Milwaukee Bucks: Three potential trades for Thon Maker
By Jim Quinlan
Thon Maker recently decided he would join up with the recent trend of NBA stars requesting trades from their current teams.
Earlier this week it was reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that Thon Maker’s agent had requested that the Milwaukee Bucks trade the big man.
Agent for Milwaukee's Thon Maker has told management that he'd prefer franchise finds a trade to a team that would offer a larger role for 7-footer. Sides working on a solution. Story on ESPN: https://t.co/1J2DU2v6JA
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 26, 2019
The difference between Maker and some of the other superstars to recently request trades like Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, and Kawhi Leonard is that Maker has almost zero leverage. Oh, and he’s not even close to a superstar.
Those other players were nearing the end of their contracts and threatened to not resign with their current team, forcing the team to trade them to make sure they got some value in return.
Maker still has this year and next year on his rookie deal, and then he would go to restricted free agency where the Milwaukee Bucks would have the right to match any offer. So if the Bucks so choose, they could have Maker locked up for the next 3-5 years.
Milwaukee would also be wise to hang onto Maker for a few reasons. One is that he could be useful in the right playoff match up. Brook Lopez has been terrific this year but his one weakness is his inability to play a switching type defense. We have seen Maker excel in switching type defenses last year and most notably in the playoffs.
The other reason to hang on to Maker is that Lopez is a free agent this year and while the Milwaukee Bucks will do everything in their power to retain him, they may have difficulty keeping him considering all the other free agents on the team. Also given Lopez’ play, he may be in line for a huge increase in salary this offseason.
With all of that being said, there are still reasons for the Bucks to try to move Maker:
- Improving the current team to make a finals run. As of now, the Milwaukee Bucks may be able to get by with the emergence of DJ Wilson and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s ability to play center.
- Clear Maker’s guaranteed salary next year, improving the Bucks ability to sign their own free agents.
- Obtain a young player at a different position of need.
Considering those factors, here are three trades that would make sense for the Milwaukee Bucks prior to next weeks trade deadline.