Bucks Reportedly 'Gauging' Trade Market on Former NBA Champions

Would a reeling Milwaukee really do this?

Jan 24, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks general manager Jon Horst address the media after head coach Adrian Griffin (not pictured) was dismissed at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images / Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Bucks haven't won a lot of games this year.

That's putting it mildly.

Milwaukee has stumbled off to a 2-8 start (1-3 at home, 1-5 on the road) to its 2024-25 season. Beyond the seemingly always-hurt Khris Middleton (still recuperating from ankle surgery), the team has been largely healthy throughout this paltry run. The rest of the Bucks have been fairly available. Eight-time All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out one game with a right patella tendinopathy, and eight-time All-Star point guard Damian Lillard is slated to miss tonight's action with a concussion, per NBA.com.

Highly touted new head coach Doc Rivers has led the club to a deeply disappointing 19-27 overall record since replacing ex-head coach Adrian Griffin midway through Griffin's first season with the club in 2023-24.

The Bucks' perimeter defense, long a hallmark for several deep playoff runs, has collapsed without Middleton or All-Defensive Team guard Jrue Holiday, the latter of whom had been shipped out in exchange for Lillard in the summer of 2023. New signing Gary Trent Jr., considered a coup of a free agent addition via a veteran's minimum deal this offseason, has been a disaster on both sides of the ball, and has already been replaced by second-year wing Andre Jackson Jr. in the team's starting five.

The Bucks, desperate to convince the 29-year-old Antetokounmpo to stick around with the club and not demand out, are now looking around to make moves any which way they can, in an effort to prove their championship window isn't closed yet.

Antetokounmpo looks like his typical All-Star self this year. The 6-foot-11 big man is averaging 31.6 points on 60.7 percent shooting from the field and 55.4 percent free throw shooting, 12.8 rebounds, and 5.2 assists a night.

It appears that could extend to offloading two of the team's 2021 championship-era vets, alongside a little-used 3-and-D swingman.

"The Bucks have recently gauged the trade market on Bobby Portis, Pat Connaughton and [MarJon] Beauchamp," writes Evan Sidery of Forbes. "With Milwaukee’s lack of assets, plus being penalized over the second apron, they will have to get creative to pull off a successful deal before February’s deadline."

Portis, 29, is averaging 12.5 points on .454/.267/.818 shooting splits, 8.2 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.6 blocks and 0.5 steals this year. That 26.7 percent 3-point shooting conversion rate is an anomaly. The 6-foot-10 former Arkansas Razorback is a career 38.3 percent 3-point shooter from long range, on 2.9 triple tries a night. Though his shooting through his first 10 games has been rough, look for that to rebound soon. He's a poor defender, but his offense and rebounding could still make him a viable trade chip for clubs looking to bolster their frontcourt depth.

Connaughton has fallen off significantly from his halcyon days. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard, 31, has seen his minutes slashed to their lowest tally since his 2016-17 Portland Trail Blazers season, 16.4 per. He's notching just 4.2 points on .350/.269/.875 shooting splits, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists a night, and might just no longer be the frisky two-way wing option he had been during his prime.

Beauchamp, 24, has barely played this year, and is averaging just 3.6 minutes a night. He's clearly lost Rivers' confidence, and may have little value on the trade market.

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