How the Milwaukee Bucks offseason decisions impact trade deadline plans

The Milwaukee Bucks signing George Hill, Rodney Hood, and Semi Ojeleye

A mixed bag of free-agent additions, to be sure but it leans towards the negative side than it does the positive.

Let’s start with the positives because I like to be a positive guy: I don’t think George Hill has been that bad. His 3-point shooting numbers have been ugly (a little over 30 percent on around three attempts per game) but he is still shooting over 55 percent on 2-point attempts and has been a solid defender.

They’re also way better when he’s on the floor (he has the highest individual net rating in the league) and routinely wins his minutes by a decent margin. All in all, that’s what I’m looking for with a backup point guard. As long as the ship isn’t sinking while you’re out there (and the ship is very much cruising with Hill out there), then you’re providing a good service.

I do not think that the Bucks need to move on from Hill this season and find a new backup point guard. He has been more than serviceable and this move is still a win for me.

Hood is relatively indifferent. He wasn’t coming in to fill a specific role as he’s not a pure shooter like Forbes is, but he was a potential bench scorer. He’s not what he used to be before the Achilles injury a couple of years ago and now he is fighting it out with Jordan Nwora for fringe rotation minutes as a bench sparkplug.

He doesn’t have a ton of trade value and his salary isn’t much but it could be some extra filler if needed. I was looking forward to seeing if Hood had recovered from the Achilles injury this season but it hasn’t panned out, unfortunately.

Perhaps the move I was most wrong about this offseason was the signing of Semi Ojeleye. I expected him to be a solid replacement for Tucker because he is a solid defender but also knocked down shots relatively well with the Boston Celtics last season.

That, uh, hasn’t happened this season!

I do feel bad that Ojeleye has had a tough year with injuries, COVID, and poor play when he’s in the lineup but that has been the most disappointing move of the offseason and the one that will impact the trade deadline most for the Bucks.

They need to find an athletic wing who can defend up in the lineup that isn’t Wesley Matthews. Thad Young has been the ideal candidate for that in my mind, but it remains to be seen if the Bucks will be able to acquire him.

The Bucks had a relatively decent offseason, all things considered, but are still searching for a couple of pieces to shore up their rotation come playoff time.