The Milwaukee Bucks are sending Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson to the Golden State Warriors. In return, the Bucks are receiving Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown. This is a big trade for both teams, and it may just be the beginning of a crazy NBA Deadline.
Bogut has been with the Bucks since being drafted first overall in 2005, but he never lived up to expectations in Milwaukee. His career numbers are 12.7 ppg and 9.3 rbg, which aren’t bad, but the Bucks expected more from a number 1 pick, especially when they could have drafted players like Deron Williams and Chris Paul with that pick. But Bogut now gets the chance to play with Stephen Curry and David Lee. He will have plenty of support around him, and I am confident that he can turn his career around at the age of 27.
Jackson is returning to Golden State, where he played from 2006-2010. He has been injured and not very effective this season, but he can score the basketball, and we all know the Warriors love to score. The Warriors feel that Jackson is very capable of helping this team win down the stretch, and he will not have much pressure to do so with an abundance of players who score already on Golden State.
Monta Ellis can score. We all know that, but he needs to learn to coexist with Brandon Jennings. Jennings is a great young player who has the ability to pass (As we saw in his 2008 McDonalds All-American Game). But he hasn’t been looking to pass much this season. I think that if Jennings and Ellis can play together they can be better than the Curry-Ellis combination that was in Golden State. Don’t expect Ellis to thrive this season though, because it might take time for these players to learn to share the ball.
Udoh is a former 6th overall pick, but he has not done anything close to what the Warriors thought he could do. He is only in his second year though, and he is only 24 years old. It was tough for him to develop with David Lee starting in front of him, so I think that he has a better chance to succeed in Milwaukee. The Bucks are not stacked with good big men, and I believe that Udoh should be getting minutes over Jon Leuer.
Words can’t describe how big of a disappointment Kwame Brown has been in the NBA. He was the top pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, and Milwaukee will be Brown’s 7th different team. His career high in points per game is only 10.9 and that was the 03-04 season. Don’t expect Brown to do much of anything this year, but maybe with the lack of good big men on Milwaukee he will be able to get some minutes. Even though may not be able to turn his whole career around, he might be able to help the Bucks fight for a playoff spot with some energy off the bench.
It is difficult to decide which team won this trade just yet, but if Bogut can stay healthy the Warriors will become a better team. They have lacked a premiere player at the center position, and Bogut and Lee now have the ability to contend with some of the other big men in the West.