3 Milwaukee Bucks who could surprisingly be traded during 2023 offseason

2- Pat Connaughton

Pat Connaughton had a down year with the Milwaukee Bucks last year. His 3-point percentage dipped from 39 percent in the 2021-22 season to 33 percent last season. Connaughton dealt with a bothersome calf injury throughout the season, which was the cause of his performance drop, but Milwaukee needs to get more playmakers off the bench.

Connaughton shouldn’t be relied upon to be the instant offense guy off the bench, and Milwaukee’s lack of offensive playmaking off the bench has been the reason they have come up short the past two postseasons.

It’s hard to deny that Milwaukee looks top-heavy right now. Sure, Antetokoumpo, Middleton, Lopez, and Holiday can win 50 games in their sleep, but what about the postseason? That’s a time for everybody to step, and play their best basketball.

Building a good bench is hard, and while the prognosticators Milwaukee had a deep team because they filled every position, it didn’t matter because there wasn’t a lot of scoring on that bench.

Via StatMuse, Milwaukee, as a bench unit, averaged 34.3 points a game this past season, good for 17th in the NBA. Good bench scoring isn’t the end all be all, as the Nuggets (32.9 points,) and Miami 29.8 points had lower points per game outputs off the bench than Milwaukee during the regular season, but both are currently playing in the NBA Finals.

My point is, it’s time for Jon Horst to part with some guys who were there when the Bucks started contending. If Milwaukee hopes to keep its contention window open, should go after guys who, outside of spacing the floor, can be relied on offensively; especially in key games.