George Hill trade to the Bucks benefits everyone, including the Cavs and Wizards

The Cavaliers, Bucks and Wizards agreed to a three-team trade that moved some interesting players around in the Eastern Conference on Friday evening.

Veteran guard George Hill was traded from Cleveland to Milwaukee in exchange for Matthew Dellavedova, big man John Henson and unprotected 2021 first- and second-round picks; and Washington acquired Sam Dekker and a 2021 second-round pick for veteran forward Jason Smith, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Cavs will swap their own 2021 second-round pick for the Wizards’ second-rounder in 2022, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

The teams agreed to this trade before 6 p.m. ET because that was the deadline for traded players to be traded once again in the same season. In layman’s terms, even though Hill, Henson, Dellevadova, Smith and Dekker were just traded, getting this deal done Friday rather than Saturday ensured they can be dealt again before the Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline.

The deal has several implications for both the Bucks and the Cavaliers. Let’s start with the Bucks, who won on multiple levels.

Dellavedova was crucial in Cleveland’s 2016 NBA Finals run — their first in franchise history — as a three-point shooter and tough perimeter defender at the point guard position. But his role has been reduced ever since he signed a four-year, $38.4 million deal with Milwaukee in 2016. He has appeared in only 50 games over the past two seasons and is third on the depth chart at his position behind Eric Bledsoe and Malcolm Brogdon.

Replacing Delly now is Hill, a battle-tested point guard who made a run to the NBA Finals with LeBron James and the Cavaliers last season. Hill’s experience playing off the ball with James on the floor and taking over in spots with James on the bench will be critical to his co-existence with Giannis Antetokounmpo, a dominant player with a James-like style of play. The Bucks’ newest point guard is averaging 10.8 points per game on borderline 50-40-90 club numbers of 51.4 percent shooting from the field, 46.4-percent shooting from three and 85 percent shooting from the foul line.

Those numbers should be music to Bucks fans ears, as he joins Brogdon — a 49.4-percent three-point shooter — and Bledsoe, a slashing playmaker who shoots 36 percent from deep.

Middleton is Milwaukee’s second-best player, but he’s been on a team-friendly five-year, $70 million contract with an average salary of $14 million per season. He is expected to opt-out of the final season on his contract and become an unrestricted free agent, where he will garner max or near max contract consideration all across the league. Milwaukee would have had a tough time keeping him and improving the roster without this trade.

But the Bucks were able to move Henson, who is out indefinitely after wrist surgery in the third year of a four-year $48 million deal. They were also able to move Dellavedova, who is due $19.2 million between now and the 2019-20 season. Milwaukee took back Hill, who is on a three-year, $57 million contract, but only $2 million of his $18 million 2019-20 salary is guaranteed next season. Bledsoe also becomes a free agent next summer. They can bring him back if an upgrade isn’t available at the perfect price point.

Middleton’s cap hold — the amount against the Bucks’ payroll until they officially either a) re-sign him or b) let him walk — is 150 percent of his salary, or $19.5 million. The Bucks hold his Bird Rights, meaning they can exceed the projected $109 million salary cap to re-sign him next summer. That means they can make other free agent acquisitions, then re-sign Middleton last.

A max contract next season for a team re-signing its own free agent begins at $32.7 million in Year 1 and pays out $189 million over five years with a $43.4 million payout in the 2023-24 season. That’s a lot of money to pay Middleton, whose averages of 18.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists don’t spell “superstar.” But max contracts in today’s league have become a tool of necessity. If the Bucks don’t offer it, somebody with cap space likely will.

If Milwaukee releases Hill, Sterling Brown, Christian Wood and Pat Connaughton before their contract guarantee dates next summer, they will have around $22 million to sign free agents with before officially extending Middleton’s contract. They will likely need to use that money to re-sign Brook Lopez, who has been critical in stretching the floor, Bledsoe or add another point guard in free agency. They will also need to make a decision on Brogdon, who becomes a restricted free agent next summer.

It’s what any smart team should do if they don’t have winning in the crosshairs for the next two to three years. Everything reduced to rubble when LeBron James left town, and now general manager Koby Altman is tasked with building in the aftermath.

First, he traded Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz for Alec Burks and second-round picks in 2020 and 2021. Now, Altman’s forward thinking ways have landed Milwaukee’s unprotected first-round pick in 2021. That’s the year Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes a free agent and either leaves Milwaukee or becomes a Buck for life.

Asset pooling is how the Boston Celtics of 2014 became the Boston Celtics of 2018. It’s how The Process Philadelphia 76ers became the playoff Philadelphia 76ers. It’s what the teams that have a vision for the future do now to see their future through tomorrow.

There’s a hiccup in the plan, though: Cavs owner Dan Gilbert has never extender a general manager beyond his first contract. If Altman has a vision he’s attempting to execute now, there’s a chance under Gilbert that he never sees it through.

Washington is saddled in luxury tax, due to pretty big contracts for John Wall, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter Jr. That tax bill will spike next season when Wall’s four-year, $169 million extension kicks in, but for now, the Wizards found a move to save money where they can.

In trading Jason Smith ($5.45 million) for Dekker ($2.76 million), ESPN’s Bobby Marks says Washington saves a little less than $5 million in luxury tax payments. It also creates a $2.68 million trade exception. This deal probably won’t help Washington much on the court, but it’ll help out a little bit off of it.