3 Upgrades the Milwaukee Bucks made to their roster this offseason

Malik Beasley to Gary Trent Jr.

Circling back to Milwaukee's roster flaws last season, Malik Beasley didn't play the role he signed up for initially. He thought he'd be playing next to Jrue Holiday, a more defensive-minded guard, but the Damian Lillard trade made Beasley the primary defender in the backcourt. That was a role he never had to embrace previously, so it dropped him into uncharted, oftentimes shark-infested, waters.

Despite the added workload defensively, Beasley put together a quality year for the Milwaukee Bucks statistically. Starting 77 of 79 regular season games, the two-guard averaged 11.3 points, 3.7 boards, 1.4 assists and 0.7 steals while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 41.3 percent from distance.
Despite his strong play, few people would argue he's better than Bucks' newcomer Gary Trent Jr.

Even in his least productive season with the Toronto Raptors in 2023-24, Trent averaged 13.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 39.3 percent from 3-point territory. Beasley has the edge in a few departments, but the sizeable difference between the two is the steals and scoring.

Trent is a better scorer than Beasley, and alongside Milwaukee's talented group of stars, there's a good chance he can have his best 3-point shooting season yet just like Beasley did. Defensively, Trent is the stronger defender. Steals don't define defensive impact, but one of Trent's greatest attributes is his activeness on that end, constantly getting steals to create plays on the other end.

Trent, who is taking Beasley's No. 5 jersey, is one of the best bang-for-buck signings of the offseason across the entire league.