NBA Trade Rumors: Bucks Pursued Victor Oladipo, Spencer Dinwiddie

The Milwaukee Bucks reportedly pursued Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie and Indiana Pacers guard Victor Oladipo this offseason, per Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Dinwiddie averaged a career-high 20.6 points and 6.8 assists per game last year. Oladipo, a two-time All-Star, posted 14.5 points per game as he worked his way back from a ruptured quadriceps tendon suffered in January 2019 that sidelined him for 12 months.

Milwaukee did add a starting guard in Jrue Holiday, who the Bucks acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a four-team trade. The 30-year-old Holiday amassed 19.1 points, 6.7 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.6 steals for the Pels in 2019-20.

The Bucks are trying to break through the Eastern Conference postseason gauntlet after finishing with the NBA's top regular-season record each of the past two seasons only to fall short in the playoffs.

Milwaukee earned the East's No. 1 seed in 2018-19 but lost to the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Last season ended with a five-game defeat against the eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami Heat in the second round.

The Bucks' window to compete for an NBA title is still wide open for at least one more year: Back-to-back NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and All-Star wing Khris Middleton are back in the mix, and adding Holiday gives the team an excellent third scoring option. Holiday can also play both guard positions, and he's exceptional on defense as well.

However, Antetokounmpo can become an unrestricted free agent in 2021, and that looms large over the franchise, who have enjoyed their best regular seasons since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was controlling the paint in the 1960s and 1970s.

The time to win is now given recent playoff struggles and the potential that Antetokounmpo could head elsewhere in a year, hence the team's offseason activity.

Milwaukee opens its 2020-21 season on Dec. 23 at the Boston Celtics.