NBA Rumors: Victor Oladipo & Robert Covington To Bucks In Proposed Three-Team Deal Involving Pacers & Rockets
The Milwaukee Bucks don’t have any plan of moving Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2020 offseason, regardless of what he decides regarding his contract extension. Instead of trading the “Greek Freak,” the Bucks will try to show him why he should stay by surrounding him with quality players that could give them a better chance of dominating the Eastern Conference and winning the NBA championship in the 2020-21 NBA season. In a recent article, Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report proposed a three-team blockbuster deal that could enable the Bucks to acquire Indiana Pacers shooting guard Victor Oladipo and Houston Rockets small forward Robert Covington this fall.
In the scenario, the Bucks will get Oladipo and Covington, the Pacers will receive Eric Bledsoe and a 2020 first-round pick, and the Rockets will obtain Donte DiVincenzo, Ersan Ilyasova, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2023 first-round pick. Though it would cost them three first-rounders and three players on reasonable deals, the potential deal would make a lot of sense for the Bucks.
As Hughes noted, it would enable the Bucks to add “a pair of high-end starters” in Oladipo and Covington that could help them improve their performance on both ends of the floor next year.
“Covington and Oladipo supercharge the Bucks defense and provide more playmaking (Oladipo) and shooting (Covington) than the team will know what to do with. Milwaukee didn’t have any offensive versatility in its last two disappointing postseason runs. A healthy Oladipo changes that.”
Oladipo and Covington would be great additions to the Bucks. Oladipo may have gone through plenty of ups and downs in the past but once he becomes 100 percent healthy and regains his All-Star form, he could become the second-best player in Milwaukee next season.
Covington would give the Bucks a three-and-D wingman who could be tasked to guard the opposing team’s best player. If Coach Mike Budenholzer chooses to keep Khris Middleton as his starting small forward, Covington shouldn’t have any problem sliding to the starting power forward position.
For the Pacers, the potential deal would allow them to turn Oladipo’s expiring contract into another veteran guard and a first-round selection instead of losing him in the summer of 2021 without getting anything in return. Bledsoe would reunite with Malcolm Brogdon in Indiana and form the Pacers’ starting backcourt next year.
Meanwhile, the suggested trade would only make sense for the Rockets if they finally decide to undergo a rebuilding process. Unfortunately, as of now, it’s more likely that the Rockets will run it back again next season with the explosive backcourt duo of James Harden and Russell Westbrook. If they decide to part ways with the likes of Covington, it would only be in a deal that would enable them to acquire another established veteran who is a better fit with Harden and Westbrook.
