Bleacher Report's Zach Buckley just proposed another trade that sounds good on paper until you actually think about what Milwaukee would be giving up. His pitch: Bobby Portis, Andre Jackson Jr., and a 2031 first-round pick to New Orleans for Herb Jones.
The logic is straightforward. Milwaukee desperately needs elite perimeter defense, and Jones is one of the best wing defenders in the NBA. He'd instantly solve the problem of opposing stars torching the Bucks every night. That part makes sense.
Everything else about this deal is questionable at best.
The Bucks can't give up what's left of their future only to fall short
Let's start with Bobby Portis. It's well-documented at this point that he doesn't quite fit the modern identity Milwaukee's trying to build. But at the end of the day, he's still one of their most reliable scorers off the bench. The Bucks need his production with Giannis Antetokounmpo missing time and the offense struggling.
Trading him creates another hole while plugging one.
The 2031 first-round pick is the crux of the matter here. That's Milwaukee's only remaining valuable future asset, their insurance policy for when this core finally falls apart. Trading it for Herb Jones (a very good role player but not necessarily a franchise-altering talent) would be truly selling off what remains of the farm. You'd have to really believe he can move the needle, which he is very well capable of doing, to give this trade a chance.
But there are serious drawbacks to the return you're getting. Jones is 27 years old and has never averaged more than 11 points per game. He's a defensive specialist shooting 34.4 percent from three who can't create his own offense or run an offense. That's valuable, but is it "$20 million per year plus your only first-round pick" valuable? Hard to justify.
This writer posits that Milwaukee might be better off just developing Jackson to be who Herb Jones already is. Jackson's already one of the better defenders on the team when Rivers actually plays him. He's got a similar size, similar instincts, and similar versatility. The main difference is experience and opportunity.
There's no denying the Bucks' porous perimeter defense is one of its biggest problems. But an argument can be made that this comes from Doc Rivers' refusal to give Jackson a chance despite all evidence suggesting he deserves rotation minutes. So instead of playing the defender already on the roster, Milwaukee would trade away assets to acquire a different defender who does basically the same things?
If Jackson only got consistent minutes, he could develop into 80 percent of what Herb Jones provides defensively. And he'd be doing it on a rookie contract instead of Jones' three-year, $68 million contract.
Ultimately, the trade isn't terrible if you believe Jones is significantly better than Jackson (and able to give back some of the scoring you lose with Portis) and you're desperate for immediate help. But it's hard to say if Herb Jones is a good enough return for what Milwaukee would be sacrificing.
The verdict
Grade: C-
If New Orleans were to do this deal without the first-round pick, it would become much more interesting. Portis and Jackson for Jones straight up is at least worth considering. But throwing in the 2031 pick elevates the price beyond what Jones' impact justifies. It admittedly addresses a real need, but at too high a cost. Jones would help, but not enough to justify gutting the bench and surrendering the last valuable pick Milwaukee owns.
Milwaukee needs to stop making desperation trades that mortgage their future for marginal upgrades. This is exactly that kind of move. It solves one problem while creating three others. and doesn't take Milwaukee any closer to winning a championship.
Overall, it's a mid-tier kind of trade that would probably make the Bucks slightly better this season while making their long-term outlook significantly worse. That's just not a winning formula.