken place between the Bucks and Timberwolves.
If the Bucks were to go after such a player, Bobby Marks ran the rule over the kind of players that would likely make up the salary obligations on Milwaukee’s side of a hypothetical deal.
"“Ersan Ilyasova has been a good player for them, but he’s got a non-guaranteed for next year. Does that have appeal to teams? They have some of their younger players that have kinda been hit-and-miss, you know, D.J. Wilson, whose got another year left.”"
In perhaps the most notable nugget to emerge from the podcast, though, Wojnarowski shared his opinion that any additions the Bucks could ultimately make, may be more likely to occur after the trade deadline dust has settled.
"“I still think, if Milwaukee does anything, maybe it’s buyout market.”"
On that subject, it’s currently impossible to know whether a player worth pursuing will become available. Given just how strong they’ve been to this point in the year, there’s every reason to believe there’d be no shortage of interest among free agents about the prospect of teaming up with the Bucks for a championship run, though.
If that is something the Bucks have their eye on, perhaps a smaller move to open up a roster spot could be on the cards in the days ahead.