Milwaukee Bucks make NBA Trade Deadline Deal

This wasn't necessarily what everyone was expecting

Jan 21, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) and Milwaukee Bucks guard Cole Anthony (50) battle for the ball in the first half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

All the focus has been on the Milwaukee Bucks prior to Thursday's trade deadline.

And, well, they did something.

The Bucks have traded Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey to the Suns for Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis, via the latest trade report from ESPN's Shams Charania.

Milwaukee had just signed Anthony this offseason, hoping a flyer on the young point guard would lead to better pick-and-roll offense with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the screener. (You know Giannis, he's been in the news.)

Just a few months later, the Bucks -- who have leaned into Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. in the backcourt -- move on from Anthony. While Antetokounmpo, for all the talk, appears to be staying for now, until at least the summer.

The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to trade Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey to the Phoenix Suns for Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis, sources tell ESPN.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 5, 2026

What's next for Milwaukee after trading Cole Anthony and Amir Coffey for Nick Richards and Nigel Hayes-Davis?

Feb 3, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Cole Anthony (50) drives against Chicago Bulls center Lachlan Olbrich (47) in the second half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images | Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

Why did the Bucks make this trade? Ideally, more reports come out that they will be receiving draft capital to take on extra salary while sending out two expiring contracts that tend to have good value.

Without that extra report, the benefits of making this trade are unclear, other than just generally doing something to do something and hoping it sticks.

Apparently the Anthony-Antetokounmpo experiment had run its course, especially with the emergence of Rollins as a legit breakout player and one of the few bright spots for this Bucks squad.

Through 35 games as the Bucks backup point guard, Anthony averaged 7 points, 3.5 assists to 1.9 turnovers, 2.5 rebounds, 0.6 steals while shooting 31% on 2 threes per game. Sometimes low-risk ideas that could work on paper don't work out in reality, and cutting the cord now is probably wise.

Still, moving on from Cole's and Amir's expirings without returning something of value would be bad process for a Bucks front office that is desperately looking for value deals anywhere they can find them.

From a talent standpoint, the incoming Suns weren't exactly coveted around the league, but they do provide two energy plus-defenders to add to the frontcourt, perhaps invigorating some defensive energy flanking Giannis going forward.

Nick Richards has shown before to be a bouncy big to rely on for rim-rolling in pick-and-rolls and rim-protection against them. Nigel Hayes-Davis brings some switchability as a forward.

From 2023-25, Nick Richards scored at a 68% TS% rate with a 17 PER, rebounded 25% of his team's defensive boards and racked up 4.3% of his team's blocks while on the floor. Ideally, Milwaukee rekindles some of Richards rim-rolling strengths in a limited role behind a fairly deep frontcourt.

Bucks fans were surely hoping for something more when it comes to utilizing those expiring contracts to find enough talent to keep Giannis happy going forward, so hopefully for fans' sake, Milwaukee isn't done making moves.