Milwaukee Bucks: Realistic trade ideas to acquire Victor Oladipo

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Milwaukee Bucks Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Speculation continues to revolve around potential trade partners for Victor Oladipo, but could the Milwaukee Bucks emerge as a realistic destination?

The Milwaukee Bucks are expected to make important moves to improve their roster this offseason, and the idea of acquiring Indiana Pacers’ guard Victor Oladipo has gained traction as the transaction window nears closer.

After another disappointing playoff exit, the Bucks should be eager to aggressively pursue an upgrade to their backcourt, and they have already been linked with trade targets such as Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul, New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday, and Sacramento’s Bogdan Bogdanovic. Now, Victor Oladipo could become one of the names to watch for as well.

Rumors of the Bucks being linked to Oladipo most recently escalated once ESPN’s Zach Lowe mentioned Milwaukee as a team to monitor in regard to potential Oladipo suitors. During his latest podcast of ‘The Lowe Post’ with The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, Lowe stated:

“I’ll give you a team I’m keeping my eye on with Victor Oladipo: Milwaukee. Just keeping my eye on them. That’s all I’m going to say.”

For the record, this was only speculation, but it certainly raises eyebrows since Zach is very well-respected and has trustworthy connections around the league. It also makes sense since Oladipo seems to be in a conflicting situation with Indiana, and the Bucks appear to be shopping for an established two-way guard that can efficiently complement All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton on both ends of the floor.

Oladipo is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 as he enters the last year of his four-year, $85 million contract (set to make $21 million for 2020-21 NBA season). He’s eligible to receive a contract extension, but the Pacers have reportedly been unwilling to offer him the contract that he and his representatives have requested.

As a result, it’s likely that Oladipo and the Pacers are on a course to eventually part ways. A trade would then be the most likely scenario in this case since Indiana would prefer to receive at least some value in return for his services rather than losing him for nothing in 2021 free agency.

Let’s examine whether the Milwaukee Bucks could serve as a realistic trade destination for Victor Oladipo this offseason by analyzing his valued contributions and diving into what a potential deal might look like.

Next: Victor Oladipo's fit with the Bucks

Milwaukee Bucks</a> are expected to make important moves to improve their roster this offseason, and the idea of acquiring Indiana Pacers’ guard <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/oladivi01.html" ref="nofollow">Victor Oladipo</a> has gained traction as the transaction window nears closer.</p> <p>After another disappointing playoff exit, the Bucks should be eager to aggressively pursue an upgrade to their backcourt, and they have already been linked with trade targets such as Oklahoma City’s Chris Paul, New Orleans’ Jrue Holiday, and Sacramento’s Bogdan Bogdanovic. Now, Victor Oladipo could become one of the names to watch for as well.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="light" data-text="Bucks: 2019-20 NBA season player grades" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/15/milwaukee-bucks-season-player-grades/" data-call-to-action="Related Story" > <div class="story-link-related"> <a class="story-link-related-btn" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-related-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/15/milwaukee-bucks-season-player-grades/"> <span class="call_to_action">Related Story:</span> Bucks: 2019-20 NBA season player grades </a> </div> </div> <p>Rumors of the Bucks being linked to Oladipo most recently escalated once ESPN’s Zach Lowe mentioned Milwaukee as a team to monitor in regard to potential Oladipo suitors. During his <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=30149918%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest podcast of ‘The Lowe Post’ with The Ringer’s Bill Simmons</a>, Lowe stated:</p> <blockquote class="left ampstart-left">“I’ll give you a team I’m keeping my eye on with Victor Oladipo: Milwaukee. Just keeping my eye on them. That’s all I’m going to say.”</p> <p></blockquote> <p>For the record, this was only speculation, but it certainly raises eyebrows since Zach is very well-respected and has trustworthy connections around the league. It also makes sense since Oladipo seems to be in a conflicting situation with Indiana, and the Bucks appear to be shopping for an established two-way guard that can efficiently complement All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton on both ends of the floor.</p> <p>Oladipo is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2021 as he enters the last year of his four-year, $85 million contract (set to make $21 million for 2020-21 NBA season). He’s eligible to receive a contract extension, but the Pacers have reportedly been unwilling to offer him the contract that he and his representatives have requested.</p> <p>As a result, it’s likely that Oladipo and the Pacers are on a course to eventually part ways. A trade would then be the most likely scenario in this case since Indiana would prefer to receive at least some value in return for his services rather than losing him for nothing in 2021 free agency.</p> <p>Let’s examine whether the Milwaukee Bucks could serve as a realistic trade destination for Victor Oladipo this offseason by analyzing his valued contributions and diving into what a potential deal might look like.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Victor Oladipo's fit with the Bucks </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_413276" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2018/08/11517620.jpeg"> "Matt

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Bucks Get</div> <div class="info">Victor Oladipo</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team b"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fpacers.png"/>

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Pacers Get</div> <div class="info">Eric Bledsoe</div> <div class="info">Donte DiVincenzo</div> <div class="info">2022 second-round pick</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p>Needless to say, a trade of this caliber will depend on the value at stake. The Bucks would make this aggressive move if they think having Oladipo’s backcourt contributions for possibly one year are basically worth giving up DiVincenzo, who’s been a valued young asset, and Eric Bledsoe, <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"http://hoopshabit.com/2020/09/10/milwaukee-bucks-eric-bledsoe-strike-3/">who may have just hit his third strike as a Buck following another disappointing postseason</a>. It’s reportedly an “open secret” across the league that Milwaukee will try and offload Bledsoe this offseason, so they should have no problem including him in potential deals.</p> <p>On the other side, although the Pacers would be interested in acquiring DiVincenzo, it’s likely that they would want nothing to do with taking on Eric Bledsoe and the remaining three years of his four-year, $70 million contract. Indiana has already committed guaranteed money to Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis, and Myles Turner long-term, and they’ve also seen what a Bledsoe-Brogdon pairing looks like in the backcourt, so it’s doubtful that they would want Bledsoe in Indianapolis.</p> <p>Another possibility in this proposed trade idea would be luring a third team with sufficient cap space to absorb Bledsoe’s contract to make it a three-team deal. If Pritchard and the Pacers are surprisingly interested in Bledsoe though, this trade makes sense for both parties.</p> <p>If Indiana refuses to accept Bledsoe and a third party cannot be identified, then there could be other options that arise to the surface.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="Trade" data-team-ids="[89,100]" data-team-gets="[["Victor Oladipo"],["Ersan Ilyasova","Donte DiVincenzo","D.J. Wilson","2022 second-round pick"]]" > <div class="playertrade remove-native-227"> <div class="trade"> <div class="team a"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://hoopshabit.com/2020/10/26/milwaukee-bucks-victor-oladipo-trade/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fbucks.png"/>

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Milwaukee Bucks: Realistic trade ideas to acquire Victor Oladipo

Speculation continues to revolve around potential trade partners for Victor Oladipo, but could the Milwaukee Bucks emerge as a realistic destination?

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