The Milwaukee Bucks roster is capped out for the time being at 15 players, but they’re also entering next season without a tertiary point guard backing up Jrue Holiday.
If the Buck went into next season with the roster, they’ll need one of Andre Jackson Jr., TyTy Washington, or Lindell Wigginton to play meaningful playmaking minutes whenever Holiday takes to the bench. While freshman coach Adrian Griffin does have a few playmaking options available at his disposal with most of the team having decent to good playmaking abilities outside of the point guard position, the reality is that the Bucks have no established true point guard on their lineup. Not even their starting point guard is what you would call a natural, pass-first point guard who can facilitate an offense and keep the ball moving.
Because of this flawed roster construction, trade machine suggestions have not stopped circulating on social media among the Milwaukee Bucks fandom proposing moves to land better, more established point guards to take on playmaking duties for this role.
In this article, we’ll break down one such trade proposal, this time proposed by Behind the Buck Pass site expert Dalton Sell in one of his most recent articles.
Grade the trade: A Milwaukee Bucks’ trade package for T.J. McConnell
In this trade, Milwaukee trades Grayson Allen and a second-round pick to the Indiana Pacers, and in exchange, they get TJ McConnell. The validity there is immediately apparent: while the Pacers are in the middle of their transition from rebuilding mode to winning more basketball games, the contending Bucks are in great need of secondary playmaking to bolster their title hopes this coming season.
There’s a lot to like with a trade like this for both sides. McConnell is a seasoned professional with a strong track record who can fill that position off the bench with solid playmaking, defense, and all the hustle and intangibles you could want. For his part, shooting guard Allen is a youthful and gifted score-first player, but his recent playoff performances with the team show that he may not be ready to contribute at a top level right now.
Let’s grade the trade by looking at how the teams involved are affected and who these players are at this point in their respective careers. After that, we will hand it a letter grade.
Grade the trade: Milwaukee Bucks’ point of view
There’s nothing that’s difficult to read into here. The Milwaukee Bucks are in need of a backup point guard, and TJ McConnell has been one of the most solid backups in that position in this league for what feels like his entire career. The need is there, and the assets required to land a player of his caliber are available.
It’s not hard to imagine how TJ McConnell would fit well on the Milwaukee Bucks. He is a good defender and passer, and he can also score off the dribble. He would be a good fit for the Bucks’ second unit, and he would also provide insurance in case Jrue Holiday gets injured.
The Bucks’ second unit needs a point guard who can run the offense and get everyone involved. McConnell would be a good fit for that role while also providing insurance in case Jrue Holiday gets injured. If they’re able to pull off this trade, McConnell is a more than solid playmaker who can find open teammates with relative ease. He averaged 5.3 assists per game last season in a campaign that saw him put up asset-to-usage ratio of 1.68 according to Cleaning the Glass, which would put him in the 96th percentile among players in his position for that statistic.
On top of that, McConnell is also a pesky defender who is always in the right place. He is also a good rebounder for his size. Though he only stands at 6-foot-2, opposing teams shot -3.3 fewer points per 100 possessions in the minutes TJ was on the court, which puts McConnel in the 79th percentile among point guards in defensive rating, Cleaning the Glass says.
McConnell also doesn’t have a history of being a great shooter, but he also capped out last season shooting 44.1 percent from deep, which points to significant improvement for the career 34.3 percent shooter. Beyond just floor-spacing, TJ can also very occasionally score off the dribble and create his own shot, which is always a good trait to have as a point guard.
On the other hand, Grayson Allen’s playoff struggles in 2022 indicate that he still has some work to do to reach his full potential as a young NBA player. In 24 career playoff games to this point, he’s put up considerably below-average numbers for a starting shooting guard with 8.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, and a single assist.
Grade the trade: Indiana Pacers’ point of view
Despite his struggles, Allen showed some flashes of potential in the playoffs. He’s pulled out a few big games, including a career playoff-high 27 points that saw the Bucks take down the Bulls to take a 3-1 series lead in what might be his only good playoff series with the team.
There are a few reasons why the Indiana Pacers might be willing to part ways with TJ McConnell to go get Grayson Allen, but the biggest argument would be what the Pacers need right now.
McConnell is a traditional point guard who is a good passer and defender, but his play style may be incongruent with the Pacers who are now very clearly investing in Tyrese Haliburton at that position. Allen is a more versatile player who can score from the perimeter and create his own shot.
Though there’s a lot to say about Grayson Allen’s playoff flameouts, it’s also hard to debate the fact that he’s won more than a handful of regular-season games for the Bucks with his balanced blend of scoring, floor-spacing, and defense. Every team in this league needs that specialist type of player who can space the floor, and Allen is arguably up there as proven by his 39.9 percent efficiency from behind the 3-point line and more than five attempts a night.
The Pacers might be looking for a player who can give them more scoring punch, while Allen could be a good complementary player to Haliburton, as he can play off the ball and score from the perimeter.
It’s also worth mentioning that McConnell is already aging at 31 years old and is entering the final year of his contract, which means it’s tough to find a way he fits into their current timeline with Tyrese Haliburton and Benedict Mathurin. Allen is 27 years old, doesn’t need the ball in his hands to find a role, and has two years left on his contract. The Pacers might be looking to get younger, develop their younger pieces, and have more financial flexibility in the future.
Looking at their depth chart, it would make sense for Indiana to want to give sophomore Andrew Nembhard some more run to develop him as their secondary point guard of the future. Past him, they also did just sign Bruce Brown, who’s more than capable of taking up that point-forward role handling the rock.
Grade the trade: The verdict
I would grade this trade package as a B- for the Bucks, though it’s an exchange that makes sense for both teams on paper. To my mind, the trade comes down to the simple fact that the Pacers are rebuilding and need young talent, while the Bucks are (or at the very least should be) looking to improve their depth at point guard.
I’m personally hesitant about dishing out a second-rounder for McConnell even if it could eventually sweeten the deal for Indiana. While the late is a relatively small price to pay for McConnell, it is still a future asset that the Bucks will have to give up at a time when they are sorely lacking in capital to build for the possibility of a post-Giannis future or upgrade the roster in an effort to keep Giannis in Milwaukee.
On the one hand, they are getting a solid backup point guard in TJ McConnell, who would be a good fit for the Bucks’ second unit, and he would also provide insurance in case Jrue Holiday gets injured.
On the other hand, the Bucks are giving up Grayson Allen, who is a more balanced specialist than other floor-spacers around the league. Allen is also a competent defender, and he has clearly put in the work to noticeably improve his playmaking and finishing at the rim in recent years.
There are also minor flaws to McConnell’s game to consider. For one thing, he still has a limited sample size of being a good shooter. If his continued aging comes to affect his current uptick in efficiency, this could be a concern for the Bucks, who have built their offensive identity around shooting to complement Giannis Antetokounmpo’s inward gravity for years now.
For a point guard, McConnell is not a great ball-handler, and he can be turnover-prone at times. While he’s an above-average playmaker, his game has always been more fundamental than flashy, which could manifest in a lack of counters for stingy defenses. This could be a concern for the Bucks, who need their point guards to be able to handle the ball well.
Ultimately, whether or not this trade is a good one for the Bucks depends on their goals for the upcoming season. They may want to keep Allen, who is a young and talented player in his own right, and they can choose to trust some of their younger point guards instead and grow internally. However, if they are looking to improve their depth at point guard, this is a trade that they should definitely consider.
BTBP Grade: B-
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