The Milwaukee Bucks have their Big 3. They formed this fearsome trio when they added Damian Lillard to the squad this past summer via a blockbuster trade deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. Dame came in to replace Jrue Holiday as the newest member of the new-look Big 3 alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.
At this point, it seems like the Bucks are now looking to change things up again.
Milwaukee Bucks Linked to Hawks’ Dejounte Murray
According to multiple reports, Atlanta Hawks All-Star guard Dejounte Murray is a player on Milwaukee’s radar. The Bucks are reportedly one of a handful of teams in the NBA that are interested in acquiring the services of the 27-year-old.
For the Bucks, the arrival of Murray would be a significant upgrade in their backcourt, particularly on the defensive end. This team has yet to fill the void Holiday left when he went away, and Murray’s arrival will certainly help in this regard.
It doesn’t seem like the Bucks are going to move Khris Middleton, which should give the Bucks a new Big 4 with Murray in the mix, I suppose. Then again, you have to wonder what an asset-strapped squad like the Bucks will be able to muster up in order to lure Murray to Milwaukee.
NBA Fans React
This is some undeniably big news — one could change the landscape of the NBA in favor of the Bucks. As such, it comes as no surprise that the mean streets of Twitter have been buzzing hard amid the emergence of this captivating narrative.
Most of the fans were quick to point out that the Bucks don’t have enough tradeable assets to convince the Hawks to part ways with such an integral member of their squad:
They have no assets for Murray 😭
— JBond 🍌 (@jbondwagon) January 23, 2024
Going to be hard to move Middleton
— Tyro Investing (@tyro_investing) January 23, 2024
what do they have to offer????🤣🤣🤣
— Aaron💜💛 (@1Aaron_) January 23, 2024
No assets lol just get a cheap defender
— TheOneAndOnly (@TGJTOAO) January 23, 2024
Lmaooo with what pieces?
— Wonder || ⚡️ (@callherwonder) January 23, 2024
They don’t want Bobby Portis and a 2nd round pick 🤣
— CHIP SZN LETS GO | depressed heat fan (@superguy454) January 23, 2024
Nobody wants Bobby Portis and Pat Connaughton pic.twitter.com/whBfGgRW7g
— zip™ (@zippydip1) January 23, 2024
Giannis Antetokounmpo also caught a few strays as some trolls accused him of being the man behind Milwaukee’s supposed attempt to create the next NBA superteam:
How much help does Giannis need
— TheWarriorsHouse (@GSWarriorsHouse) January 23, 2024
Giannis is a superteam merchant
— rainaveed (@rainaveed50) January 23, 2024
How much help does Giannis need to beat Tatum💀
— bradyforde (@bradyforde1) January 23, 2024
Giannis please just let Horst run team and stop being the GM lmao
— Matt123456789 (@Matt12345667836) January 23, 2024
As you may have noticed, Giannis and the Bucks have more than a few naysayers out there.
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2 Comments
ATL can’t compete for years because Trae is just a bad player.
They need both cap space and picks.
Bucks could trade Cam, AJ Green and Pat and get 8 million when the former two contracts expire this year, and another 9 million when Pat’s expires in 2 more years (or they could move him later for a contract that expires sooner). Throw in our 2nds–some of which will be in the 30s from other teams–and we get the (slightly) overrated Murray who is more of a 10 or 12 million dollar player to me. He’s not a star who should be making 20 or 25.
Then we can focus on getting younger and more at the 4 and 5 by moving Bobby in the off season and drafting bigs to develop.
Easy. These fans are not paying attention and know nothing.
I’m not sure you’re paying attention either Mr. Witt. Denounce Murray is not overrated. He’s just played in small markets his whole career. As far as what anyone in the NBA gets paid, they’re all overpaid! I believe Dejounte is actually getting like 27 million but who’s counting… you say he’s slightly overrated but want to cut his salary by more than half. He was developed by the Spurs which means he plays the game the right way on both ends. You call Trae Young a bad player… Simply an absence thing to say. Bad defender… Absolutely! What do you expect at his size??? He’s a great scorer and playmaker. If you have been watching yourself you may have noticed defense is irrelevant in today’s NBA. At least until postseason and then it’s subject to the physicality allowed and the refs which all changes from 1 game to the next. Perhaps you have noticed the recent scoring outbursts and historically high game scores. Then there is the Bucks unbelievable record with their atrocious defensive play.
The Bucks need to get a little younger and more athletic. They have no draft picks for several years so I don’t foresee them drafting bigs to develop plus that’s not the mode they’re in. Once Rivers was hired anything remotely close to rebuilding was out the window. I think keeping Lopez was a mistake. I like that he can shoot the three and that’s part of what makes the Bucks unique is that at almost all times they can go 5 out because of the bigs can shoot 3’s. Obviously Giannis is the exception but he has been smarter on the number of 3s he takes and has a tendency this year to hit in big moments. Portis is a tough call. Hasn’t been great overall this year but a lot of that can be related to the coaching carousel and lack of a system on offense. It’s risky at this point to move any core pieces as they need continuity. I think the off-season will be interesting I could see Giannis requesting a trade. Based on just the two games with Rivers so far Giannis is going to play off ball more and that’s not a strength of his nor his style. Also their not getting out in transition as much which is another area where Giannis does a lot of damage. If Doc keeps things this way I can’t imagine Giannis will play for them next year. I understand Doc is trying to keep scores manageable and slow down so they can figure things out but in these two games, both have been close but the pace has prevented some of their usual late game heroics.