The Bucks Offered An Intriguing Package To The Cavs For Kyrie Irving


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Kyrie Irving was already the subject of the NBA’s most laborous drama long before Isaiah Thomas got invovled in the mess. Now that his hip injury is the make or break point of the two teams’ blockbuster trade, the long waiting game to see if Irving will get traded out of Cleveland has become an even longer game of waiting to see if the trade will be vetoed or reworked in some way.

The problem here is that the Thomas situation is one that is difficult to explain in simple terms. Thomas doesn’t think his injury is a problem, or one that will linger as long as the Cavaliers may think. Meanwhile, Boston says they were forthcoming in their diagnosis and the timetable for Thomas’ recovery. There’s also talk that Cleveland knew what would happen with Thomas and wanted to posture for more assets because of the injury’s severity, the nature of which they already knew.

But the easy way to fix all of this is to just veto the trade and pick another trading partner. Well, ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported on Tuesday that the Milwaukee Bucks may have emerged as the most likely alternative for Kyrie Irving should Boston and Cleveland not find a solution to their Isaiah Thomas problem.

It’s been loosely understood that Boston is one of the few teams that have the assets available to satisfy the Cavaliers and also feel like they’ve improved when making this trade. But looking at the assets available and you can see how the Bucks may have a compelling offer to make.

The Milwaukee Bucks lurk on the fringes of the Irving bidding with an offer centered around Malcolm Brogdon, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, and Khris Middleton, sources say. The Bucks have not yet put a first-round pick on the table, sources say, but the bet here is that they would to get the deal done — or if Irving showed any interest in staying in Milwaukee long-term.

Brogdon and Middleton are good. They can shoot 3-pointers, and switch across multiple positions on defense. They are tailor-made to help the Cavs mimic the Golden State Warriors, the only team LeBron really cares about right now.

Making Cleveland happy with a first round pick to build on down the road seems essential to the mix at this point, but being able to sway James in his final season is also a nice boost here. The Cavaliers really have to work all angles at this point: trying to win now and keep LeBron happy enough to have him consider signing a new contract while having a fallback plan in case he leaves via free agency once more.

It’s complicated in nearly every conceivable way, but perhaps Milwaukee is the perfect team to make all this a bit easier to comprehend.

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