The Milwaukee Bucks can rest easy knowing Giannis Antetokounmpo will not request a trade next season. Although he can leave via free agency in 2021, the organization still has time to convince him to stay.
Besides dinner with the owners, the best way for the Bucks to do that would be to either win the title next season or come pretty darn close to it. And, if these past two seasons have revealed anything, it’s that Milwaukee cannot win a Chip with this current roster.
So, in a piece by Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report, one particularly interesting trade is proposed for the Bucks, that could get them one of the best point guards in the game: Toronto’s Kyle Lowry.
Toronto Raptors get: Eric Bledsoe, Ersan Ilyasova and a 2023 first-round pick (via Milwaukee Bucks), the No. 15 pick in the 2020 draft (via Orlando Magic) and Khem Birch
Milwaukee Bucks get: Kyle Lowry
Orlando Magic get: Donte DiVincenzo and the No. 24 pick in the 2020 draft (via Milwaukee Bucks)
It’s blasphemous to send Kyle Lowry away from Toronto, where he’ll surely have a statue built someday. But all things come to an end, and with the Raptors potentially losing Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Fred VanVleet to free agency, the end may be here…at least until they inevitably rebuild their next contender around Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
Milwaukee is desperate to add playoff-proven talent, which Lowry has beyond measure.
In fact, this trade might be just as good for the Bucks as the “best” one we concocted that sent them Chris Paul—if you believe Lowry is at least Paul’s equal in a playoff setting, which he is.
Lowry is a veteran, NBA Champion, and one of the best offensive guards in the game. This past season, he averaged 19.4 points, 7.5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game on 41.6% shooting.
In Milwaukee, he’d be an ideal floor spacer and ball-handler for the club and could help alleviate some of the pressure for Giannis to score in the clutch.
Plus, he’s exactly the type of guy you’d want to have in the locker room.
It’s a no-brainer for the Bucks but, no matter if Lowry is available or not, they’ve got to do something if they want to prove to The Greek Freak that they’re for real about trying to win. Now is the time to make a move, and where better to look than in a sharpshooting, veteran point guard?
