A surprise Milwaukee Bucks summer signing could yield an intriguing trade opportunity for an Eastern Conference rival, per one insider.
The Bucks have brought in a few surprising new additions during what has been an active offseason.
When nine-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard ruptured his Achilles tendon in the playoffs, Milwaukee general manager Jon Horst found himself at a crossroads.
Breaking down the Bucks’ big summer
A sidelined Lillard was a negative trade asset in 2025-26, but could potentially repair his value the next season and become an expiring maximum contract.
But nine-time All-NBA superstar power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo might not have wanted to wait that long. The concept of essentially throwing away an entire season of his prime — after getting booted in the first round of the playoffs across each of the past three seasons —didn’t seem particularly appetizing, and the league at large wondered if Antetokounmpo might at last demand a trade.
So Horst took some bold swings. He stretched and waived the remainder of Lillard’s contract to create additional cap space this summer, and he used that space on ex-Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner. Horst also brought in Orlando Magic guards Cole Anthony and Gary Harris (though Anthony is prize here) to help offset some of Lillard’s loss.
The Bucks also re-signed several of their own free agents, with the only departing such name of consequence being former starting center Brook Lopez.
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This past weekend, the Bucks surprised everyone when they signed free agent combo forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Giannis’ big brother, to a guaranteed one-year, $2.9 million new deal.
Milwaukee’s loyalty to the Antetokounmpo family may have guaranteed that, at least for the start of the year, Giannis will stick around.
Technically, the Bucks don’t have to make any trades to accommodate the new signing. The addition of Thanasis Antetokounmpo is the 15th guaranteed contract on Milwaukee’s roster. Guard Andre Jackson Jr. has merely a partially guaranteed contract, and could be waived.
But maybe the Bucks want to bring Jackson back, or to sign training camp signing Amir Coffey to a standard deal. If that’s the case, Milwaukee would need to make a deal to open up roster space.
Were the Bucks to go in that direction, the Detroit Pistons could capitalize, writes Swoosh Shrestha of Piston Powered.
“The Pistons may actually be in a good position to facilitate such a trade, as they still have a roster spot open and a trade exception,” Shrestha writes. “Although I would have liked to see the trade exception used to add immediate young depth at key positions, the inevitable truth is that most trade exceptions end up going unused or at best exchanged for draft compensation. In this case, a young player or draft pick may come back to the Pistons. “
Milwaukee has a few young players still on their rookie-scale contracts that Detroit may consider bringing in, like second-year power forward Tyler Smith or third-year forward Chris Livingston.
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