Milwaukee Bucks: 3 questions they must ask before trade deadline

Questions the Milwaukee Bucks must ask before the trade deadline — Is it time to jump ship on D.J. Augustin already?

The D.J. Augustin experiment has been a complete failure for the Bucks so far.

Throughout 26 appearances off the bench, the veteran guard is averaging just 6.1 points on .341/.372/.895 shooting splits, 1.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 17.9 minutes per game. Augustin has been nearly unplayable throughout extended stretches this season, and it has hindered the Bucks significantly.

With starting point guard Jrue Holiday sidelined due to COVID protocols for the final four games of Milwaukee’s road trip, the Bucks needed Augustin to step up off the bench. As their only other listed point guard available, the veteran did not exactly embrace the next man up mentality when the team needed him the most. Augustin managed to score a combined 24 points during that four-game stretch and shot an abysmal 6-for-25 from the field, including 3-of-16 from behind the arc.

It is safe to say that Augustin has not lived up to the three-year, $21 million deal that the Bucks handed him this offseason, which might force them to make a move. This question might have seemingly already answered itself, as Yahoo! Sports’ Vince Goodwill reported recently that the Bucks were making a run at backup point guard Derrick Rose before he was traded to the New York Knicks.

If so, the Bucks are already surveying the trade landscape for a potential replacement point guard in the second unit. Augustin’s multi-year deal makes any deal far harder to come by, particularly considering they have little assets to package alongside him to make opposing teams more willing to bring him aboard.

There might not be too many backup point guards floating around on the trade market, but that might not stop the Bucks from doing their due diligence.