Behind the Bucks Pass
Fansided

Milwaukee Bucks: 3 biggest ‘what ifs’ during the Bucks’ early 2010s run

By Jordan Treske

ATLANTA - APRIL 20: (L-R) Brandon Jennings #3, Kurt Thomas #40, John Salmons #15, Andrew Bogut #6 and Carlos Delfino #10 of the Milwaukee Bucks look on from the bench in the final minute of their 96-86 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on April 20, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - APRIL 20: (L-R) Brandon Jennings #3, Kurt Thomas #40, John Salmons #15, Andrew Bogut #6 and Carlos Delfino #10 of the Milwaukee Bucks look on from the bench in the final minute of their 96-86 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena on April 20, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
Milwaukee Bucks
CHICAGO, IL – NOVEMBER 26: (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /

Trading Tobias Harris

There have been plenty of monumental trades throughout the Bucks’ 52-year history, whether it’s been dealing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Ray Allen.

Dealing Tobias Harris, then a second-year forward, as the Bucks did as part of a blockbuster deal at the 2013 NBA trade deadline, doesn’t rise to the level of franchise-changing as the aforementioned examples. But what it ultimately does is define the ‘eighth-seed or bust’ Bucks and the ultimate short-sightedness that hung over the end of the Herb Kohl era.

Over his two seasons in Milwaukee, Harris stood as nothing more than a bit player, making 70 appearances and totaling just 804 minutes over that span, good for 11.5 minutes per game. Harris’ inexperience and defensive woes led to him never catching on in the team’s rotation under the perennially grouchy Scott Skiles and later, interim coach Jim Boylan.

Clearly, Harris hadn’t shown enough signs of being the efficient three-level scorer he later became along his stops in Orlando, Detroit, Los Angeles and now, Philadelphia. At the same time, the former Volunteer never was given the proper reps and development time needed to grow his game in Milwaukee and immediately blossomed upon being traded to Orlando.

Still, Harris was a valuable asset on a rookie contract, whom the Bucks believed could have been a difference maker after swinging a draft night trade with the Charlotte Bobcats during the 2011 NBA Draft. That was, until he was included in the deadline deal to acquire J.J. Redick, Ish Smith and Gustavo Ayon from the Magic.

Hindsight has been able to give us a look into what went into play as far as Harris’ inclusion and as the Toronto Sun’s Ryan Wolstat reported on in February of 2019, it went all the way to the top to Kohl.

For his part, Skiles insisted that he wouldn’t have advised the Bucks to trade Harris when speaking to Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in November 2015, despite Skiles never giving him a consistent chance while in Milwaukee:

"“He was pretty mature as a person even then,” Skiles said of Harris, who left Tennessee after his freshman year to enter the NBA draft. “In camp he got sick; he fell behind. “At that time, we just felt (Luc) Mbah a Moute was a better defender and (Mike) Dunleavy was a better offensive player, and Tobias didn’t get as many minutes. But we were high on him. “Not that anybody would have listened to me, but if I would have still been the coach, I would not have been for moving Tobias. That’s for sure, if somebody would ask my opinion.”"

Funnily enough, Harris was later traded to the Detroit Pistons in another trade deadline deal in February 2016 under Skiles’ one-year coaching stint with the Magic.

Eventually, the Bucks bottoming out as hard as they did during their 15-win season in 2013-14 and Kohl selling the team at the end of the season alleviated Hammond from having to ‘serve two masters’ as he would often describe his job at that time as he said to Grantland’s Zach Lowe in December 2014:

"“That is not who we are today,” says John Hammond, the team’s GM. “The core objective is long-term now: to develop into a championship-caliber team.”"

After many twists and turns and Hammond ultimately leaving for Orlando in the summer of 2017, that vision has come to pass. And it’s the reminder of Harris’ part in a deadline deal that left the Bucks with nothing meaningful to show for it that shows why building for the long-term was so necessary in the first place for Milwaukee.

Home/Bucks History