Bucks guard attracting trade interest after Kings lose Ben Simmons

The Milwaukee Bucks roster has been over-filled with guards since Milwaukee pulled off the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade. The Sacramento Kings, on the other hand, just unfortunately lost Ben Simmons to an Achilles tear and are in the market for a point guard to replace him.

While none of the Bucks' guards are 6'10" like Simmons is, the Kings seem more interested in replacing the position than the actual player type. Per Jake FIscher, Sacremanto has called about Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr. in addition to other guards around the NBA.

Porter Jr.'s highlights are intoxicating, but to this point in his NBA career he hasn't been able to achieve the efficiency necessary to be on the ball as much as KPJ tends to be. Porter Jr. averaged 17.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game last season, but shot just 32.2% from 3.

Among players to log at least 1,000 minutes in the 2025-26 season, Porter Jr. was fifth in average seconds per touch, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Austin Reaves, Jalen Brunson, and James Harden. All of those players averaged significantly more points per touch than Porter Jr. did, which is unsurprising given the mess the Bucks were and the talent level of that group.

The raw talent needed to average 17 points and 7 assists in the NBA is undeniable, but there's a gap between Porter Jr. and the other players who were commanding that kind of offensive control of their teams. Clearly Porter Jr. shouldn't be used that much, but scaling down his minutes and possessions to a smaller role could provide an offensive spark for teams in lineups otherwise devoid of shot creation.

Enter the Kings, who are searching for more ball-handling in the wake of Simmons' injury. Porter Jr. makes sense for Sacramento, or any other team who's bench is in need of some more juice. And moving him makes a ton of sense for Milwaukee, given the Bucks have too many young guards to play them all currently.

Ryan Rollins and Tyler Herro have been Milwaukee's starters for most of the preseason thus far, and Brayden Burries notably checked into the Bucks' final preseason game ahead of Porter Jr. Burries has taken on more ball-handling than many expected to start his NBA career, and should be a priority to get touches.

In addition to those three players, the Bucks also got Kasparas Jakucionis from Miami in the Giannis trade. The 20-year-old sophomore guard was reportedly the last piece the Bucks negotiated to receive from the Heat, and has shown tantalizing glimpses of dynamic playmaking in the preseason.

Other veterans including Kyle Kuzma, Caris LeVert, and Jericho Sims are also logical trade candidates for Milwaukee ahead of the roster cutdown deadline on Monday afternoon. All of those players are on expiring deals and not likely to contribute to the Bucks by the time Milwaukee is back in the playoffs.

But, given the amount of young guards the Bucks are invested in, Kevin Porter Jr. is the veteran who would make the most sense to move on from. If Milwaukee can get anything of value from Sacramento to open up room for all of Herro, Rollins, Burries, and Jakucionis to be in the rotation from day one, that'd be a major win for the Bucks.