Did the Bucks get better after the trade deadline?

Sizing up the Milwaukee Bucks' shrewd, not splashy deadline

Amid all of the madness that surrounded this year’s NBA trade deadline, the Milwaukee Bucks addressed their biggest positional need Thursday morning.

In came veteran big Serge Ibaka from the L.A. Clippers and two future second round picks via Detroit in a four-team trade. Going out was Donte DiVincenzo as he got shipped out to Sacramento (for real, this time).

With little flexibility, both in their asset pool and in movable salaries on their roster, speculation continued to surround the four-year guard leading up to the deadline. DiVincenzo’s struggles since returning from his ankle injury that he suffered during last season’s title run furthered the Bucks’ need to survey the market for DiVincenzo before he becomes a restricted free agent this summer.

Unlike past deadlines where Bucks general manager Jon Horst has sought to add pieces to fit within the Bucks’ core, this season has largely been about addressing what they have missed the most: Brook Lopez.

It hadn’t been for a lack of trying from the Bucks’ end, at least to some degree. There was the month-long sojourn for DeMarcus Cousins that ended with the Bucks moving on from the veteran ahead of his contract guarantee date. The unexpected return of Greg Monroe on a 10-day contract has given them a body for now, but Moose is hardly a long-term answer with the Bucks looking to defend their title.

While the cautious optimism continues to simmer with each and every image of Lopez shooting around in the practice facility or accompanying the team on their recent West coast road trip, the Bucks still couldn’t afford to go on without chasing a worthwhile solution to their frontcourt problems before the deadline passed.

And in many ways, the Bucks couldn’t have found a better trade target that hits on the many things they’ve missed without Lopez in the fold.

Ibaka brings the same smooth shooting, size, physicality and rim protection that the Bucks have coveted from the 5-spot under head coach Mike Budenholzer.

Despite concerns over his age and durability, especially after having undergone back surgery during the Clippers’ run to last year’s Western Conference Finals, Ibaka has looked the part. Ibaka’s hitting 38.7 percent of his triples this year, though on a very modest volume, his advanced rebounding numbers are right along where they have been at in his career (8.0 offensive rebounding percentage, 20.9 defensive rebounding percentage) and he is still a big body that’s hard to maneuver in front of the basket defensively.

Even at 15.4 minutes per game, Ibaka brings a useful punch in his current state. So much so that one may wonder why the Clippers, currently 27-30 and in the play-in realm out west, would want to send him out for such a little return ahead of the deadline.

Part of it was doing right by Ibaka to send him to a contender and the Clippers saved plenty in their luxury tax payments, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks. And just like with Donte for the Bucks, Ibaka being on an expiring $9.7 million contract and with the Clippers mired in their gap year with both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard sidelined played a role in why he’s now Milwaukee-bound.

So all of that leads to ask the question: Did the Bucks got better at this year’s trade deadline?

By getting Ibaka, the Bucks got much-needed insurance with Lopez still on the mend and they boost up their frontcourt in the process. When all healthy (Basketball gods willing), Ibaka can play alongside any one of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis and that added size will surely come in handy against teams like the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat in the East, just to name a few.

Of course, the fact this move comes hours before Bucks wing Pat Connaughton fractured his fourth metacarpal in his shooting hand during the Bucks’ 131-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns Thursday night speaks to how snakebitten Milwaukee has been with injuries and absences this year.

With Connaughton now sidelined, it only heightens the Bucks’ need to plunge into the buyout market and address their remaining needs, such as another ball handler and perhaps more cover on the wing. Much easier said than done, of course, but they have three roster spots to further lure buyout targets their way over the next two weeks.

Again, Ibaka alone isn’t the only solution to what is currently ailing the Bucks. He alone won’t fulfill what Milwaukee has missed without Lopez on the floor and provided Lopez looks like himself when he does make his return, the Bucks could finally have a wealth of options to cover their frontcourt and center rotation for all 48 minutes.

The added flexibility the Bucks acquired in that pair of future second round picks certainly made it that much easier to move on from DiVincenzo before the summer when he very well would have been a casualty for their coming roster crunch.

Thursday’s move basically comes down to which of DiVincenzo or Ibaka, in their current form, you believe are more helpful to the Bucks running it back this season. And if you believe, like me, that Ibaka is more suited to do so, then the Bucks truly did get better, with the added caveat that they still have pieces missing from their puzzle.

Now we’ll just have to see if the Bucks’ latest deadline maneuver will pay off.