Bucks wanted young star from 76ers in trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Milwaukee Bucks maintained an incredibly high asking price for Giannis Antetokounmpo throughout the NBA trade deadline last month, which is a big part of the reason the star forward wasn’t moved.
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Perhaps if the Philadelphia 76ers included rookie stud V.J. Edgecombe in a trade offer, a deal would have been made.
Bucks wanted V.J. Edgecombe from 76ers in a trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Edgecombe was a player that the Bucks were interested in as a potential return for Antetokounmpo, along with Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley.
“Multiple sources across the league said the Bucks’ asking price was enormous, with an executive from a third team describing the Bucks’ process as ‘gauging the market’ and their price as ‘all our draft picks and good young players,’” Shelburne wrote.
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“The players the Bucks did seem interested in were younger building blocks such as VJ Edgecombe of the Philadelphia 76ers or Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers, sources said.”
Obviously, the Sixers would have needed to include much more than just Edgecombe in order to make a trade for Antetokounmpo work financially, but things never got that far as Edgecombe was never made available in any trade talks, according to a league source.
Not parting ways with Edgecombe was a wise move by Philadelphia’s front office. Yes, Antetokounmpo is an all-time great, but he’s also 31 years old and has been dealing with increasing injury issues.
Edgecombe, meanwhile, is just 20 years old and has flashed some serious star potential throughout his rookie campaign. He’s averaging 15.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.4 steals per performance in his first season in the league.
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He’s also demonstrated a major knack for hitting clutch shots. Only thee players in the entire NBA have made more clutch 3-pointers than Edgecombe this season – Anthony Edwards, Steph Curry and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
By not trading Antetokounmpo prior to the deadline, the Bucks didn’t solve the issue. They simply kicked the can down the road. Trade talks involving Antetokounmpo will likely intensify again over the offseason, but the Sixers shouldn’t alter their stance involving Edgecombe.
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