How the hiring of Doc Rivers could prevent Bucks from landing a perfect trade target

It's certainly no secret that the Milwaukee Bucks are approaching the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline with an aggressive mindset.

This team wants to make trades to improve its defense. That makes it unsurprising that Yahoo Sports' NBA insider Jake Fischer has reported that Matisse Thybulle is a name linked to the Bucks ahead of the trade deadline. This news made a lot of fans happy, as Thybulle would be an excellent target, but a new nugget should have people pumping the breaks on a move.

How the hiring of Doc Rivers could prevent Bucks from landing a perfect trade target

According to Rose Garden Report's Sean Highkin, Thybulle "has veto rights over any deal for the first year because he had an RFA offer sheet matched." A few weeks ago, this might not have been a major issue, but following the hiring of Rivers, the Bucks may find themselves in a tough spot.

Rivers coached Thybulle with the Philadelphia 76ers and caught some attention when he said that it was "hard to play him" if he wasn't playing dynamic defense. The two did not always see eye to eye, which might make it understandable if Thybulle wasn't so high on reuniting.

If the wing didn't want to relocate, this rule would allow him to stay put in Portland.

Now, it's not a forgone conclusion that Thybulle straight-up would decline a move to Milwaukee if the Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers agreed to a deal. Perhaps he would welcome an opportunity to join a contender alongside some household names.

Either way, this little wrinkle is something to keep an eye on as the Bucks aim to improve their roster. There are plenty of rumors circulating, and more are bound to surface ahead of the trade deadline.

If Thybulle is off the table, a few targets the Bucks could turn to are Bruce Brown, Royce O'Neale, and Dorian Finney-Smith. Fischer mentioned that P.J. Tucker is someone they could target, but this writer believes Tucker would be better suited to be a buyout addition.

The Bucks are still in the Dejounte Murray chase as well, which would be a massive move. However, as evidenced by the team firing their head coach mid-season, they are not afraid to shake things up.

Stay tuned for more Milwaukee Bucks analysis.