This offseason, the NBA enacted lottery reform intended to eradicate tanking. However, these rules only affect you if you own your own first-round pick.
Teams like the Milwaukee Bucks are immune to the consequences of anti-tanking policies. After trading away Giannis Antetokounmpo and saying goodbye to that era, the Bucks are in a full-scale rebuild. And unlike many of their contemporaries, since the Bucks don't have control of their 2027 first round pick, the league can't police them.
Since the Bucks don't have their own first-round pick, they have no incentive to lose, either. However, they do benefit from playing as many young players as possible. This means trading their proven veterans to make room for the young core they are putting together.
Of all their veterans, Myles Turner combines a reasonable contract with name gravitas better than anyone -- making him the ideal candidate for a trade like this. They only signed him a year ago but that was part of a plan to keep Giannis in happy and in Milwaukee. He's in Miami now and the Bucks have a different timeline. So, here are three hypothetical trades the Bucks should seriously consider.
Warriors trade upside for reliability
This FanSpo trade needs some tinkering to meet the league's financial thresholds. However, I love the bare bones of this idea. The Golden State Warriors need Kristaps Porziņģis and Moses Moody to be available. The issue is that both of them are already on the injury list.
So, why not trade them for two guys (Turner and Jaime Jaquez Jr.) who may not be as good, but are far more durable? Turner gives you a lite version of the rim protection and spacing that the Warriors want alongside Draymond Green. And while Jaquez is not the defender that Moody is, the creation he can give you off the bench will help anchor the offense when Stephen Curry is not on the floor.
In return for helping the Warriors, the Bucks get a future first, second, and a second round pick swap.
Circumvent the circumvention
It sounds like the Bucks are going to get the hammer thrown at them by the league for their alleged cap circumvention with Gary Trent Jr. As we saw with the Los Angeles Clippers, when the league punishes you, it usually comes in the form of draft capital. So, why not trade some capital to get something they can't take away (players)?
In this hypothetical trade, the Bucks trade two veterans (Turner and Kyle Kuzma) and a future first round pick from the Antetokounmpo deal in exchange for two younger flyers (Zion Williamson and Yves Missi).
Williamson's talent has never been in question, but there is just too much ugly history with the New Orleans Pelicans. Hopefully, a change in scenery gives Williamson the fresh start he needs to flourish. And between Missi and Kel'el Ware, the Bucks will have a real chance of finding their starting center of the future.
Jakob Poeltl gets traded from the Raptors (again)
In 2018, the Toronto Raptors included Jakob Poeltl to the San Antonio Spurs as part of the Kawhi Leonard deal. Now, fate has brought Poeltl back to Canada (and Leonard, for that matter), and it may be time to part ways with him once again.
With Collin Murray-Boyles proving to be more NBA-ready than anyone could have imagined as a rookie, Poeltl is now expendable. So, the Raptors could package him, a future first, and a future first round pick swap in order to land a more dynamic center with two deep playoff runs on his resume in Turner.
For the Bucks, this makes perfect sense. Poeltl is matching salary, and doesn't have the gravitas that Turner does. So, if the team wants Ware to usurp him in the depth chart, it won't be as hard of a transition of power. Plus, the Bucks get some extra draft capital, which will soften the blow that the NBA is (probably) about to hit them with.
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