Grade The Trade: Bucks add two-time All-Star in a deal with rivaling Bulls
By Dalton Sell
The Milwaukee Bucks have been involved in plenty of fake trade proposals this NBA off-season, but this one may be the most talked about yet.
In his latest article for Bleacher Report, Zach Buckley broke down a trade involving every team’s worst contract. For the Bucks, Khris Middleton, fresh off an extension, was selected, and Buckley proposed a trade between Milwaukee and the Chicago Bulls. With all of that said, let us break the deal down from the perspective of both teams before handing it a letter grade.
The Milwaukee Bucks’ POV on this trade
This section will be incredibly short. The lone positive from Milwaukee’s perspective here is that an All-Star talent would be coming to town.
LaVine has really turned himself into a nice player over these past few seasons, having earned two All-Star nods in three years. Over the last four seasons, he’s averaged 25.5 points while shooting a strong 39 percent from 3-point range. A scorer like that would certainly form an interesting trio in Milwaukee alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday.
Also, it’s a bit odd that Middleton is classified as Milwaukee’s worst contract, as his new contract, worth $103 million over three years, isn’t all too bad. He could have demanded even more, but he decided to take a pay cut to return. Sure, he dealt with injuries last season, but as he started to get his legs back under him, he looked good. If this is the Bucks’ worst contract, that’s not too bad.
Aside from getting a former All-Star player who is still young at 28 years old, there is not much to love about this trade at all. The problem here isn’t about what the Bucks would be receiving; it’s about what they would be giving up. Fans would be calling for General Manager Jon Horst’s job if he made this trade.
That said, let us move on and look at Chicago’s point of view when it comes to this trade package.