(Trade goes through on Jan. 15th)

Bucks critically need perimeter defense, they’re fine to great at everything in the game on both sides of the floor except for closing out on shooters and pnr defense where they get absolutely shredded. they don’t have anywhere near the assets required for caruso or og without gutting the team but these moves can patch up small holes around the edges with teams that are having mediocre or full tanking seasons.

Matisse is having a quietly underrated season in portland on relatively low minutes but with high impact, a similarly talented player and a second most likely gets a deal done for a portland team that doesn’t have any plans with thybulle. could prove extremely useful in a 7 game series as a wing stopper that doesn’t get played off the floor offensively anymore like he did in philly.

Bulls get expiring contracts along with livingston who’s a 20 year old rookie in a team with too much talent to give him any minutes. it sucks to give up a future mvp aj green but sacrifices have to be made to get value in return. fr tho he is a high volume/high percentage shooter in his minutes he’s earned this year which is something desperately needed in the stagnant chicago offense. similar case for jevon as with thybulle as his value is pretty low but he could have an impact in limited minutes for a contender needing his ability to get around screens, he also spent the last season and a half in milwaukee and knows his way around the system even with a new coach.

the moves aren’t huge and the players coming back don’t move the needle massively but in a series against boston or denver the 8th or 9th man on a roster getting hot or locking in can make the difference.