Report: Bucks Said 'No' To Trade Offer For Kevin Porter Jr., Then Released Him

October 24, 2026 ,
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The Milwaukee Bucks pulled off an intriguing move before the season began, according to insider Jake Fischer, writing in The Stein Line. 

Fischer reports that the Denver Nuggets made a considerable trade offer to the Bucks for Kevin Porter Jr., but the Bucks turned it down, and then released the volatile point guard. But there was a method to their madness, Fischer reports.
What has not been previously revealed: The Stein Line has learned that the Nuggets showed a willingness to package two future second-rounders and a second-round pick swap along with Zeke Nnaji's very available contract in a bid to bring Kevin Porter Jr. to the Rocky Mountains. Yet I'm told that the Bucks ultimately walked away from the Porter-to-Denver discussions as well — and then waived Porter Jr. — because they could not stomach the idea of swallowing Nnaji's $7.5 million salary for the 2027-28 season. 
The Bucks decided they'd rather get absolutely nothing for the player, than have to eat the $7.47M player option for next season that Nnaji holds (in addition to that same amount in salary for him this year). 

With Ryan Rollins, Tyler Herro, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. all set to hit the free agent market next offseason—three players Milwaukee does want to keep—the Bucks simply needed as much flexibility as possible to pay them. 
Fischer calls it another case of teams around the NBA "valuing flexibility and optionality, both in terms of wiggle room under the luxury tax aprons and potential returns from down-the-road draft capital, more than the immediate wins that might follow when a player signed or traded for heaps dollars onto a cap sheet."




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