The Oklahoma City Thunder have suddenly become a clean fit for Jaime Jaquez Jr., and the timing makes the idea even more intriguing.
Jaquez has opened the season playing like one of the most movable pieces on the Bucks roster. He’s on a rookie deal worth just $5.9 million this season, which keeps him affordable for a team looking to add talent without wrecking its books. If he isn’t extended this season, he could hit restricted free agency next summer, giving the team that has him a favorable position.
That contract is part of what makes him such an appealing trade target, especially for a contender. Compared with other Bucks players who could be available, Jaquez is much easier to slot into a salary structure.
The basketball case is strong, too. After a career year with the Heat last season, Jaquez has carried that momentum into this year with Milwaukee. He’s averaging 18 points and 7 rebounds per game while shooting 53% from the field and 42% from three, all career highs.
He’s also shown real growth as a creator since entering the league, and that skill has translated even as a starter. Last season, he finished second in 6th Man of the Year voting by punishing second units with his drives. The fact that he’s still producing with that same style against starters only strengthens the argument that he can help a team with bigger ambitions.
That’s where Oklahoma City comes in. The Thunder have lost two of their top perimeter creators in Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace.
Both are expected to miss most or all of this season, which leaves a clear hole in the rotation. Even so, Oklahoma City remains positioned to chase a title if it makes the right move.
A Jaquez deal would fit that bill. Sam Vecenie of the Game Theory Podcast first floated the idea, and it’s easy to see why it has traction. The Thunder need a player with Jaquez’s skill set, and his low salary makes him especially attractive.
For Milwaukee, the logic is different. Jaquez helps raise the short-term floor, but he doesn’t really change the team’s direction, and he’s not young enough to be a clean part of a rebuild. That puts him in an awkward middle ground for the Bucks, while his fit with Oklahoma City’s timeline looks much smoother.
And the Thunder have the draft capital to make it work. They have 10 first-round picks and 13 second-round picks available to trade through 2033.
For Milwaukee, that could mean a late first-round pick or a couple of second-rounders for Jaquez. For Oklahoma City, it would be a move aimed squarely at improving its title chances right now.
In Other News...
Bucks Suddenly Put Cleveland In A Spot It Can't Afford To Blow
The first Central Division meeting of the season arrives with Milwaukee still trying to settle into life after the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade to Miami, and the Bucks have not exactly looked like a team ready to make things easy on anyone. Even in a rebuilding phase, they still have enough recognizable pieces to make this a useful measuring stick for Cleveland, especially with Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. giving Milwaukee a different kind of perimeter punch than the Bucks have featured in recent years.
For the Cavaliers, this is the sort of game that can quietly matter later, because it is the kind of matchup contenders are supposed to handle while also using the night to keep developing depth in the rotation. Milwaukees early-season struggles open the door, but they also make the Bucks dangerous in a different way, since a team searching for traction can be unpredictable. Cleveland gets the chance to bank a division win and keep building momentum, but it cannot afford to treat this one like a routine stop. [Read more 🡒]
Tyler Herro Is Giving Bucks Fans One Real Reason For Hope
Through the Bucks first five games, Tyler Herro has been one of the clearest bright spots in an otherwise rough start. He has given Milwaukee a steady scoring punch, filling up the box score with points, rebounds and assists while also knocking down threes at a sharp clip, the kind of production that can keep an offense afloat even when the results are not there yet.
What stands out even more is how efficiently Herro has done it, especially as a pull-up shooter. Among high-volume players taking those shots, he has been the NBAs most efficient, and that matters for a Bucks team still searching for rhythm and answers after opening the year 1-4. Even in a small sample, his play has offered a real reason for optimism, and a reminder that Milwaukee may already have one dependable weapon it can build around. [Read more 🡒]
Bucks May Have A New Answer To Their Playmaking Problem
The Bucks have spent much of this season searching for a cleaner answer in the half court, and the passing numbers have reflected it. Milwaukee sits last in passes per game, a drop-off made sharper by the recent waiver of Kevin Porter Jr., who led the team in that category a year ago. Into that opening has stepped Kasparas Jakucionis, whose willingness to move the ball has given the offense a different rhythm and at least some needed relief.
Jakucionis is averaging 35.2 passes and 4.2 assists per game, production that has made him look like more than just a developmental piece in the deal that brought him to Milwaukee in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. The Bucks still need more from the perimeter to fully unlock what he can do, but his passing has already become a meaningful part of the offense, and it offers a glimpse of a possible long-term fix if the shot comes along. [Read more 🡒]