Milwaukee Bucks: Best Players that were traded away
By Kenny Jilek
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Brian Winters, Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers, Elmore Smith
Los Angeles Lakers receive: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Walt Wesley
Where does one even start with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar? He’s the leading scorer in NBA history. Undoubtedly, he is remembered mostly as a Laker, but he spent six seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, leading them to their only two finals appearances ever. Unfortunately, he got fed up with Milwaukee for multiple reasons and demanded a trade to a big market.
The fact that this trade was essentially forced by Jabbar makes it in some ways easier to understand, but also harder to take, depending on your perspective. It can be seen as a positive that the Bucks didn’t just give him away in his prime because they thought they’d get a good return or to dump his salary. Someone could also take that situation and see that the Bucks had a generational talent that they let slip through their fingers because of the shortcomings of their city.
Kareem, of course, went on to have one of the most accomplished careers in NBA history, winning six MVP awards, six NBA championships, and making the All-Star game in 19 of his 20 total NBA seasons. However, the Bucks got a pretty nice return for their star big man. Brian Winters’ number 32 and Junior Bridgeman’s number 2 now hang in the rafters at Fiserv Forum, and they both contributed greatly to the Bucks’ continued success in the late 70s and early 80s, even with Kareem gone.
Still, it is hard to not ask “what if?”. It’s very possible that, had he stayed, the Milwaukee Bucks could have had a great dynasty and won multiple rings. Now, for the first time since Abdul-Jabbar’s departure, Milwaukee has captured another generational talent in Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo definitely seems a lot happier in Milwaukee and is much more probable to stay for an extended period of time. We can all only hope that history doesn’t repeat itself and the Bucks can win a couple of titles with Giannis leading the charge.
Ricky Pierce
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Dale Ellis
Seattle Supersonics receive: Ricky Pierce
Ricky Pierce was an integral part of the Milwaukee Bucks’ success in the mid and late 80s. Acting mostly as a sixth man and dynamic bench scorer, he started only 43 of his 421 games with the Bucks.
His first and only All-Star selection came in the 1990-91 season, the same year that he was traded, leading to the almost instant downfall of the Bucks into the dark ages of the 90s. Milwaukee had a losing record in each of their next eight seasons, until Ray Allen led them back to a 42-40 record in 1999-2000.
Dale Ellis wasn’t a bad return, averaging 15 points per game in his season and a half in Milwaukee, but he left after that short stint, leaving the Bucks to be led by Eric Murdock. Pierce went on to have a solid career, not doing anything else extraordinary, but he could have kept the Milwaukee Bucks competitive for at least a few more years had he not been shipped out.
Terry Cummings
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Greg Anderson, Alvin Robertson, 2nd round pick
San Antonio Spurs receive: Terry Cummings, 2nd round pick
Terry Cummings was one of the other Bucks stars of the 80s, running right alongside Ricky Pierce as they tried to get back to the Finals, but never could. He made two All-Star games with the Bucks and averaged over 20 points per game in six of his seven seasons in Milwaukee.
He was traded only two years before Pierce after the 1988-89, when the Bucks were still winning, but not contenders anymore. This was the first move that signaled the end of an era of winning in Milwaukee.
The return wasn’t bad. Greg Anderson was nothing to write home about, but he was a solid center. Alvin Roberson was the big piece in the trade and a great defensive stopper who had won Defensive Player of the Year a few years earlier in 1985-86. With the Bucks in 1990-91 he led the league in steals per game and made the All-Star team.
Cummings had three solid seasons with the Spurs until only playing eight games in 1992-93 and his career never really recovered as he never averaged double-digit points again.
Vin Baker
Milwaukee Bucks receive: Terrell Brandon, Tyrone Hill, 1st round pick (Pat Garrity)
Seattle Supersonics receive: Vin Baker
Cleveland Cavaliers receive: Sherman Douglas, Shawn Kemp
Vin Baker took the reigns as the Milwaukee Bucks’ star for three seasons from 1994-1997, leading the team in win shares all three seasons, and making the All-Star team in each of those seasons. Still, it wasn’t good enough to make them a competitive team, so they decided to deal him to try to build for the future.
In a roundabout way, it sort of worked. Terrell Brandon had been an All-Star in the past two seasons with the Cavaliers, but regressed with the Bucks. However, he was traded in a huge three team trade which netted the Bucks Sam Cassell, one of the Bucks’ big three in their success of the early 2000s. Tyrone Hill was also a bust for the Bucks, but was part of a trade that got them Tim Thomas, another important member in their run to the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals.
The first round pick was used to trade for Robert Traylor. We’ll discuss that trade first thing on the next page.
Vin Baker went on to be an All-Star the season he was traded to the Sonics and continued to be solid, but he gave the Milwaukee Bucks the pieces that they turned into a couple of huge parts of a contending team. Vin Baker should be remembered not just for his greatness as a Buck in losing times, but for how he was the big piece in a trade that started a huge rebuild.