NBA rumors: The trade calls Bucks are making to 'complement' Brook Lopez

12/19/2024 05:40 PM

The Milwaukee Bucks are riding high after their recent NBA Cup championship victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in Las Vegas. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for a Bucks team that started out the season 2-8 but has since rebounded to push themselves into the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

After their disastrous start to the campaign, there were rumors swirling that superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo may demand a trade from the franchise that drafted him back in 2013; however, now, those rumors have morphed into questions about how the Bucks will look to surround Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard with the best supporting talent available.

Recently, NBA insider Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports took to Marc Stein’s account on Substack to shed some light on some ways Milwaukee may look to improve itself on the interior.

“Milwaukee has made calls to explore ways to add more of a lob threat to complement Brook Lopez, according to league sources, while the Bucks’ incumbent center has generated no shortage of trade interest since last summer,” reported Fischer.

At this point, Brook Lopez doesn’t exactly profile as a lob threat but instead as one of the Bucks’ many perimeter floor spaces, a stark contrast to the back to the basket player he was during the majority of his career for the Brooklyn Nets.

Some names that might become available on the trade market that Milwaukee could potentially explore trading for include Robert Williams III of the Portland Trail Blazers as well as Walker Kessler of the Utah Jazz.

Is the Bucks’ turnaround legit?

While NBA seasons are always going to be full of ups and downs, it’s rare for a campaign to do a complete 180 as quickly as the Bucks have so far this year.

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been dominant since the season began, but the Bucks as a whole appear much more connected on the defensive end as of late, and role players like Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green have added some much needed outside shooting after rough starts to the year.

It also helps that Khris Middleton recently returned to the lineup from an injury that caused him to miss the first chunk of the season.

In any case, the Bucks will next take the floor on Friday evening on the road vs the Cleveland Cavaliers, looking to salvage their first win of the season against their central division rivals. That game will tip off at 7:30 PM ET.

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