Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry has won four NBA championships with the franchise, leading one of the greatest dynasties in modern NBA history. However, there’s a scenario from years ago that would’ve landed him on the Milwaukee Bucks.
Appearing on House of Strauss, former NBA center Andrew Bogut said that he was told by someone involved in the deal that the Bucks had the choice of trading him for either Curry or Monta Ellis. Milwaukee chose to acquire Ellis, having concerns over Curry’s ankle.
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“It was with some people who did all the medical advisory stuff before free agency or trades—you know, whenever you bring in a guy. It was that team of people. They were open about it with me. I had a good relationship with them, so they just blatantly told me: “The other option was Steph and his bad ankle. We decided to go with Monta.” So I was like, “Alright.”
Andrew Bogut on being told the Milwaukee Bucks could’ve traded for Stephen Curry instead of Monta Ellis
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NBA reporter Ehan Strauss confirms hearing that Golden State was open to moving Curry around that time. He shared that in his book, the Warriors looked into trading Curry or Klay Thompson in a deal for Chris Paul, but the deal was nixed by Paul because he didn’t want to play for Golden State.
- Stephen Curry stats (2012-2025): 26.3 PPG< 6.5 APG, 4.8 RPG, 47.1% FG, 4.4 3PM per game
In March 2012, Milwaukee traded Bogut and Stephen Jackson to Golden State in exchange for Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown. At the time, Milwaukee wanted to rid itself of Jackson and Bogut needed a change of scenery. For Golden State, it was a franchise-altering move.
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- Monta Ellis stats: 18.9 PPG, 6.0 APG< 3.8 RPG, 41.9% FG, 1.0 3PM per game in 103 games played with the Milwaukee Bucks
Milwaukee would quickly live to regret the deal. Ellis left the team in NBA free agency the following summer, signing with the Dallas Mavericks. Meanwhile, Curry earned his first All-Star selection in 2013 and followed that up with consecutive NBA MVP awards while Ellis was playing for Dallas.
In this alternative history, though, it’s very possible the Bucks wouldn’t have drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo. Milwaukee took him with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, developing him over three seasons as Curry’s Warriors began their dynasty run.
Golden State is obviously elated that its attempts to trade Curry more than a decade ago never materialized in an actual deal. If the trade with the Bucks had been made, two of the best NBA players of the current era would’ve spent their careers elsewhere and NBA history would’ve played out dramatically differently.
