7 players the Milwaukee Bucks gave up on far too soon
By Dalton Sell
No. 1 – Ray Allen
The Ray Allen trade remains one of the most haunting deals in Milwaukee Bucks history to date.
After being named an All-Star in three of his six seasons with the Bucks, Allen was moved to the Seattle Supersonics midway through the 2002-03 season in a deal centered around Gary Payton. Payton played well for the Bucks, but he appeared in just 34 total games for the franchise before bolting to Los Angeles in the off-season. The Bucks essentially traded an up-and-coming star in Allen for 34 games of Payton because Coach George Karl and Allen did not see eye to eye.
After being traded from Milwaukee, Allen went on to be named an All-Star seven more times and win two championships with the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat. En route to winning his title with the Heat, Allen hit one of the most clutch shots in NBA history in the 2013 NBA Finals. Arguably the biggest what-if in franchise history involves the team trading away their 27-year-old star, as Allen was destined for greatness but didn’t get to fully showcase it in Milwaukee during his prime years. It’s a shame everything went down like this.
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One can only wonder what would have happened if Allen stayed in Milwaukee.