Milwaukee Bucks Looking to Trade for 'Difference Maker' With Target in Mind

Milwaukee Bucks coach Doc Rivers looks distraught on sideline

The Milwaukee Bucks are really stuck in purgatory right now. Superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo seems to have one foot in and one foot out, while the team continues to sink farther to the bottom of the East. They are now completely out of a play-in spot, in the 11-seed, at 11-17.

Yet, it doesn't sound like the team is giving up hope. Not on Giannis, and not on its season. According to insider Chris Haynes, the Bucks are looking to trade for a "difference maker." But you'll never guess who they have in mind.

What the Bucks and Warriors are looking for on the trade market for @NBAonPrime. pic.twitter.com/Pl2CcXo5AV
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 20, 2025

"The Milwaukee Bucks are in desperate pursuit on the trade market to see if they can bring in a difference-maker type of player," said Haynes. "Sources have related to me that they are canvassing the market and one of the guys that I've identified is Zach LaVine of the Sacramento Kings. He is one player they've done their homework on... He is somebody that is on their radar.

"Giannis has applied pressure on the Bucks to make some moves," added Haynes. "The Bucks are buyers and they are trying to figure out a way to bring in a difference-maker."

Bucks eyeing Zach LaVine as they look to trade for a 'difference maker'... ?

Are we talking about the same Zach LaVine?

The knock on LaVine throughout his career, despite his ability to score with ease, is the minimal impact he has on 'winning.' Even his own GM with the Kings, Scott Perry, once said this a couple of years ago of LaVine:

“No question that Zach LaVine can score the basketball. Does he impact winning? Zach LaVine has been to one playoff series in nine years. He’s played a total of four playoff basketball games. I’m looking at $40-, $43, $46 & $49 million for a guy who – to this point – has not impacted winning to the level that his money says he should impact.”

For some reason, however, just 14 months later, Perry went out and traded for him at last year's deadline.

Perhaps not surprisingly, LaVine is now the one player the Kings are the most desperate to move on from, according to reports.

And yet, there's Doc Rivers and the Bucks considering him a "difference-maker"?

If Milwaukee is allowing Antetokounmpo to call the shots on player transactions, they had better tread lightly, as Walter White once said. We all know how the LeBron James-as-GM experiment has worked in LA.