3 dark horse trade candidates for the Milwaukee Bucks before 2023 deadline
By Dalton Sell
The 2023 NBA trade deadline is less than a month away, and all eyes are on the Milwaukee Bucks following a rough stretch recently.
Though the Bucks certainly are not in panic mode, the team could certainly make some tweaks to its roster to upgrade in certain aspects. When it comes to potential candidates, the two recurring names are Jae Crowder and Bojan Bogdanovic. Both have been linked to the Bucks recently, and it would not be surprising to see the team acquire one of the two. While either of those two would be good additions to the roster, the Bucks could have some other targets in mind that come out of nowhere. With that said, let us look at three potential dark horse trade targets.
3 dark horse trade candidates for the Milwaukee Bucks before 2023 deadline – Jarred Vanderbilt, Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz remain a team that everyone is monitoring leading up to the 2023 trade deadline. They have a handful of interesting players who could be available, including Jarred Vanderbilt. As reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer, Utah has established a high asking price for the power forward, but he could be had. What that asking price is remains to be seen, but the Bucks should dare to find out by at least kicking the tires on a deal.
It is no secret that the Bucks are looking for more help defensively, as backed by their pursuit of Crowder over the past few months. If the Bucks ultimately cannot get Crowder, Vanderbilt would be a solid target as well. The 23-year-old is currently putting up some impressive numbers across the board with 8.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game this season. Adding him would help fix Milwaukee’s need for another wing defender, as the 6-foot-9 forward could be used to guard opposing high-level scorers.
Vanderbilt would not be a seamless fit for the Bucks because he has never been much of a 3-point shooter, but he has improved in that area this season. After shooting 3-of-21 from deep in his first four seasons, Vanderbilt is already up to 15-of-44 this season. Improvement like that is great, but it is still not a strong suit of his. However, if the Bucks were to express interest in him, it would not be for his offensive repertoire. Vanderbilt could be the piece defensively this Milwaukee team is in the hunt for right now, and they could be willing to sacrifice some offense if so.
Financially, Vanderbilt would be an affordable target for the Bucks at $4.3 million this season. Yet, the question mark is what the Jazz want in exchange for his services. Vanderbilt might not be one target the Bucks should go all-in on, but if they have a chance to make a reasonable move, adding the 23-year-old would be one player to give them a highly-coveted promising defensive ace.