Back in April, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report wrote in an article that the San Antonio Spurs may be the key team in the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets getting a deal done involving Kyrie Irving and Russel Westbrook. In the same article he mentioned that after trading Derrick White last season and Dejounte Murray earlier this off-season, teams consider the San Antonio Spurs willing to trade Jakob Poeltl, Josh Richardson and Doug McDermott. Could the Milwaukee Bucks potentially swoop in and work a deal with the Spurs who are looking to rebuild their roster?
Could the Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs be trade partners: Would the Bucks be able to go after the three players mentioned?
Josh Richardson is a 28 year old shooting guard/small forward who has spent time with five different NBA teams, four in the last three years. Richardson is a free agent next summer and is set to make just over $12 million this season. Considering Grayson Allen would be likely needed to be included in this deal and the fact that Grayson Allen averaged more points and rebounds per game, nearly the same assists and for nearly $4 million less, it doesn’t seem that the Bucks stand to gain much from trading for Richardson. Josh Richardson did record a slightly better defensive rating than Grayson Allen, but not enough to make up for the difference in salary or offensive efficiency. Safe to say Richardson would not be a good fit for the Bucks.
Doug McDermott may be a better fit for the Milwaukee Bucks than Richardson, but McDermott, who’s stats are similar to Grayson Allen’s make things a bit more complicated. McDermott is scheduled to make $13.75 million in both of the next two seasons, the same timeframe that Grayson Allen is making $8.5 million.
Jakob Poeltl has the most team friendly contract of the three, at $8.75 million for this season and $9.38 million for next season.