ESPN Insider On Phone With Team When Doc Rivers Called To Talk Trade

So are the Milwaukee Bucks active on the trade market? They100% are, and we don't have to go with second-hand speculation anymore.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst revealed the hilarious story on his Hoops Collective podcast that he was on the phone with an NBA team's front office last week asking if they've had any trade talks with the Bucks, when this happened:

I was on the phone with this team and I go, 'Hey, have the Bucks called you yet?' And they're like, 'No, they haven't called us.' I go, 'Well, I just talked to like four teams in the last day, the Bucks called.' He's like, 'Yeah, well they haven't called us.' And then he's like, 'Wait a minute, Bucks on the other line! I gotta go!'

The Bucks have started the season 2-8, but according to reports are not looking to trade either of their superstars, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard, but rather to add around them.

"'The Bucks called us about trades,'" Windhorst quoted one team as saying, but not about Giannis or Dame. We ran down the main 4 players that are most likely to be dealt first by the Bucks, here.

Fellow NBA insider Marc Stein Marc Stein also reported on Sunday that the Bucks are preferring to turn things around by adding some pieces around Antetokounmpo and Lillard, rather than trading them.

The Bucks' potential (former?) third star, Khris Middleton, has yet to make his season debut after ankle surgeries in the offseason. He averaged 15.1 points per game across 55 contests in the 2023-24 regular season. He's missed almost as many games over the past two seasons as he's played.

Can the 33-year-old return to his All-Star form of three seasons ago? The answer to that question could go a long way to determining what's next for the Bucks.