Report: Milwaukee Bucks made a trade offer for Kyrie Irving
The Milwaukee Bucks reportedly made a trade offer for embattled point guard Kyrie Irving. Unfortunately, they came up a bit short.
It appears the Milwaukee Bucks were extremely close to acquiring Kyrie Irving. Not close enough, unfortunately.
Instead, Irving was dealt to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets unprotected 2018 first-round pick.
It all happened so fast.
At 4:59 p.m. Shams Charania of The Vertical dropped a sham-wow on the nation:
Cleveland and Boston engaged in active trade discussions centered on Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 22, 2017
Not to be outdone by his former co-worker, Adrian Wojnarowski, now of ESPN, reported that the two teams had moved into serious discussions for the former Duke Blue Devil. The two reporters went back and forth for one hour and 22 minutes until Charania delivered the final blow. He announced the trade had been completed.
Although Wojnarowski came up short (this time), it appears a previous report about the Bucks being interested in Irving’s services was accurate. An Arizona Sports radio talk show host gave us the details.
Suns were never really in on Kyrie but here is a nugget - Milwaukee was close - offered Brogdon, Middleton and a 1st round pick.
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) August 23, 2017
It appears Milwaukee put their best foot forward in an attempt to acquire the All-Star point. However, they didn’t have much more to offer without sacrificing their current team.
Obviously, the first-round picks do not match up at all. The Bucks figure to be headed back to the playoffs where Brooklyn is a sure-fire bottom tier team.
Malcolm Brogdon is also no Thomas. And he probably never will be. That doesn’t mean that he isn’t a good role player. The reigning Rookie of the Year is a much better defensive option, and will most certainly enjoy multiple years of his best basketball ahead of him. I’m not sure we can say the same thing about the former Washington Husky.
Khris Middleton is where it gets interesting. When healthy, he is a clear upgrade over Crowder. He presents a much more dynamic skill set that would thrive next to LeBron James. He can also help ease some of the playmaking and defensive duties off The King.
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Unfortunately, he’s not nearly good enough to offset the other assets involved in the deal. It’s nice to see a small-market team going all in when they know they have a chance at something special.