3 compelling Milwaukee Bucks’ trade targets with ties to Jrue Holiday

3 Milwaukee Bucks’ trade targets with ties to Jrue Holiday – Kenrich Williams

For the first two seasons of his career, Kenrich Williams shared a locker room with Jrue Holiday as they were members of the New Orleans Pelicans. During their time together, Holiday went on the record to rave about the forward’s approach to the game, talking about his humbleness and how hard he plays every single night. The Milwaukee Bucks should take Holiday’s word and make an offer for Williams, now playing for the OKC Thunder, this offseason, as he could patch up some noticeable holes on their current roster right on impact.

Among the obvious reasons why targeting Williams would make sense for the Bucks is his ability to fill their current small ball power forward opening. This was something that the team lacked throughout the 2021-22 season, which hurt them mightily, given just how lethal Milwaukee can be when Giannis Antetokounmpo is at the center position. Standing at 6-foot-6, 210lbs, Williams may be a tad undersized compared to other small ball forward targets such as P.J. Washington or even E.J. Liddell, but he could still get the job done to play the position when the Bucks go small.

Looking closer at Williams’ career numbers, some may have concerns about the 27-year-old’s fit with the franchise due to his subpar outside shooting, having sunk 34.6 percent of his perimeter shots on 2.5 attempts per game. Long distance shooting is a crucial attribute for any hypothetical target for the Bucks, given how it helps said player fit alongside Antetokounmpo. While Williams’ overall 3-point shooting numbers are not desirable, a particular aspect of his production from three is eye-catching, and that is his ability to capitalize on “wide open” looks. According to NBA.com/stats, Williams has shot an efficient 118-of-299 (39.5 percent) on his 3-point looks when given six or more feet of space. Williams would get plenty of those looks playing in Milwaukee, as players tend to do, and that may lessen some of the concern.

At the time of this writing, Williams has a non-guaranteed salary of $2 million for 2022-23, and it would be a no-brainer for OKC to guarantee it. In that case, the forward would have an affordable salary for the Bucks to absorb, making his fit with the franchise even more desirable. It remains up in the air whether or not the Thunder would entertain trading Williams away, given that he seems to have found a nice role there, but given their willingness to seemingly part with anyone on their roster in exchange for draft capital, it may not be too far-fetched. It undoubtedly would not hurt to at least inquire about acquiring him.