The Milwaukee Bucks have acquired New Orleans Pelicans forward Nikola Mirotic as part of a three-team trade involving the Detroit Pistons, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.
In exchange for Mirotic, the Bucks will send Jason Smith and Stanley Johnson to Pelicans, while four second-round picks will also go to the Pelicans in total.
To complete the trade, the Bucks will send power forward/center Thon Maker to the Pistons.
While the wide-held expectation was that Mirotic would be traded by the deadline, Milwaukee was a bit of a surprise destination. However, the Bucks may be a strong fit for Mirotic, who can settle into the role of sixth-man and feast on strong matchups given that Milwaukee takes 41.6% of their shot attempts from beyond the three-point line, which is second in the NBA.
The 27-year-old Mirotic, who has appeared in 32 games this season, averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists, will likely remained sidelined until after the break as he continues to nurse a calf injury.
