The Milwaukee Bucks are known to be one of the most active teams in the NBA on the trade front.
Whether the move ultimately works out or not, general manager Jon Horst has never been one to shy away from making a splash if he feels like a move will help this team. For the most part, the moves the former Executive of the Year has pulled off were easy to justify when they went down. However, with many of them, for one reason or another, things just never pan out how fans had hoped.
Let's analyze three different trades in recent memory that should have worked out better for Horst and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Grayson Allen trade
Fresh off winning a title in 2021, the Milwaukee Bucks beefed up their backcourt by acquiring guard Grayson Allen from the Memphis Grizzlies. Considering that the Bucks parted ways with Sam Merrill, the 60th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft who scarcely played the season before, and two second-round picks, this was viewed as a clear win for the Milwaukee Bucks in their quest to repeat.
At the time of the trade, Allen was coming off a career year in Memphis, averaging double-digit points while climbing in the ranks among the league's best shooters. He would fit seamlessly with the Bucks stars while offering insurance at the two-guard spot with Donte DiVincenzo recovering from surgery. This had the potential to be one of Horst's best moves, given the price and team needs.
Allen had his moments, even putting together the best regular season of his career in 2021-22. Yet, the moment that will define his tenure in a Bucks uniform is the playoff series against Boston in 2022. After catching fire the series prior, Allen's production fell off a cliff against the Celtics, averaging five points while shooting 20.8 percent from three and constantly being targeted on defense.
The guard put together a fine year the following season, shooting the long ball well while upping his production as a facilitator. His play wasn't as bad in the 2023 NBA Playoffs as it was in that series vs. the Boston Celtics, but he still didn't raise the bar enough against the Miami Heat, especially with the team dealing with the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo.
After two years, Allen's time in the 414 came to an end after he was sent to Phoenix in the three-team deal for Damian Lillard. Although the initial Allen trade is certainly not a stain on Jon Horst's legacy or anything close to it, it's a deal that should have worked out much better than it ultimately did in those two seasons the guard was with the franchise.
If Allen plays up to par in that Boston series, there's a decent chance there's another banner hanging in Fiserv Forum right now.
The Jae Crowder trade
Many were baffled when the Milwaukee Bucks let P.J. Tucker walk in free agency just weeks after he helped them win a title. He certainly doesn't deserve the most credit out of anyone involved, but the veteran earned his flowers for always taking on the toughest matchups on the defensive end. They seemingly felt like they could replace him, and that didn't go well at all.
Whether it was Semi Ojeleye, Wesley Matthews or even briefly Pat Connaughton, none of them could fill the versatile, defensive-minded role that Tucker did so well during his brief time in Milwaukee. The possible replacements just didn't have the height, length or build to adequately take on these tougher matchups as well as Tucker did. They needed a big, defensive-minded wing defender.
When Jae Crowder became available for trade before the 2022-23 season, it felt inevitable that the Bucks would be linked to him. He checked off plenty of the same boxes as Tucker, serving as one of the league's most recognizable 3-and-D forwards who brought toughness whenever he stepped on the basketball court. That type of player was exactly what the Milwaukee Bucks needed.
It took a few months, but the Bucks finally got Crowder at the 2023 NBA Trade Deadline, and it felt like he'd be a huge addition. They essentially emptied the asset cupboard to get him, trading five second-round picks and three players, Jordan Nwora, Serge Ibaka and George Hill. At the time, the price was justifiable, given Crowder's reputation and how badly the team needed a versatile defender.
While the trade had the potential to help rekindle that 2021 magic, things never panned out. Crowder posted some of his least-productive seasons in over a decade during his two seasons in Milwaukee, struggling to make much of an impact. Injuries also played a part in that, as he spent a good part of last season on the sidelines after undergoing early-season surgery.
Where the Milwaukee Bucks really needed Jae Crowder was in the NBA Playoffs. Well, in eight playoff games over two years, the forward averaged two points and 1.3 rebounds while shooting 25 percent from the floor and 14.3 percent from three in 10.4 minutes per game. Basically, he was a non-factor, failing to live up to the hype that many initially had when this trade first went down.
After two sluggish seasons in Milwaukee, Crowder finds himself still testing the waters of free agency. This deal will always be frustrating because it had all of the potential to succeed but simply never got off the ground like it ultimately should have.
Considering all of the assets they shed to get Crowder and how much trouble the franchise has had in trying to find a worthy replacement, the Milwaukee Bucks should have just paid P.J. Tucker.
The Nikola Mirotic trade
In 2018-19, the Milwaukee Bucks burst onto the scene as contenders. Giannis Antetokounmpo, who would soon win his first MVP, led the Bucks to the best record in the NBA as they plowed through the opposition in the regular season, looking like a true title contender. At the trade deadline, they beefed up their roster even further with the acquisition of Nikola Mirotic.
In the deal, the Bucks traded Thon Maker, who had already requested a trade, to the Detroit Pistons, along with Jason Smith and four second-round picks to the Pelicans. At the time, this looked like a homerun trade for the Bucks, given that Maker and Smith were not key members of the rotation and that they didn't have to give up any first-round draft capital to get Mirotic.
At the time, Mirotic was playing the best basketball of his entire career in New Orleans, averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists while knocking down 36.8 percent of his triples on 7.2 attempts per game. Shooting, scoring and rebounding like that had all of the potential to put the Milwaukee Bucks over the top. Of course, things didn't turn out that way.
Mirotic's production nose-dived in the postseason, where he averaged 9.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists while shooting 37.6 percent from the floor and a grueling 28.9 percent from 3-point land. His shooting was flat-out abysmal, going 10-of-32 (31.3 percent) on his "open" 3-point attempts and 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) on "wide-open" ones, Per NBA.com/stats. His fall-off made no sense.
A trade that had the potential to be the P.J. Tucker deal before the P.J. Tucker deal in terms of impact turned into a massive swing and a miss. Still, given how well he was playing before the trade, no one can fault the Milwaukee Bucks for bringing him in.
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