The Bucks, who surrendered four second-round picks for Nikola Mirotic at the 2019 trade deadline, are exploring a similar approach as they pursue Rockets wing Eric Gordon, as Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack article. According to Stein, Milwaukee has pitched four second-rounders to Houston in various trade scenarios involving Gordon, but the Rockets remain focused on getting a first-rounder.
One report over a month ago suggested the Bucks were offering up four second-round picks in a three-team scenario that would send Gordon to Phoenix and Jae Crowder to Milwaukee, which makes more sense from a salary-matching perspective. Acquiring Gordon, whose cap hit is $19.57M, would be tricky for a Bucks team that doesn’t have any highly paid trade candidates.
Milwaukee’s five players earning eight-digit salaries (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis) are crucial contributors, so any trade package would likely have to start with Grayson Allen, who is making $8.5M.
Adding George Hill ($4M) and Jordan Nwora ($3M) to Allen would still leave the Bucks about $75K short of the outgoing salary required to take back Gordon, meaning they would have to get creative if they hope to land the veteran shooting guard.
Here’s more from Stein:
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