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.
3 way-too-early big man trade candidates for the Milwaukee Bucks: Robin Lopez
If the Bucks are looking for the closest thing to a Brook Lopez replacement in the minutes that he isn’t on the floor, there isn’t a better option than bringing back his twin brother Robin. He spent a single season with the Bucks in 2019-20 and did a relatively solid job at being his brother’s backup.
Robin Lopez is extremely similar to his brother in that his individual rebound numbers are gaudy but his teams consistently outrebound their opponents at both ends of the floor when he is out there. It even happened with the Bucks, although they did give up more offensive rebounds when he was out there, it’s likely due to him playing minutes when Brook was off the floor.
Every other year of his career, Robin’s teams are significantly better at rebounding the ball and finishing off defensive possessions.
He also is a pretty realistic trade candidate once the recently signed restriction comes off his contract. He is on a one-year deal worth 5 million dollars with the Orlando Magic, who have a plethora of bigs including Wendell Carter Jr., Mo Bamba, Mo Wagner, Chuma Okeke, and Jonathan Isaac once he returns from injury.
The Bucks could likely piece some salaries together to make this work and shore up their frontcourt rebounding woes by bringing back an old friend. They already brought back George Hill, why not add another member from the 2019-20 team!
3 way-too-early big man trade candidates for the Milwaukee Bucks: Veteran minimum centers
Listen, there aren’t a lot of realistic bigs out there that can help what the Bucks need, specifically in regards to rebounding. A lot of the options are either too expensive (Tristan Thompson, Daniel Theis, Kelly Olynyk), aren’t realistic because their team won’t trade them (Daniel Gafford, Naz Reid), or simply won’t help (Willie Cauley-Stein, Jaxson Hayes). We can’t rule out the buyout market too, of course.
However, when we turn to the big men that are signed to veteran minimum contracts (or close to it), there are a couple of interesting options that could become available for trade. Keep in mind, these are not sexy solutions by any means, but they’re cheap and could be had for very little (a highly protected second-round pick type of thing).
- Cody Zeller, Portland Trail Blazers
- Ed Davis, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Willy Hernangomez, New Orleans Pelicans
- Drew Eubanks, San Antonio Spurs
My favorite of the group is Zeller and I actually would have liked to see the Bucks scoop him up in free agency, especially for the veteran minimum contract that he signed. He’s a very useful big man, even more so for that cheap of a price and, as has been the theme so far, his teams do better rebounding the ball when he’s on the floor.
The only difference with Zeller is that his teams do significantly better on the offensive glass when he is on the floor. That was a strength of the Bucks during their title run and even if he keeps them around neutral on the defensive glass, grabbing a couple of extra possessions would be a massive help.
He’s not the sexiest option and if the Portland Trail Blazers remain in contention for a playoff or play-in spot, he may not become available. But I’m still holding out hope, dang it!
All of these are a long way away due to some trade restrictions, but it’s an early look at what could be available for the Milwaukee Bucks.