Bucks Owner Marc Lasry Opens Up About Why Steph Curry for Andrew Bogut Trade Was Killed

The Bucks were in talks with the Warriors back in 2011 about a trade that could have potentially sent Golden State's All-Star guard to Milwaukee.

Bucks owner Marc Lasry opened up about why a proposed trade that would have sent Golden State's Steph Curry to Milwaukee never happened.

The two teams were in talks during the 2011-2012 season before Lasry purchased the Bucks. The Warriors ultimately traded Monta Ellis and Ekpe Udoh to Milwaukee for center Andrew Bogut and wing Stephen Jackson, but Curry was reportedly on the trading block when the talks began. 

Lasry told The Athletic that while he sees Golden State as a model franchise, they can't really be "light years ahead" of the 29 other teams, as Warriors owner Joe Lacob told New York Times Magazine three years ago, if they had even considered trading Curry–which he says they did.

“I don’t know if they can be light years ahead if they traded Steph Curry to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut,” Lasry told the publication. “That was the deal. But the Bucks’ medical staff didn’t think Steph’s ankle would hold up. That killed the deal. So, I don’t know if that’s being light years. It’s luck. And that’s fine.”

He added: “I think we got rid of that medical staff when we bought the team.”

Curry took over the Warriors team after the trade and went on to lead the franchise to its first championship since 1975 just three seasons later in 2015. The five-time NBA All-Star has won three championships with Golden State.

Reports of Curry being involved in trade talks were rumored for some time, but former Warriors general manager Larry Riley echoed Lasry's confirmation in 2017 during an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio.

When asked if Curry's name came up in the deal, Riley responded, "Absolutely. The only way to get the trade started was to let them start talking about Steph Curry. That's like going fishing, you throw some bait out there. A couple of things happened with that. I wanted to switch the deal over to Monta all along. But in order to get a conversation going, we had to do that."

He also confirmed that Curry's ankle was the reason for Milwaukee's hesitation.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has led Lasry's Bucks to the second-best record in the Eastern Conference this season, so they seem to be doing alright even without the NBA's best sharp shooter running point.