NBA Trade Rumors: Bucks Find A 3rd Star in Jerami Grant in Proposed Deal

While so many around the NBA seem to think that the Milwaukee Bucks will eventually decide to break things up this season if they continue to struggle, there's still a chance that the team will decide to go "all in" and take a swing at another title by adding a third star.

While Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have been surfacing in trade rumors, a recent proposal from Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report would instead have Jerami Grant of the Portland Trail Blazers head to Milwaukee to join them.

Here's what he suggests:

Milwaukee Bucks Receive:

F Jerami Grant

Portland Trail Blazers Receive:

F Khris Middleton, 2031 first-round pick

"If the Bucks want to salvage their season and add more veteran talent around Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, Grant would be the perfect complimentary piece given his scoring and defensive versatility," writes Swartz. Giannis and Dame make up well over half of the Bucks' scoring, just between the two of them. Grant averaged 20 PPG the past two years, and is at 17 so far this season.

As for Middleton, he was Giannis' right-hand man in their 2021 championship run, but the 33-year-old is nowhere near the player he was when he was an All-Star in three out of four seasons around that time. Serious injuries have derailed his career the past couple of years, and he has yet to play a game this season, and still, it's unknown when he'll return.

But the Bucks need help now, so in comes Grant in this proposed deal, to potentially average the 20 points per game that Middleton once did and play a little defense at the same time.

For their trouble, the rebuilding Blazers get a 2031 first-round pick from the Bucks (odds are it could be a pretty good one by that point), while they can gamble that if Middleton does somehow return within the next couple of months and show some semblance of his former All-Star self, he could garner them more assets in return by flipping him.