The Bucks have some real offseason juggling to do, and A.J. Green has quietly become one of the more interesting names on the board.
Milwaukee has bigger money questions staring it in the face, including the need to sort through Myles Turner’s hellacious contract, Kyle Kuzma’s expiring deal and Tyler Herro’s recently acquired expiring contract. Green, though, is a different kind of decision.
At 26, with a team-friendly contract and a 42% mark from deep across four seasons, he’s the sort of shooter plenty of teams would love to chase. That’s why the Bucks have a reason to listen, even if they don’t have to move him.
There are several clubs that could use exactly what Green brings, and three trade paths stand out.
Golden State is trying to squeeze one more serious run out of Stephen Curry’s window, and the roster picture is shifting fast. Draymond Green declined his player option and became an unrestricted free agent so the Warriors could open up more cap space to go after LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
That’s an ambitious swing, and if Curry, Green, LeBron and Davis end up in the same lineup, the upside is obvious. But the shooting around that group would be thin.
That creates an opening for Milwaukee.
Trade Idea
Warriors Receive: A.J.
Green
Bucks Receive: Moses Moody, 2031 first-round pick swap
In that setup, the Bucks would be taking on Moody’s money and getting a first-round swap in 2031. Moody is expected to miss the entire 2026-27 season because of a ruptured left patellar tendon, which makes him less useful to Golden State right now.
For Milwaukee, the appeal is straightforward: the swap could be a big one if the Warriors are no longer built around Curry by then, and Moody could later become a movable expiring contract next offseason. The Bucks also get a player they can try to flip down the line.
Indiana is another fit, even if the old rivalry angle is on pause for now. The Bucks pulled Myles Turner away from the Pacers last offseason, and the two teams are heading in different directions at the moment.
Still, the Pacers are light on wing depth off the bench, and Green would slide right into what they need. The catch is that Indiana does not have the cap room to absorb him with the Mid-Level Exception, so this would have to be a straight player-for-player type of deal.
Trade Idea
Milwaukee Receives: Jarace Walker, 2029 second-round pick (via WAS)
Indiana Receives: A.J. Green
Milwaukee’s logic here is age and flexibility. Walker is four years younger than Green, and his next contract will probably land in the same range or lower.
The Bucks would also pick up the Washington second-rounder Indiana already has. On the other side, the Pacers would be getting the better player for their current timeline, plus a sturdier defender than Walker.
Then there’s Washington, where the broader roster picture is still being reshaped. The Wizards are trying to be more competitive next season after re-signing Trae Young to a four-year deal and drafting A.J.
Dybantsa No. 1 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft. That leaves them with a decision to make on Bilal Coulibaly, the former No. 7 overall pick.
Trade Idea
Milwaukee Receives: Bilal Coulibaly, a 2028 second-round pick
Washington Receives: A.J. Green
The Wizards already thinned out their shooting at last trade deadline when they moved off Middleton, McCollum and Kispert. Coulibaly has not developed into the player they expected, so rather than letting him reach restricted free agency next summer, Washington could turn him into a shooter who is under contract for the next three seasons.
Milwaukee would do it for the defensive upside and the age factor. Coulibaly would deepen the Bucks’ youth pipeline, and he remains a useful asset whether he develops into one of the league’s better wing defenders or boosts his trade value later.
That’s the theme running through all three ideas: the Bucks can use Green to chase young talent and draft assets. For a front office trying to build forward, that’s not a bad problem to have. It’s about taking swings, and even the misses can still leave Milwaukee in a better spot.
In Other News...
Pacers Just Sent A Clear Message About Two Fringe Roster Spots
Micah Potters brief run in Indiana was enough to give the Pacers a clearer read on one of their end-of-bench decisions. After joining the team in December 2025 and helping fill in during a stretch when center depth was thin, the stretch big gave Indiana a usable floor-spacer on a low-cost deal. Now the front office is signaling it wants to keep that option alive, while preserving flexibility as it sorts out the rest of the roster.
Jalen Slawson is in a similar holding pattern, only with a different kind of value. The Pacers extended him a two-way qualifying offer, which makes him a restricted free agent and keeps the door open on a player they saw real defensive potential from last season. Indiana has clearly identified both players as pieces worth retaining in some form, but the next step will determine just how secure those fringe spots really are. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Linked To Veteran Wing Who Could Change Their Bench Scoring
As the Pacers get ready for free agency, one wing target has surfaced as a potential fit for a team looking to add more pop behind its starters. Kelly Oubre Jr., coming off a productive run with Philadelphia, has drawn interest from Indiana, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star, and he would bring the kind of scoring presence that can change the look of a second unit.
The challenge is the usual one for a team that wants more talent without upsetting the books. Indiana would need to clear salary-cap space to make a move, and that part of the equation may end up mattering just as much as the player himself. Oubres recent production shows why hes on the radar, but whether the Pacers can actually make the numbers work is the question hanging over the idea. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Already Built The Kind Of Core Other Teams Still Want
Around the league, contenders are still chasing the formula Indiana already has in place. The Pacers built their roster around Tyrese Haliburton and gave him a co-star in Pascal Siakam, then added a reliable third option in Ivica Zubac, with a deep group behind them that makes the whole operation harder to pick apart. It is the kind of balance other teams spend years trying to manufacture, whether it is Minnesota pairing LaMelo Ball with Anthony Edwards or Golden State hunting another star to stack with Stephen Curry.
For Indiana, the bigger question is no longer whether the pieces fit. The Pacers already showed how far that structure can carry them by pushing all the way to a Game 7 in the NBA Finals, and the conversation around them has shifted to whether the group can stay healthy enough to get another crack at that level. In a league obsessed with star pairings, that is the part worth watching in Indiana: the core is in place, and the margin for the Pacers now may come down to something far less glamorous. [Read more 🡒]