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Just announced on ESPN, the San Antonio Spurs have traded Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Fabricio Oberto to the Milwaukee Bucks for Richard Jefferson. It’s a curious trade, and I’m not sure the Bucks know what they’re doing. This is a bad trade.

The Spurs are essentially robbing Milwaukee blind. First of all, Jefferson is the youngest player in this trade. By a whole five years. Are you kidding me, Bucks? You’re dealing arguably your best player (the only other consideration being Michael Redd) away for three guys aged 38, 36, and 34? Granted Bruce Bowen is still an excellent defender, but he’s got 9 years on RJ. You traded away a former All-Star and legitimate scoring threat for three out of the five oldest guys on the Spurs roster. They’re so old they were already living when the Spurs merged their way from the ABA to the NBA.

Some of the analysts call it a salary cap move, that they want to be able to re-sign some of their other stars. Let me get this straight. You went 34-48 last year and you think it’s a good idea to trade away your best player so you can keep the same team together? The same team that helped you into the draft lottery yet again? I’m aware the NBA has a luxury tax but I really can’t justify this move. This is the kind of management that has kept the Bucks out of the playoffs for 4 out of the last 5 years, and that one playoff appearance was with a plain 40-42 record. Well done, guys.

The Spurs, on the other hand, have stumbled on to a goldmine. Already full of solid role players such as Michael Finley, Drew Gooden, and Roger Mason and superstars Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili, swapping out Bowen for Jefferson is a genius move. Looking at their career stats, Jefferson averages more than 10 points per game more than Bowen, pulls down more rebounds, dishes out more assists, even gets more steals than Bowen. Not to mention an astronomically better free throw percentage. The Spurs, an already frighteningly good team, have made themselves better.

The season is far from starting, but this looks like the Pau Gasol to the Lakers trade all over again. At least Memphis got a few first round picks out of the deal. All the Bucks got were some old players, any of which could retire after just one season with the team. It’s a reasonable assumption, and a probability if the Bucks play as bad as I expect them to. Really, the Knicks might be making fun of them for being a total bust next year.

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