Grade the trade: Bucks add established backup guard in swap with Wizards
By Franco Luna
Grade the trade: Milwaukee’s point of view
This trade comes down to one fact: the Bucks are still a championship contender, and they need a backup point guard who can help them win now.
Playoff losses year after year have exposed that Jrue Holiday is a natural two-guard who is playing out of his position at point guard. He’s a fine scorer, but his ball-handling and playmaking are suspect once the game slows down in the half-court. This could be due to Mike Budenholzer’s system (or lack thereof) as this writer has long argued, but there’s a valid argument to be made that a true pass-first point guard could further unlock the offensive dynamic between Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez, and even Holiday himself.
This trade would give the Bucks a veteran backup point guard who can provide solid playmaking, defense, and shooting off the bench. Wright is a proven winner who has helped lead his bench units in the past. He is also a good defender and a capable shooter, which would be a valuable addition to the Bucks’ championship-contending roster.
On the court, Wright would provide scoring, facilitating, and defense. For his career, he’s averaged 7.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting a league-average 35.3 percent from behind the arc.
At 6-foot-5, he’s got solid size for a point guard and can hold his own defensively against other guards (and possibly even smaller forwards) when asked. This only means that Wright would fit in seamlessly alongside Milwaukee’s other pieces and make for some interesting lineups to throw at opposing teams, whether next to the starters or leading the team’s tertiary pieces.
On the other hand, Allen is under contract for one more season at $8.5 million. This is a good contract for a bench player, but it’s not a great contract for a starter. If the Bucks want to upgrade their starting lineup, they might need to trade Allen to free up cap space.
Allen has also been a liability on defense in the playoffs, particularly against bigger guards like Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum. The Bucks need to improve their defense if they want to win another championship, and trading Allen could be one way to do that.
When you look at the Bucks roster, one conclusion is that Allen is the odd man out. The Bucks now have the services of Malik Beasley, who can provide all of the same things, while MarJon Beauchamp seems primed for more minutes. Pat Connaughton’s playing time might not be going anywhere considering he’s the more consistent and flexible player. It might simply be time for Allen to go, even if he did put out some fine performances for Milwaukee.
According to Cleaning the Glass (Subscription required), Delon logged a 1.39 assist-to-usage ratio and a minus-4.3 defensive rating in his minutes for the Wizards last season, which would be good for the 92nd and 86th percentiles among players in his position in those statistics, respectively.
The combination of Wright, Jrue Holiday, and the likes of Andre Jackson Jr. would also give the Bucks a very strong backcourt defensively. Wright is also a good playmaker, and he would help to create shots for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton and decrease the offensive load on them.