In a trade expanded to a three-team deal with Phoenix and Chicago, the Milwaukee Bucks are adding forwards Ousmane Dieng and Nigel Hayes-Davis in exchange for Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey.
Suns center Nick Richards will head to the Bulls. If NBA fans overlooked Hayes-Davis altogether, it would be hard to fault them. Of the five players involved, it's a good bet his name carries the least weight in headlines. Bucks fans, however, may remember him from his highly successful time as a Wisconsin Badger nearly a decade ago.
Bucks wouldn't be first Wisconsin team Hayes-Davis has played for
Assuming Hayes-Davis is here to stay, suiting up for the Bucks would be his second stint playing basketball in Wisconsin.
From 2013 to 2017, the 6-foot-7 forward wore Badgers red and white, carving out a starting role from his sophomore season on. All in all, he played 150 games at the University of Wisconsin, averaging 12.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. During the Badgers' Sweet 16 run in his senior year, Hayes-Davis contributed 19 points and eight boards per game in the Tournament. In an overtime loss to Florida, he put up a valiant effort with a team-high 22.
Hayes-Davis made a professional career for himself out of college, but not in the NBA. After appearing in nine games for three different teams in 2017-18, he left to play overseas. In seven seasons playing basketball in Europe and Turkey, Hayes-Davis averaged 10.6 points on 47 percent shooting overall and 39.5 percent from three. Following the 2024-25 season, he signed with the Suns on a one-year guaranteed contract worth $2 million.
Now 31, the Wisconsin product appeared in 27 games for Phoenix, averaging 1.3 points in under nine minutes per contest. Primarily, Hayes-Davis supplied size and depth at the wing and forward positions on the fringes of the Suns' rotation. Effectively replacing Coffey, he figures to occupy a similar role for the Bucks.
Initially, acquiring Richards appeared to be Milwaukee's main motivation in the trade, but Dieng has replaced him as the second player heading to the Bucks in an update from ESPN's Shams Charania. There is no reported draft capital changing hands, and all players involved are on expiring contracts. Dieng, 22, will become a restricted free agent after finishing out this season on a $6.7 million team option.
As for Hayes-Davis, the former Wisconsin Badger will return to the state where he first made his name on the hardwood and partook in four NCAA Tournaments, including an appearance in the National Championship game versus Duke as a sophomore.