Milwaukee Bucks Rumors: Sterling Brown attracting trade interest
As trade buzz starts to heat up ahead of this week’s deadline, third-year Milwaukee Bucks wing Sterling Brown has reportedly been of interest to opposing teams around the league.
With the trade deadline this week, the trade winds have certainly picked up and that includes your Milwaukee Bucks.
At 42-7, as of this writing, the Bucks have raced out to stand high above the rest of the NBA. Even as the wins keep pouring in and their chemistry has been at an all-time high, the Bucks can’t afford to sit on the sidelines, considering whatever the outcome is this season may inform superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s decision to stay long-term in Milwaukee.
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While that will dominate any and all talk throughout this week, lower level Bucks players are something to keep an eye on ahead of the deadline.
As ESPN’s Zach Lowe included in his essential trade deadline preview that includes plenty of intel and rumors, it’s third-year Bucks wing Sterling Brown that is reportedly a target of interest to teams around the league:
"“On a smaller scale, sources say a lot of teams have asked about Sterling Brown — a free agent this summer.”"
As Lowe noted, Brown is set to become a restricted free agent this season and players of his profile, that being complementary wings, has long been a skill set that all NBA teams covet, including the Bucks.
But the 24-year-old has certainly taken a step back throughout this season and ahead of his trip to free agency. In 34 appearances, Brown is averaging 5.1 points on .379/.329/.767 shooting splits, 3.9 rebounds and 0.9 assists across 14.9 minutes per game. Brown’s offensive regression has led to him posting career lows in effective field goal percentage (46.4 percent) as well as true shooting percentage (49.4 percent).
The saving grace to Brown’s third NBA season has been the way with which he has attacked the glass and provided plenty of hustle and energy, especially in small ball lineups. That’s resulted in Brown logging a 20.1 defensive rebounding percentage, the fourth-highest mark for any Bucks player this season, per Basketball-Reference.com.
Still, Brown’s inefficient shooting has played a big part in him falling out of the Bucks’ rotation at this point in the season where has been leapfrogged by the likes of Pat Connaughton, Donte DiVincenzo, Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver.
And for the second straight year, Brown has been hampered by injuries, the most notable one being a shoulder injury that kept him out of four games at the end of November and the beginning of December. There’s no question that has led to the dip in Brown’s effectiveness this season.
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In any event, we’ll keep our eyes on the wire as the trade deadline inches closer as it both relates to the Bucks’ activity and whether Brown may end up getting dealt.