Milwaukee Bucks: Comparing assets for Nemanja Bjelica to other suitors
Now eight days out from the trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks are reportedly searching for some kind of midseason reinforcement.
The vast majority of trade speculation coming out of Milwaukee has focused on veteran Houston Rockets forward P.J. Tucker. But with each report that comes out on Tucker’s inevitable departure from the Rockets, the Bucks face stiff competition to potentially land Tucker in a deal at this time.
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The same is increasingly true of Sacramento Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica, whom the Bucks were linked to last month and is among the most likely players to get dealt ahead of the March 25 deadline.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick ($$) recently reported that the Bucks, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers have all had interest in Bjelica throughout this season.
Whether there will be more teams in the mix for Bjelica remains to be seen and there’s plenty of reason to believe there will, given that he’s on an expiring $7.1 million salary this season.
The Milwaukee Bucks will be hard-pressed to find a workable offer for Nemanja Bjelica.
Even at that very fair affordable price, the Bucks are in a similar position with Bjelica as they are with Tucker and likely any veteran upgrade for that matter.
They have D.J. Wilson’s expiring $4.5 million salary that will almost certainly be used as salary filler, but the Bucks have to reach $5.68 million in order to cleanly acquire Bjelica due to their hard cap restrictions. So moving another player will have to be done in order to make a deal possible, but that might not be enough to make the Kings’ worthwhile just yet.
This is where the Bucks’ limited pile of draft assets will have to come in handy as the Kings will look to bring something of value in return for Bjelica. Milwaukee has their 2023, 2024 and 2027 second rounders as well as the 2025 second round pick that they got from the Indiana Pacers that they’re willing to move in any type of deal to net a veteran upgrade to prepare for their upcoming playoff run.
Now whether that satisfies the Kings’ asking price remains to be seen, but just as is the case with talks regarding Tucker, including Donte DiVincenzo and his cost-controlled contract is too rich for the Bucks to deal away on a three-month rental. If that’s a breaking point in talks, it’s one the Bucks should be comfortable walking away from, despite the interest Bjelica is commanding elsewhere.