Milwaukee Bucks center Thon Maker has reportedly requested a trade, and the Cleveland Cavaliers should seek out his services.
Milwaukee Bucks center Thon Maker has reportedly requested a trade, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The disgruntled center has fallen in and out of Milwaukee’s rotation this year, playing only 11.7 minutes per night for the Bucks, who tote a league-best 35-12 record, per NBA.com. The Cleveland Cavaliers should be the team that trades for Maker, and gives him more minutes.
Maker is averaging 4.7 points per game and 2.7 rebounds per contest as well as 0.5 blocks a night. He has shown flashes of the talent that made him the 10th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft but has struggled to maintain a spot in a rotation that also includes D.J. Wilson and Ersan Ilyasova, who have taken most of the minutes from Maker.
A trade for Thon Maker would make a lot of sense for the Cavs for a few reasons. Maker is still young (just 21 years old) and has shown flashes of his potential. He is not a prolific scorer from beyond the arc but has shown he can occasionally knock down the three-pointer (a career 33.2 percent shooter on 1.5 attempts from there, per Basketball Reference).
If he can continue to develop the long ball along with his athleticism he could develop into a solid player.
Given the Cavs’ lack of depth at center, and most notably, Cleveland’s lack of perimeter shooting at the position, Maker would be a realistic option for the Cavs. He would be able to come off the bench and find ample minutes behind Ante Zizic.
With Larry Nance Jr. and Tristan Thompson‘s propensity for injury, the Cavs should look into adding another center, and they need to continue to get younger.
Veteran center John Henson, who was reportedly acquired in an earlier trade this year with the Bucks in which Matthew Dellavedova was also acquired, hasn’t played for the Cavs yet due to injury, and perhaps if he gets healthier, Cleveland can trade him elsewhere and allow Maker to get some minutes to prove himself.
Maker hasn’t been too injury-prone thus far in his career, and is still really young. He would be a smart guy to take a flyer on for the future.
The Cleveland Cavaliers need to continue to get younger and see what young talent they can build around. This is essentially what they’re doing this season by adding guys like 10-day man Kobi Simmons, two-way player Deng Adel, Jaron Blossomgame, and previously Jalen Jones (who was reportedly waived for Adel).
In a transitional season like this, general Koby Altman can take chances on young talent like Maker.
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Maker could be a buy-low guy who has the potential to be a good NBA player. He is still under a rookie contract, so he won’t cost a ton of money and if he’s a good fit, he’ll be eligible for a rookie extension after this year.
He would be a realistic target for the Cavs, but keep in mind, as Wojnarowski noted, Milwaukee is “under no obligation to trade Maker.”
To get a deal done for Maker, Cleveland would likely have to include Rodney Hood. Hood’s team-friendly, expiring contract makes him an appealing trade target, and according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania (subscription required), Milwaukee is a team that has “looked into wing help.”
It would be feasible for Hood to waive his “implicit no-trade clause” that he has, given that he accepted his qualifying offer as a restricted free agent before the season started, as was previously demonstrated by Hoops Rumors’ Luke Adams.
Taking that likely scenario into consideration, here’s the trade I would propose the Cavs and Bucks agree to.
A potential deal for Maker would involve the Cleveland Cavaliers trading Hood for Maker and the Bucks’ 2020 second-round pick (via the Washington Wizards). The ESPN Trade Machine deems this trade successful.
The Cavs need to keep building for the future, and a 21-year-old big who has shown some stretch-5 flashes could very well fit into that sort of thing.