How the Milwaukee Bucks offseason decisions impact trade deadline plans

The Milwaukee Bucks acquiring Grayson Allen from the Memphis Grizzlies

If an unintended consequence of the Grayson Allen trade was that the Bucks couldn’t get someone like Donsunmu or Jones, then I’m more than ok with the decision to trade down.

This has to be considered the Bucks’ best move of the offseason and it wouldn’t be close for me. They were able to acquire a player who, at worst, is a rotation player that can play in the playoffs, for a couple of future second-round picks and a former second-round pick that has played six NBA games this season.

No disrespect to Sam Merrill, but he wouldn’t have had anywhere close to the same impact that Allen has had for this team. He is averaging around 12 points on 58.2 percent true shooting which is helped, in large part, by him shooting nearly 40 percent from 3 on nearly seven attempts per game.

He has more than sufficiently plugged the hole in the starting lineup while Donte DiVincenzo was recovering from ankle surgery and while he is working his way back into form. Allen gave the Bucks a significant boost early in the season when they routinely were missing one or more of their big three and he was able to step up by providing efficient scoring in more ways than spot-up shooting.

He has proven to be a fantastic fit alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo as a floor spacer and if he can continue to shoot as well as create offense consistently, he has eliminated a need for the Bucks to find secondary scoring around their star players.

His spacing has also filled a role that was vacated by the Bucks choosing not to bring back one of two notable free agents.