NBA Offseason 2020: 5 potential landing spots for Chris Paul

3. Milwaukee Bucks

If the Milwaukee Bucks don’t win a championship in 2021, there’s a very good chance Giannis Antetokounmpo leaves in free agency. The Bucks will have this cloud hanging overhead all season long, and if they don’t make some kind of move to shift the odds in their favor after a second-round embarrassment, they’re rolling the dice on Mike Budenholzer’s woefully mismanaged rotations.

Chris Paul could represent the equalizer to that kind of problem, especially with his late-game shot creation that Milwaukee sorely needed in this year’s playoffs after foolishly letting Malcolm Brogdon walk last summer. Even at the cost of their starting center, Paul could be the difference in a tight playoff series. The problem is the Bucks have a very select package they can offer, and it’s not the most enticing one on the market.

Eric Bledsoe is a good and often underrated player, but with three years and $54.4 million left on his deal, that’s one extra year of obligation compared to CP3. Bled’s playoff limitations are very real, but that’d be less of an issue for a rebuilding team like the Thunder.

Brook Lopez is a great stretch-5 and rim protector on an affordable salary, but like Bledsoe, his contract runs through 2022-23. D.J. Wilson is a young player with some promise, but he’s nowhere near as attractive as Donte DiVincenzo, who might be the dealbreaker from Milwaukee’s perspective.

Two future first-rounders in 2021 and 2024 (the Bucks owe the Cleveland Cavaliers their 2023 pick if their protected 2022 pick doesn’t convey, and they cannot convey a pick until two years after this pick conveys) is quite a hefty price on top of two starters and a younger prospect. But from OKC’s vantage point, those long-running contracts for Bledsoe and Lopez might make this trade more of a fallback option.