‘Realistic’ Proposed Trade Reunites Milwaukee With 2 Former Bucks

Getty Jevon Carter

In their quest for another title, the Milwaukee Bucks could bring back a familiar face to help them. Two former players in mind are Jevon Carter and Torrey Craig, both of whom currently play for the Chicago Bulls.

Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale proposed the following trade between the Bucks and Bulls, which would reunite Milwaukee with both, in a July 12 story.

Bucks receive: Carter, Craig

Bulls receive: Pat Connaughton

Favale explained why Carter would fit well with the Bucks despite not coming off the best season.

“Carter is working off a down-shooting season, but Chicago’s depth-chart setup didn’t do him any favors. The Bucks will be able to tee him up for higher-quality looks from distance, he has experience playing beside this core, and his return gives them another viable point-of-attack defender on top of Delon Wright.”

Favale then explained Craig’s appeal to the Bucks as a player.

“He is shooting above 39 percent from downtown over the past two years, albeit on modest volume, and arms the Bucks rotation with another body to deploy against power wings and bigger forwards. He also remains one of the league’s sneakier offensive rebounders.”

Since they both played for the Bucks in the past, they could be useful on familiarity alone.

Bucks Could Profit From Bulls’ Rebuild

As a team that is hovering around the NBA’s second tax apron, the Bucks have limited options for how they can improve their team. They’ve added some solid reinforcements in Wright and Taurean Prince. Carter and Craig could give them more, and they might be attainable.

The Bulls have signaled that they intend to rebuild. They traded Alex Caruso to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Josh Giddey. They then signed-and-traded DeMar DeRozan to the Sacramento Kings for Chris Duarte and cash. They’ve tried to trade Zach LaVine for months and Nikola Vucevic could follow him.

With the Bulls starting a new chapter, the Bucks could capitalize on that by getting rotation players like Craig and Carter. One of the Bucks’ most glaring struggles during the 2023-24 season was their depth. Adding these players to their current rotation could fill those holes. Best of all, they would be productive players on cheap contracts.

Carter’s & Craig’s Tenures in Milwaukee

Both Carter and Craig played for the Bucks, but they played for the team at different times. The Bucks signed Craig for the 2020-21 season, but he only played 18 games before they traded him to the Phoenix Suns. Funny enough, the Suns featured Craig a lot more during their playoff run, where they would lose to the Bucks in the NBA Finals in 2021.

The Bucks signed Carter in 2022, where he became a diamond in the rough in the season and a half he played in Milwaukee. In his lone full season with the Bucks, he averaged eight points a game while shooting 42.1% from three.

Should the Bucks acquire them, the difference between their previous tenure and the current one is the head coach. When they played for Milwaukee, Mike Budenholzer called the shots. If they come back, they will play under Doc Rivers.