The Milwaukee Bucks were linked to land Alex Caruso in a trade this NBA offseason. However, those dreams of Caruso being in a Bucks uniform next year are officially gone.
On Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Chicago Bulls traded away Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey. This was an interesting trade for both teams. Oklahoma City needed a veteran for a very young team and Chicago is going to be entering a rebuild.

Caruso is 30 years old. A season ago with the Chicago Bulls, he averaged 10.1 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.0 BPG, and 1.7 SPG in 71 games played last season. He is going to provide tremendous leadership for the Oklahoma City Thunder next season.
Milwaukee Bucks Will Need To Pivot Elsewhere Now That Alex Caruso Was Traded To the Oklahoma City Thunder

The Bucks will need to pivot elsewhere in their NBA offseason plans with Caruso officially off the market. He would have been a perfect backup point guard for Damian Lillard. That was one of the key positions that Milwaukee was missing a season ago.
General manager Jon Horst could explore the trade market or he could sign other players in NBA free agency. A player that the Milwaukee Bucks could try and land in a trade now is Toronto Raptors guard Bruce Brown. Brown is only 27 years old and he is someone that would fit with Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo perfectly.
Kris Dunn has been another name mentioned. Dunn is a free agent.
Dalton Sell Of Behindthebuckpass.com Suggests That the Top Priority They Should Pivot Now To Is Marcus Smart

Writer Dalton Sell of behindthebuckpass.com suggests that the Milwaukee Bucks’s top priority now that Alex Caruso was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder should be Marcus Smart of the Memphis Grizzlies. Sell said:
“With the Boston Celtics landing Jrue Holiday last season, many Bucks fans wanted ex-Boston guard Marcus Smart to level the playing field. Milwaukee’s front office apparently tried to make that happen, as Yahoo Sports’ NBA insider Jake Fischer reported the Memphis Grizzlies did receive a phone call from the Bucks about trading for him, but the former declined.
Since Caruso is now off the market, the Bucks should give the Grizzlies another call. Smart would fit right in with this team, giving them the defensive ace they have been longing for in the form of one of the best defenders in the league. A three-time All-Defensive honoree and one-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, he knows a thing or two about guarding the opposition.
With a $20.2 million salary for next season, this is another deal where the Bucks would have to move on from Brook Lopez. As said with Brown, moving Lopez for an ever-versatile defender like Smart is the type of move that could allow this team to experiment with endless defensive schemes. For one of the best guard defenders out there, it’s worth calling about.
Like Holiday in Boston, one would think that Smart would be fired up about the opportunity to go against the team that traded him, especially given the status of these two title-contending teams.”
Marcus Smart is 30 years old. He is a great defender and would be a good fit for the Milwaukee Bucks. Last season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Smart averaged 14.5 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 4.3 APG, 0.3 BPG, and 2.1 SPG. He also shot 43.0% from the field, 31.3% from three-point land, and 76.8% from the free-throw line. Marcus Smart only played in 20 games last season for Memphis.
It would be interesting to see if the Milwaukee Bucks and general manager Jon Horst would swap Marcus Smart for Brook Lopez 1-for-1. Lopez is 36 years old and will be a free agent after next season.