Thursday’s loss to San Antonio marked the halfway point of the Bucks‘ season, and the team’s 17-24 record is its worst first-half mark since 2015/16, writes Eric Nehm of The Athletic.
Although Nehm describes Milwaukee as looking “lost,” the front office has held firm on its stance that star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t going anywhere this season and that it wants to add an impact player alongside the two-time MVP, writes Jamal Collier of ESPN.
“We always manage to pull something off,” a team source told Collier.
Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant is one potential target the Bucks have been linked to as of late. According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Memphis has sought guard Ryan Rollins and Milwaukee’s lone tradable first-round pick (in either 2031 or 2032) in discussions with Milwaukee about Morant.
However, the Bucks have been “wary” about including that first-round pick in any trade talks to date, per Collier, who hears from rival executives that that first-rounder would likely only be on the table for a “star.” Morant, who has made two All-Star teams, certainly fit that bill at one point but may no longer be viewed that way, as he has battled injuries and seen his production decline in recent years.
As Collier writes, the Wizards’ deal for Trae Young might be instructive when considering the sort of trade that makes the most sense for the Bucks. Washington gave up no draft picks and a significant expiring contract as part of the package for Young, with the Hawks looking to get off the hook for his $49MM player option in 2026/27.
Milwaukee is in a good position to make a similar move for a player on a non-expiring deal, says Collier, noting that Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, and Jerami Grant are a few of the trade candidates with multiyear contracts who have been linked to the team. Collier also cites Heat forward Andrew Wiggins and Hornets Miles Bridges as a couple more examples.
The Bucks have had exploratory discussions with the Kings about a deal that would send Bobby Portis and a minimum-salary player to Sacramento in exchange for Monk and Keon Ellis, league sources tell Scotto. A trade for a higher-salary player such as Morant or LaVine would require Milwaukee to sacrifice more rotation pieces for matching purposes, but the team has considered that possibility, gauging the market for forward Kyle Kuzma ($22.4MM cap hit) as well as Portis ($13.4MM), Scotto writes.
As Collier observes, the Bucks would be more equipped to make a significant splash during the 2026 offeason, when they’ll have up to three first-round picks available to trade (2026, 2031, and 2033). But the club – which has a +7.7 net rating with Antetokounmpo on the floor in 2025/26 – hasn’t given up on this season, even if some rival executives aren’t convinced Milwaukee should continue with its win-now approach.
“At some point, you’re just digging deeper and deeper,” an Eastern Conference exec told ESPN. “There might not be light at the end of the tunnel. It might just be a hole.”
I hope these are just rumors, and that there is no substance to this, because the Bucks have already done this trade. Damian Lillard. Remember? Giannis doesn’t like playing off-ball, which is exactly what Ja Morant is going to force him to do.
So, essentially, what will end up happening here, is that doing this trade will further annoy Giannis and he will end up leaving in the summer. In that case, you would have just traded Rollins and your pick for no reason.
Giannis is a cry baby sore loser who likes to confront old men twice his age & half his size & then cry victim
When Giannis said he’s not the type of player to request a trade the subtext is that the bucks should understand by themselves that it’s their best move to trade him. He won’t sign an extension, and they will lose them for nothing.
The team put themselves in a horrible position to sign good role players when they stretched Lillard‘s contract. If they now give up a first rounder for Morant, they will literally have nothing when Giannis leaves.
There is no more lights in the end of the Giannis tunnel. They won a championship, which is already more than anyone expected of this horrible franchise
I really enjoyed the Spurs fans booing Giannis after his overly aggressive drive that bumped his knees with Victor Wembanyama, and the jackals counting to 10 when giannis shot free throws was priceless. The truth is that once Giannis body will deteriorate, he will just be an average player without good shooting. No team should give up their future for him, and I doubt the bucks will agree to any trade that isn’t on a Rudy Gobert level. So he will leave them for nothing just like LeBron did.
Doc Rivera won a championship because KG had his best year ever. He sucks as a coach. Why people hire him is beyond me.
Myles Turner is not playing well. They invested big money in this guy and his production does not reflect well on that investment. I don’t think he is fully healthy, or else his big frame is just breaking down with age, but he’s not contributing enough to this team.