NBA Trade Rumors: Milwaukee Bucks Have Offer In Place for J.J. Redick

Last night the Milwaukee Bucks emerged as a team that is seriously targeting Orlando Magic guard J.J. Reddick and today they reportedly have a deal on the table that is being considered by the Magic. In the deal, Redick would head to Milwaukee in exchange for forward Luc Mbah a Moute and a first-round pick, but the deal goes a little deeper than that.

Any trade for Redick hinges on whether or not the Bucks can move Monta Ellis to another team. While he’s been known as a potent scorer, Ellis is a problem child who proved that the issues he had with the Golden State Warriors weren’t local. The Magic would love to have Ellis, but the Bucks know his value and want to include him in a bigger trade if they can.

Enter the Josh Smith drama.

The Hawks love Monta Ellis and the Bucks really would like to have Josh Smith but a straight up trade is highly unlikely. However, the Bucks do have assets to trade, but moving their first round pick to Orlando is going to complicate things. However, the Bucks can help in a three-way trade that lands Ellis in Atlanta and another valuable asset in Milwaukee, solving the problem of moving Ellis and sort of doubling the return for him since whatever they gave up to get Redick is in a way canceled out by what they’d acquire for Ellis.

Thus is the complexity of the NBA trade deadline, where nothing is easy and every deal is messy. But if the Bucks want Redick, and it appears they’ve thought it through enough to put an offer on the table, they’ll have to do something about Ellis to make it all happen.