PODCAST: Farewell MCW, hello Tony Snell

Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Snell both entered camp with much to prove. They’ll finish camp with just as much to prove — and in new NBA cities, too.

After months of rumors, the Bucks are on the verge of sending Carter-Williams to Chicago for Snell, a fellow 2013 first round pick who knows a thing or two about falling short of fanbase expectations. On Sunday we tried to sort through what the Bucks gave up, what they got, and how it fits into the grand scheme of the Bucks universe:

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• The new MCW trade is not the old MCW trade. It’s understandable that a deal shipping Carter-Williams out of Milwaukee will re-open the wounds of the one that brought him here, but it’s also important not to let one bad deal tarnish the view of the one that comes after it. At this point, there’s little question that the Bucks lost the trade that sent Brandon Knight to Phoenix, Carter-Williams, Miles Plumlee and Tyler Ennis to Milwaukee and the Lakers’ protected first round pick to Philly. In fact, the only winner would seem to be Philly, which didn’t need MCW for its tanking efforts and cashed in on him with a pick that’s likely to land them a lottery pick from the Lakers either this year or next. For his part, Knight has struggled with injuries since arriving in the desert, and given his demotion to sixth man he could be on the move at some point in the near future as well. I doubt he brings back something comparable to the Lakers’ pick, but we won’t know until a deal happens.
• Tony! Toni! Toné! If you were hoping that an MCW trade could redeem the one that came before it...well, you were bound to be disappointed. But at this point the Bucks will have to focus on salvaging Snell’s career rather than worrying about what went wrong with MCW’s, and on paper a fresh start would seem an ideal opportunity for Snell to find the niche he never solidifed in Chicago. Despite his obvious limitations, Snell’s ability to knock down open threes and defend competently on the wing offer hope that he provide some value both this season and beyond, and the Bucks’ complete lack of depth on the wing means he’ll have every opportunity to play while Khris Middleton slowly rehabs from his torn hamstring. So while Snell’s ability to be part of the solution in Milwaukee is an open question, the answer won’t be obscured by a lack of opportunity.