The Milwaukee Bucks travel to Orlando to take on the Magic on Friday night.
Entering the weekend, the Magic hold a slim one game lead over the Bucks for fourth-place in the Eastern Conference. Orlando’s ascending star Paolo Banchero is returning tonight in his first game since October 30th after an oblique tear. Furthermore, Milwaukee is only trailing the three-seed New York Knicks by 4.5 games as of Friday morning.
A trade deadline move could help propel the Bucks past the Knicks and Magic as the season’s halfway point nears.
33-year old Khris Middleton was recently benched due to his lingering tendinitis. The decision to bench the three-time All-Star could lead to Middleton becoming expendable at the deadline. While the market for a 33-year old 3-and-D wing recovering from tendinitis and offseason surgeries to both of his ankles is not expected to be robust, a potential deal could resemble the following proposal:
Bucks receive: Brandon Ingram, Daniel Theis
Pelicans receive: Khris Middleton, Pat Connaughton, 2031 first-round pick, 2031 second-round pick
The Pelicans likely receive a better offer than this Bucks’ package to acquire their 27-year old star. However, the ownership of the Pelicans is notorious for their frugality, so their front office could be forced into a suboptimal decision. The Bucks only have two expendable draft picks unfortunately. Their lack of draft capital could be a major obstacle in trade negotiations, especially when attempting to pry away win-now talent from rebuilding, non-competitive teams.
Middleton playing alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo for the last decade would benefit his possible transition alongside Zion Williamson. His three-and-D skills and catch-and-shoot prowess are extremely valuable when a force like Antetokounmpo or Williamson is attacking the rim. Meanwhile, Connaughton is primarily a salary-matching contract, who has mostly fallen out of coach Doc Rivers’ rotation in Milwaukee.
Ingram would provide the Bucks with a lethal scoring threat, who can get buckets from all three levels. Ingram’s vision and ball-handling would also be beneficial to a unit featuring Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard as the only two reliable creators. This season, the 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists while shooting 37.4 percent from three on 6.4 attempts per game.
Additionally, Theis could fill the much-needed backup center role as a complement to Brook Lopez. Theis offers a similar floor-spacing and rim-protecting skillset as Lopez, just not nearly as effective. The 32-year old big is shooting a woeful 25.9 percent from three this year after shooting a respectable 37.1 percent a season ago. Regression should be incoming, albeit a relatively small sample.
If the Bucks were able to acquire Ingram with such an expendable trade package, they would position themselves to possibly leapfrog the Magic and Knicks in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
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