Right before the Milwaukee Bucks picked Rashad Vaughn #17 overall last night, ESPN’s Marc Stein tweeted that a trade had gone down between the Bucks and the Toronto Raptors for point guard Greivis Vasquez. The trade was made official in the second round when Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum announced it at the Draft.
The Bucks, according to their official release, acquired Vasquez for the 46th overall pick last night (Norman Powell from UCLA) and a projected 2017 draft pick that originally belonged to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Jared Dudley trade. The draft pick is lottery-protected, and according to Sports Illustrated’s Rob Mahoney, “Should the first-round pick that the Raptors are owed not convey in 2017, the pick will default as a lottery-protected first rounder in 2018, or subsequently (should its protections activate in that year’s draft) in 2019. If the Clippers’ pick falls in the lottery during each of the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons, this debt will instead convey as a pair of second-round picks (in 2020 and 2021).” Thus, it seems that the Bucks will have no effect on the pick from here on out, and the Raptors will await the results of the Clippers’ seasons in a couple of years.
Vasquez, who is Venezuelan, is 28 and will enter his sixth season in the NBA, He played at the University of Maryland in college and was drafted #28 overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2010 NBA Draft. He has also played in New Orleans (where he started 78 games in the 2012-13 season), Sacramento, and Toronto. His career stats per game are as follows (thanks to Basketball-Reference.com):
Season | Tm | Lg | Pos | G | GS | MP | FG% | 3P% | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010-11 | MEM | NBA | SG | 70 | 1 | 12.3 | .408 | .291 | .773 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 3.6 |
2011-12 | NOH | NBA | SG | 66 | 26 | 25.8 | .430 | .319 | .821 | 2.6 | 5.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 2.2 | 8.9 |
2012-13 | NOH | NBA | PG | 78 | 78 | 34.4 | .433 | .342 | .805 | 4.3 | 9.0 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 3.2 | 13.9 |
2013-14 | TOT | NBA | SG-PG | 79 | 23 | 22.5 | .421 | .377 | .880 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.6 | 9.6 |
2013-14 | SAC | NBA | PG | 18 | 18 | 25.8 | .433 | .320 | .938 | 1.9 | 5.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 9.8 |
2013-14 | TOR | NBA | SG | 61 | 5 | 21.5 | .417 | .389 | .855 | 2.3 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 9.5 |
2014-15 | TOR | NBA | PG | 82 | 29 | 24.3 | .408 | .379 | .758 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 9.5 |
Career | NBA | 375 | 157 | 24.1 | .422 | .356 | .816 | 2.6 | 4.9 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 9.2 |
Giving up two draft picks for presumably the Bucks’ backup point guard next season makes little sense to me. I thought Jerryd Bayless did an excellent job last season as a backup as well. The Bucks and Coach Jason Kidd like his 6’6″ size (because, of course) and his ability to lead an offense. He was a triple-double waiting to happen in college, and you have to like his rebounding ability for a point guard. In terms of his advanced stats, his career PER of 14.0 is less than the league average around 15.0, and he has only averaged 2.0 win shares per year.
I can’t say I’m excited about the Vasquez trade, as his contract, which only has one year left on it, will have a $6.6 million salary cap hit. $6.6 million for a backup point guard when you are trying to re-sign Khris Middleton and Vaughn and a free agent to start at center like Brook Lopez, Tyson Chandler, or DeAndre Jordan! Vasquez is now the Bucks second-highest paid player behind O.J. Mayo, and the Bucks would likely have to give Middleton or a center a backloaded contract. Here is the Bucks’ updated salary cap for the 2015-16 season as of right now:
O.J. Mayo $8,000,000Greivis Vasquez $6,600,000Zaza Pachulia $5,200,000Jabari Parker $5,152,440Caron Butler $4,500,000 (non-guaranteed, and believed to be waived)Jared Dudley $4,250,000 (non-guaranteed, but believed to be kept)Jerryd Bayless $3,000,000John Henson $2,943,221Michael Carter-Williams $2,399,040Larry Sanders* $1,865,546 (stretch provision)Miles Plumlee $2,109,294Giannis Antetokounmpo $1,953,960Tyler Ennis $1,662,360Shawne Williams $1,356,146 (non-guaranteed, and believed to be waived)Jorge Gutierrez $947,276 (non-guaranteed, and believed to be waived)Damien Inglis $855,000Johnny O’Bryant $845,059
Projected (using projected $67 million for 2015-16) cap space with Middleton’s qualifying offer, but without Gutierrez, Butler and Williams: $17,134,623