The Milwaukee Bucks are still attempting to make moves this summer, and they should try to clear out some of their guard depth in the process. Yet, they face a battle with contract aggregation, as several of their current players can only be traded individually rather than as pairs or a trio. One of their guards who does not fit this rule, though, is AJ Green.
Bucks have an overflow at guard and aggregation woes
It's been discussed before, but the Milwaukee Bucks currently have too many standard players on the roster, and the most obvious place to trim is the backcourt. Milwaukee has Tyler Herro, Ryan Rollins, Brayden Burries, Kevin Porter Jr., AJ Green, Gary Trent Jr., Caris LeVert, and Kasparas Jakucionis on the payroll. That's a lot of guards.
Of those players, Herro, LeVert, and Jakucionis cannot be aggregated with other players in a trade—joining Kel'el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. Sure, it would make more sense to move LeVert than Green in a trade, but value also comes into play. Green would have far more value, given that he is coming off a strong year and is one of the NBA's best shooters.
Green, making $10 million this coming season, alone wouldn't net the Milwaukee Bucks a big player, but if they paired him with Kyle Kuzma and/or Myles Turner, the team could get the wheels turning on something. They could knock out two birds with one stone, likely landing a roster upgrade while also clearing out the backcourt logjam.
Green is a useful player but roster jam looms large
No, the Milwaukee Bucks should not be looking to just dump AJ Green to the first team that wants him. The undrafted guard has transformed into a legitimate rotation player and should have a long future in this league due to his sweet shooting. Players like that do not grow on trees.
Yet, in the bigger picture, the Milwaukee Bucks have to be contemplating trading their development success story under the right circumstances. For example, the Bucks are among the teams chasing free agent Peyton Watson, who could very well end up in Milwaukee via sign-and-trade. Green would almost certainly be one of the names heading to the Nuggets in that potential framework.
There is no telling how things end here. Green could very well spend his entire career in Milwaukee, but right now, there have to be conversations ongoing.
Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.
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