NBA Trade Rumors: How the Milwaukee Bucks could acquire Dejounte Murray

NBA Trade Rumors: How the Milwaukee Bucks could acquire Dejounte Murray ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline.

As if they needed even more help in the backcourt, there are now rumors that the Milwaukee Bucks have expressed interest in All-Star guard Dejounte Murray. With the NBA Trade Deadline just a few weeks away, it's become clear that the Bucks are looking for avenues to improve the roster even further. The Bucks are currently ranked second in the Eastern Conference standings but very much have some ground to cover if they want to be considered in the same conversation as the Boston Celtics.

A big move at the NBA Trade Deadline could help the Bucks cover some of that ground if not all of it. Specifically speaking, a move for Murray, an All-Star level two-way guard, could put the Bucks on equal ground as the Celtics in terms of talent in the starting 5.

While adding Murray seems like a no-brainer, actually pulling off a trade won't be that simple. But that's the exercise that we'll explore today. How exactly could the Bucks pull off a trade for Murray?

What a Dejounte Murray trade to the Milwaukee Bucks would look like

Let's preface this by saying that a Murray to the Bucks trade seems unlikely. At the same time, it's not entirely impossible. If the Bucks are able to pull off a trade for Murray, it will likely be centered around this framework:

Becaues the Bucks have no outright first-round picks to send to Atlanta in a deal, they'd have to get creative with picks already owed to other teams or the Hawks would have to settle for second-round picks. Quite frankly, it's a tall task either way for the Bucks.

Milwaukee could also theoretically add a third team to this deal and send Portis that way in exchange for some draft compensation that would come in to Atlanta. It would add another layer of complexity to a potential deal, but that is the pathway that Milwaukee would have to explore if they want to land Murray.

In this current framework, the Bucks would then have a starting 5 of Damian Lillard, Murray, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Brook Lopez. That's a starting 5 of talent that could rival what the Celtics roll out.

The big question is whether Milwaukee would believe this would be worth it. The Bucks' depth would be even more thin than it already is. The argument would be that Milwaukee's margin for error would significantly take a hit while their ceiling would raise.

Again, this seems like a very unlikely outcome for Murray, the Bucks, and the Hawks. Atlanta is likely going to get better offers on the open market for Murray than what Milwaukee can offer.

Then again, after the offseason the Bucks had, in which they pulled off the deal for Lillard, who am I to count this team out?