Milwaukee Bucks: Can they trade for Anthony Davis?

The Milwaukee Bucks have one superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo. With Anthony Davis requesting a trade, can they add a second one?

The Milwaukee Bucks are playing better than anyone could have expected this season. They own the best record in the NBA, with a net rating that supports their resume. New head coach Mike Budenholzer and a couple of stretch-bigs have been the additions needed to bring this team to the next level. On the surface, they don’t need a star like Anthony Davis to be successful.

Yet looking past all of the blowout wins and success thus far, the Bucks are ultimately a team with one superstar and a strong complementary cast around him. This is not meant to downplay that cast, which has a trio of All-Star candidates in Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez. But the reality is that in a league where most contenders have multiple All-NBA players, the Bucks have only Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Bucks could still win a title with one star, the route Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks took to the championship in 2011. But the long record of title winners over the past 30 years is that to consistently contend for a championship you need not one, but two (or four) stars.

Milwaukee’s concerns a year ago were already turning to convincing Antetokounmpo to stay, well ahead of his free agency in 2021. They succeeded with flying colors, putting together a contender with efficient moves this offseason. Yet come playoff time, a Bucks core that has not won a postseason series still has to prove it can be successful in April and May.

When Paul George was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017, many thought he would ultimately leave in free agency and head to Los Angeles or Philadelphia. Instead, Russell Westbrook and the team culture convinced him he could thrive as the second star in Oklahoma City. Thus far this season that has been proven accurate, as the OKC Thunder are perhaps the second-best team in the Western Conference, and PG was voted an All-Star starter.

Anthony Davis will be a free agent in the summer of 2020, and like many stars before him — George, Jimmy Butler, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard, among others — has announced his preference to be traded to a team where he can contend.

Translation: he wants to play alongside another superstar. Not to take anything away from Jrue Holiday, a deserving All-Star candidate, but to be a consistent and serious contender Davis recognizes he needs to be alongside another star.

He had that for less than a year with DeMarcus Cousins, but an Achilles tear sidelined Cousins for a year and changed the future of the New Orleans Pelicans. Davis’ chance to enter the postseason with another top-15 player was snatched away. That didn’t stop him from dominating the Portland Trail Blazers and reaching the second round, but the Pelicans were no match for the Golden State Warriors.

This all circles back to the Bucks. Their superstar Antetokounmpo could be in a similar place as Davis in a year. If the Bucks fizzle out in the playoffs, matched up with the Boston Celtics or Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, the questions and rumors will surface yet again. Will Giannis demand a trade? Can the Bucks truly contend? Where is his second star?

Therefore, the Bucks should make every effort to swing for the fences and add a second star to play with Antetokounmpo. With Davis the latest superstar to hit the trade market, they should toss their hat into the ring and make a play for the devastating big man.