The Cole Anthony experiment went bust for the Milwaukee Bucks. That doesn't mean they shouldn't try to salvage some fractional value by testing the trade waters. They might get the same answer the Grizzlies did in the offseason. No one showed interest in Anthony, so Memphis bought him out. Or, the Bucks might find someone desperate enough, as they were last summer, to give him a spin. They wouldn't get much, but it would be something. He isn't playing, anyway, so what do they have to lose?
Anthony might not be exciting, but he is a point guard
Anthony last appeared in a game against those same Grizzlies back on December 26. That was for all of three minutes. He last played any substantial minutes on Dec. 14 in a blowout loss to the Nets. The game before, a win over Boston, was the only other time Anthony had seen real burn in the past six weeks. For all intents and purposes, he is out of the rotation.
Anthony had struggled for some time before the demotion. Overall, this season, he is averaging 6.5 points and 3.7 assists. Inefficiency and reckless ball-handling ultimately made him unplayable for the Bucks. Maybe another team out there believes they can unlock his talents, or at least a serviceable NBA point guard. Once upon a time, that was the hope in Milwaukee.
There are teams that could use help at the position. The Atlanta Hawks just traded Trae Young, but not because they have too many point guards. One could argue they have none. There, Anthony could serve a purpose, if only a small one, off the bench. The Bucks, on the other hand, discovered that Kevin Porter Jr. and Ryan Rollins give them all the help they need.
Out West, Minnesota is another team in need of extra minutes. Houston could be interested. So could the Clippers.
What would the Bucks get in return? Not much, to be sure, but as part of a larger scheme, flipping Anthony for a pair of second-round picks could give them backend ammo for another deal. Perhaps, in exchange for Anthony, a needy team would give the Bucks a fringe player they could actually use.
In the end, Milwaukee might just decide they would rather keep him around for insurance. In case of emergency, they have less depth now after waiving Mark Sears on a two-way contract. All the same, they have nothing to lose by gauging Anthony's value in the open market. Whatever they could get back is more than he's giving them now.