The 2024 NBA trade deadline has arrived, and the Bucks will be looking to make some moves to bolster their championship odds. There are several players on the team who could be moved, and all reports say that the Bucks are going to try to be aggressive at the deadline despite not having a ton of assets to trade.
The Bucks have very little draft capital and very few valuable players that they'd be willing to trade, but there are still some moves that could be made. The team owns two second-round picks, one being Portland's pick this year that should be very high, and they could attach those picks to a number of their different bench players in an attempt to upgrade the second unit. Milwaukee has been rumored to be interested in numerous different players, ranging from Delon Wright to Dejounte Murray.
One team that has a handful of players the Bucks might be interested in and could realistically trade for is the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets appear to want to be sellers at the deadline, and they have some role players that would fit very well on this Bucks team. Here are three realistic trades the Bucks could make with the Nets.
Note: These are only trade ideas that would not have to include a third-team. None of these trades include Dorian Finney-Smith because any trade for him seems unlikely without using a third team.
Trade Number 1:
This is the most basic trade the Bucks could make with the Nets. Pat Connaughton has been disappointing this season on both ends of the court, and although he played a big part in the team's 2021 championship run, his days as a key contributor may be behind him. Attaching second-round picks to him to acquire a solid role player in Royce O'Neale could be a nice move for a Milwaukee team that desperately needs some consistent, trustworthy role players.
O'Neale is a solid defender and shooter who seems like he could play the Pat Connaughton role better than Pat Connaughton is currently. He's a little bit bigger than Connaughton and would provide more defensive resistance off the bench while also still being able to knock down catch-and-shoot threes at a solid rate (38.9 percent this season per NBA.com). The Nets likely would be willing to take the slight downgrade from O'Neale to Connaughton while receiving some draft picks, including Portland's early second-rounder this season.