After months of discussions, the Milwaukee Bucks finally have their guy.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Milwaukee Bucks added Jae Crowder from the Brooklyn Nets for five second-round picks in a three-team deal on Thursday. This move is perfect for both sides as the Nets have a surplus of wings on the roster, and Milwaukee needed to add wing depth. This is the best-case scenario for Milwaukee.
What the Milwaukee Bucks traded for in the Jae Crowder deal
This deal reminds me of what Milwaukee got two years ago in acquiring P.J. Tucker from the Houston Rockets. Crowder is an exceptional defender, adds more wing depth, and will guard the opposing team’s best player.
Crowder hasn’t suited up in an NBA game this season, but played in 67 games last season for the Phoenix Suns and has been a durable player throughout his career.
While he only shot 34 percent from three last season, Crowder shoots about 40 percent from the field and will add another scoring element to Milwaukee’s offense.
Jae Crowder, similar to P.J. Tucker, adds a toughness factor to Milwaukee. Milwaukee needs guys who are willing to fight for their guys, and while Bobby Portis fills that role beautifully, they needed another enforcer on the squad because we know what happened the last time Milwaukee had two enforcers on the squad.
What the Milwaukee Bucks traded away in the Jae Crowder deal
As part of the three-team deal, the Bucks traded five second-round picks while sending Jordan Nwora, Serge Ibaka, and George Hill to the Indiana Pacers.
The draft picks are the most notable in this deal, as Milwaukee gave up a lot of them for one player, and they don’t have a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.
Draft picks for a championship-contending team are not important, and young developmental players don’t help Milwaukee in the long term, so the moves to offload draft picks are perfect because this is a veteran-led team. Milwaukee needed to acquire a defensive-minded player who could help them now.
Jordan Nwora, George Hill, and Serge Ibaka are all heading to Indiana. This move isn’t surprising as there were reports that Milwaukee offered Serge Ibaka, George Hill, and Jordan Nwora for Crowder previously, but the Suns ultimately declined the trade.
Here’s what Milwaukee has lost in these three departures.
Jordan Nwora:
A 2020 second-round draft pick out of Lousiville, Nwora could score in bunches and was a streaky shooter during his time in Milwaukee. He wasn’t a great defender and lost minutes to a more defense-first player in Wesley Matthews, so that made Nwora’s role on the team tenuous. Waiting to re-sign Nwora as a restricted free agent did not pan out in Milwaukee because while Nwora showed flashes of being a part of the rotation, his defense wasn’t consistent enough, and he has only played in 38 games this time season.
George Hill:
After re-signing with the Bucks in the 2021 free agency period, Hill was lauded as a valuable backup point guard in his first stint in Milwaukee. His second stint wasn’t as smooth as Hill fought through a knee and neck injury last season which hindered his performance in the 2022 NBA playoffs. This season, Hill played better but didn’t have much of an impact on the court and hasn’t played much recently so it made him expendable.
Serge Ibaka:
Ibaka was acquired on last year’s NBA trade deadline from the LA Clippers as an insurance policy for Brook Lopez, who missed most of the season with a back injury, and there were no guarantees he would return.
Well, Lopez did, and Ibaka immediately lost minutes. Ibaka only played in 19 games last season, and only 16 games this season. In recent weeks, the team and Ibaka had mutually agreed to find the big man a new team.
It’s not that Ibaka was bad in Milwaukee, but he wasn’t the dominant defensive force that he was in Oklahoma City and Toronto.
Overall, these three players were expected to be dealt at the deadline, and adding a guy like Jae Crowder, who will be a foundational championship piece, was worth the price.
The final grade for the Milwaukee Bucks’ Jae Crowder trade
I love this move for the Bucks.
The Bucks are adding a solid-role player and a player with a defense-first mentality in Crowder. Milwaukee only gave up draft picks, two veterans, and a young developmental player for Crowder which is a steal.
Bringing Jae Crowder off the bench will bring energy to the Bench Mob. Even slotting in Crowder at the end of games will be lethal because you have five shutdown defenders (Holiday, Middleton, Antetokounmpo, Crowder, and Lopez). Milwaukee adding Crowder will help them become more well-rounded defensively.
Milwaukee adding Crowder was key because they had been slipping a little bit defensively, and in the absence of Khris Middleton, they had blown a few fourth-quarter leads this season. Adding Crowder should help with that issue.
This move is a small step for Milwaukee to reach its championship aspirations, and with Crowder having ties to the area, the energy of this team will be alive and well.
BTBP Final Grade: A-
Get ready Milwaukee Bucks fans because Jae Crowder is back home.