Word came down over the weekend that the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks had come to an agreement on a trade to send Michael Carter-Williams to the Bulls in exchange for Tony Snell. It became official Monday morning.
The Bulls and Bucks just made it official, announcing their Tony Snell-for-Michael Carter-Williams trade …
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) October 17, 2016
Carter-Williams had been a huge disappointment for the Bucks since trading for him at the February 2015 trade deadline. He averaged 11.5 points, 5.2 assists and 5.1 rebounds in 30 minutes per game last season but only shot 45-27-65 from the field and averaged just under three turnovers a game. He fell out of favor quickly in Milwaukee and fell out of the rotation all together. Once the Bucks decided to play Giannis Antetokounmpo at point guard and acquired Matthew Dellavedova in the off-season the writing was on the wall for MCW’s time in Milwaukee, if they could find a trade partner for him.
Carter-Williams is a big point guard at 6’6″ and can fill up a stat sheet as he did as a rookie, averaging 16-6-6 and two steals and winning NBA Rookie of the Year for the 2013-14 season. His inability to shoot from anywhere on the floor and his turnover issues have caused his value to bottom out and he must utilize an opportunity to play behind a couple of savvy veterans in Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade to attempt to save his career.
Tony Snell on the other hand hasn’t really ever earned consistent minutes or carved out a specific role in the NBA. He appeared to be one of the better defenders in the NBA at small forward last season, albeit in a small sample size, with a +1.86 real plus/minus on defense, good for 6th at his position. Snell has not been a very efficient offensive player thus far in his career though, shooting under 40 percent two of his three seasons.
This trade makes some sense from a Bucks perspective to deal a player in Carter-Williams that they no longer considered part of their future for more wing depth which is sorely needed with Khris Middleton’s injury. It makes very little sense and is frankly bizarre for the Bulls though as MCW could not go to a worse team. The Bulls are full of ball dominant guards who aren’t great shooters in Rajon Rondo, Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler and Carter-Williams won’t mesh with them on the court and will likely receive very limited time save for injuries. One can only think they made this deal to take a shot in the dark that the 25-year-old former rookie of the year could still become a good starting point guard and take over for Rondo in a year or two.
