The Milwaukee Bucks are in a position that no one expected them to be at 10 games into the season as they sit two games under 0.500 and have dealt with a slew of injuries. This has caused much early panic among Bucks fans as they watch the Bucks continue to give up offensive rebounds and not finish off possessions on defense.
A lot of this has to do with Brook Lopez missing all but the opening game of the season with back soreness. It’s a bit concerning on a couple of fronts. First, Lopez sitting out this long with back problems feels somewhat worrying, especially since he is without a timetable for a return. Second, their rebounding and defense have fallen apart without him to box out multiple guys.
The frontcourt depth was a glaring issue as they came into the season and while I believe at full health, the big man rotation isn’t bad by any means, if Lopez were to suffer a longer-term injury, they would need someone to fill in the gaps.
We looked at free agent bigs that the Bucks could make a run at for their extra roster spot, but let’s assume they don’t want to use that extra roster spot and continue to save on the luxury tax. That would mean a trade would be the best course of action and even though the Bucks are hamstrung by the cap, there are still a few names who could be viable options.
3 way-too-early big man trade candidates for the Milwaukee Bucks: Derrick Favors
This is likely the most unrealistic of the three candidates simply because of his salary. Derrick Favors is making a little over 9.7 million dollars against the cap this season for the Oklahoma City Thunder and has a player option next season for over 10 million dollars. The Bucks have just four players making over 10 million dollars against the cap this season. Heck, they only have four guys making over 6 million!
However, Favors is my favorite potential big man trade candidate and I wanted to mention him right off the bat. After being drafted third overall by the New Jersey Nets in 2010, Favors has turned himself into a valuable big man coming off the bench in recent for good teams, primarily the Utah Jazz. He is a good finisher around the rim and can protect it at the other end.
What is most appealing about him to Bucks fans is that his teams consistently do better on the defensive glass with him on the floor. According to Cleaning the Glass, in a six-season stretch from 2014-15 to 2019-20, Favors’ opponents’ offensive rebounding rates were nearly 1.5 percent lower when he was on the court.
The only way the Bucks could make this work is by putting a salary like Donte DiVincenzo’s (who is making around 4.6 million) plus more but then you’d want more back from the Thunder in that scenario since DiVincenzo is worth more in a trade than Favors.
I can dream, though.