Rumors: Bucks Have Interest in Reddish, Still Tied to Crowder

It never ends! And depending on how you feel about the Milwaukee Bucks roster construction, it never should end. Milwaukee sits firmly in the second seat of the Eastern Conference, and with another <checks watch> 57 regular season games to go, reports are swirling about the Bucks and their interest in swapping role players that might be available from other teams.

First and foremost, Jae Crowder remains a disgruntled member of the Phoenix Suns, and as such has been separated from the team all year long. Not much has changed since the last time we discussed a possible Crowder acquisition, including whether or not it would even be worth it to bring him aboard. The Bucks are not well-known for seeking out players who are so brazenly open about their discontent, and Crowder’s profile as a bulky wing who can sometimes hit threes provides questionable upside in the playoffs for Milwaukee. But the hangup in this latest iteration of the proposed deal? Houston wants a first-rounder for whichever contributor they send to Arizona, and the Bucks’ pu-pu platter of second rounders isn’t going to cut it. They saw how Jon Horst nabbed Nikola Mirotic a few years ago, and per Shams Charania, they say “not this time!”

Multiple league sources said the Suns recently engaged in three-team talks that would have sent Crowder to Milwaukee, four Bucks second-round draft picks along with players to Houston, and Eric Gordon and/or Kenyon Martin Jr. to Phoenix. The hold up in the potential three-teamer was that the Rockets are coveting one first-round pick for Gordon, and for Martin a very good first-rounder, not a batch of second-rounders, according to sources.

Meanwhile, a new name has been entered into the hall of mirrors that is NBA transaction rumors. Cam Reddish, acquired by New York last January, is on the block and Milwaukee’s interest is piqued.

The report itself is as vague as it is short, but the gist is that the Knicks are trying to move Reddish, and they’re not shy about letting it be known. Why is Reddish not a part of the Knicks’ plans? Nobody seems to have that story in the public eye, but it remains the case that Reddish was on the outside looking in with Atlanta, and here again with the Knicks he’s simply not making an impact. Is there more to Reddish than just a talented lottery pick who just hasn’t found the right opportunity? Or is it as simple a fact that his relatively average defense isn’t enough to buoy his disappointing offensive output in the NBA? Reddish is a career sub-40% shooter from the field (0.393), and he’s barely above 30% from three this season (career 0.323 from deep). If the Bucks need to play a guy who can create his own shot while offering...not much else, I’d rather just stick with Jordan Nwora. At least with him you get unparalleled good vibes.

Again, there’s very little to be gleaned from these curated reports that implicate the Milwaukee Bucks in their trade rumors. As is often the case, sports media is a vehicle for front offices to get their message out in a very specific way, and what we don’t know dwarfs what we read in the posts above.

For now, if Jon Horst was asking my advice, I would offer the same thing I said before: stay the course, keep your powder dry. Let’s see what this team looks like at full strength before tinkering.