Bobby Portis is in his fourth season with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he quickly became a fan favorite as the spark plug off the bench during their championship run in 2021. This year, Portis played all 82 games for the Bucks, averaging 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while hitting 40.7 percent of his threes, but there were rumblings in late January that Milwaukee was considering a shakeup.
The Bucks landed the 2-seed, but it’s not been the kind of season they hoped for after acquiring Damian Lillard (as evidenced by a midseason coaching change). As such, when the deadline was approaching, there were rumors the Bucks wanted to shuffle around their roster some and Portis’ name came up in some of those rumors, including rumored discussions with Dallas to bring Grant Williams to Milwaukee. To a lot of people, that trade didn’t make a ton of sense, as Williams was not having a great year in Dallas and didn’t seem like a considerable upgrade over Portis — especially considering his locker room presence.
Portis was among those that felt that way, as he gave an incredible response to Shams Charania (5:00 mark of the below video) when asked about how “real” those rumors were, confirming his agent said he had a “bad feeling” about the deadline but noting a trade for Williams never added up in his mind.
Bucks’ Bobby Portis on @Stadium: “When I got hints of it, I’m like, ain’t no way I’m getting traded for…excuse my French, that’s my guy, I love competing against him…but I shouldn’t get traded for Grant Williams. That don’t even sound right.”
On Sixth Man, cult status, more: pic.twitter.com/ixfrYiYm4c
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 15, 2024
“When I got hints of it, I’m like, ain’t no way I’m getting traded for – excuse my French, that’s my guy I love competing against him – but I shouldn’t get traded for Grant Williams. That don’t even sound right,” Portis said. “I seen that little clip and thing came on my phone and I was like, I don’t know how that even moves the needle. The things I do and the things he can help the team do are just…different. I don’t know how it went down or what shook out, but I’m fortunate and happy that I’m with this organization. … Wouldn’t be right, man. Trade rumors are never fun for anybody.”
Ultimately, the Bucks chose to mostly stand pat (they did trade for Patrick Beverley) and Portis has continued playing an important role for them as their sixth man. Williams, meanwhile, was moved off to Charlotte and it’s not clear whether Milwaukee had real interest in Williams or if that was Dallas looking to drum up some interest in the forward, but it’s clear Portis didn’t understand why he was connected in those rumors.