FanPost

Trades For The Bucks, And A New Fully-Formed Look

With the pass of the NBA Draft, the Bucks need to make some changes to balance out their roster some, which has a logjam at the Power Forward and Center positions and little depth in the backcourt. I also see a couple of players on the roster that Milwaukee should look to unload, whether it's because he still has value around the league (Ilyasova) or is just a crappy contract that John Hammond should be regretting and now looking to get rid of (O.J. Mayo).

You'll see here that the motivation behind most of these trades is to help with the rebuilding process. None of these trades necessarily help the Bucks for 2014-15, but they all keep an eye on the future by adding a young prospect (or two) and/or getting hold of some more draft picks.

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-1-

Bucks Receive: Jeremy Lin, Clint Capela, Reggie Bullock, 2015 and 2017 1st round picks via HOU

Rockets Receive: Brandon Knight, Ersan Ilyasova

Clippers Receive: Donatas Motiejunas

Contracts
-Lin has 1 year with a 8.4 million cap hit remaining. Capela is a rookie and could stay overseas for a year or two. Bullock is on a rookie scale, receiving 1.2 million next year and having team options for years 3 and 4 of his contract before becoming a RFA.

- Brandon Knight will receive 3.5 million next season before becoming a RFA. Ilyasova has 3 years at 7.9/year and an unguaranteed 4th year at 8.4 million.

-Motiejunas gets 1.5 million next season and has a player option for 2015-16.

The Logic

BLOCKBUSTER. This is a big 3-team deal. The Rockets decide to upgrade the point guard spot as well as add a talented stretch 4 who just looks like he needs some motivation to actually try again. They get that, and move themselves into the discussion to not only get out of the 1st round, but win the Western Conference.

The Bucks lose Ilyasova, who is kind of good riddance since he played like garbage last season, is guaranteed over 20 million over the next 3 years and won't even start now with Parker in the fold. Knight played well last year and is still young, but he's not necessarily in the Bucks' future plans and will be a RFA after next season anyways. Instead, they get a 1-year rental expiring contract in Lin, and a nice young prospect who is in the mold of Serge Ibaka and may play a year or two overseas with Capela. They also get a sharpshooter (hasn't shown it in the NBA yet though) Reggie Bullock, and 2 1st rounders from the Rockets.

This also makes the Bucks slightly weaker for next season (Knight is better than Lin) when they'll likely get another Top 10 pick and have an extra 8 million in cap space after swapping Lin and Ily's contracts.

The Clippers deal a young prospect at a position that is logjammed for a young prospect with more NBA experience at a position of need.

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-2-

Bucks Receive: Jeremy Lin, Nick Johnson, 2015 1st round pick via HOU

Rockets Receive: Ersan Ilyasova

Contracts
-Lin has 1 year with a 8.4 million cap hit remaining

-Ilyasova has 3 years at 7.9/year and an unguaranteed 4th year at 8.4 million.

The Logic

Dwight Howard and Omer Asik playing together was a failed experiment, and the Rockets need to move on from that. They've shown interest in Ilyasova in the past, and may still be looking for a stretch 4. The Bucks meanwhile just got their guy in Jabari Parker, and also have plenty of forwards on the roster in addition to just drafting small forward Damien Inglis and bigman Johnny O'Bryant in the Top 40 of the draft.

The Bucks clear themselves of an unmotivated Ilyasova and his long contract, and get a 1-year salary replacement in Lin. All I've heard of from Lin is he's a nice, selfless guy and a very hard worker. The Bucks need more bodies at guard, and help comes in the form an 8 million dollar expiring contract. Also add in just-drafted Nick Johnson, who will need time but has a lot of athletic ability and scoring instincts, plus a 1st round pick from Houston.

What this means is that next off season, the Bucks have another pick to play with in the 20's as well as an extra 8 million dollars in cap space, and a developing gaurd in Nick Johnson to keep an eye on.

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-3-

Bucks Receive: Ben McLemore

Kings Receive: John Henson

Contracts
McLemore is guaranteed 3 million next year, and has team options for the two following seasons.

John Henson gets 2 million dollars next season, and has a team option for 2.9 million the year after.

The Logic
It's a simple swap, but it makes sense for both sides. Sacramento watched McLemore struggle through his rookie campaign, and drafted Nik Stauskas 8th overall, sparking debate about the former Kansas star's future with the team. The Kings still need a defensive minded big man to play alongside Cousins, preferably somebody better than Jason Thompson. Henson looks like a good immediate fit, and is young enough to keep improving some.

The Bucks releive themselves one player in their logjam of power forwards and centers, and in return get McLemore. While it's hard to look at him and still see him reaching an All-Star level like people once thought, if he can get his shot back on track and continue to learn little nuances of the pro game, he'll be a valuable player for the Bucks in a few years.

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-4-

Bucks Receive: Kendrick Perkins, C.J. Wilcox

Thunder Receive: Ersan Ilyasova, 2016 2nd round pick via LAC

Clippers Receive: Perry Jones III, Andre Roberson

The Logic

The common theme here with these trades is Ilyasova leaves town. The Thunder could use a floor stretching veteran on their team. They continue to try to balance trying to win a title now with keeping a keen eye on the future, and they do it here. Perkins will be behind Adams and maybe Collison or McGary too next season, so they only lose a tough locker room presence, and a young prospects in Roberson and Jones. Jones hasn't gotten hardly any PT with OKC, and Josh Heustis projects the be the same type of player that Roberson once did.

Meanwhile, the Bucks replace Ily's contract with an expiring one, helping with future cap flexibility. They also add Wilcox, who was just selected 28th in the draft. Wilcox is a true shooting guard with a deep range.

The Clippers just took Wilcox, but he's jammed behind 4 guys at shooting guard and they need rebounding and some size (that can preferably shoot) off the bench. Roberson doesn't really have a position and may not be ready to play yet, but there's some upside here, and if he's in the game he will put up awesome rebounding per-minute stats. Jones is still 22 years of age, can play either forward spot and stretch the floor with his shooting.

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-5-

Bucks Receive: Jonas Jerekbo, Peyton Siva

Pistons Receive: O.J. Mayo, Miroslav Raduljica

Contracts

Jerekbo is owed 4.5 million for next season before becoming a free agent.

Mayo will get paid 8 million over each of the next 2 seasons, while Miro gets 1.5 next season before having a team option for another 1.5 million dollars.

The Logic

The one team out there that Mayo could be a fit for is the Pistons. They seriously lack shooting talent in their starting lineup, and even in his worst and most unmotivated season, Mayo shot 37% from deep. Pretty solid. Detroit needs a SG, whether it's a starter as KCP continues to develop or a backup for him, and Mayo provides more value right now for their team than Jerebko does. The issue for them could be that Mayo commands a little more price tag and for another season, but after signing Josh Smith to that heinous contract (with Monroe and Drummond already on the team) I don't doubt they'd pull the trigger here.

Milwaukee, of course, rids themselves of Mayo's contract and poor play, and instead get a 4.5 million dollar expiring contract to give the Bucks 12.5 million dollars more cap space next off season than they would have had without making this deal.

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I'd like to see the first trade, the 3-way one where Knight and Ily are both sent away, happen. Also, the trade where we have Mayo being shipped off to Detroit for Jerebko.

The roster would then look like this:
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PG: Jeremy Lin, Nate Wolters, Peyton Siva

SG: Carlos Delfino, Reggie Bullock

SF: Giannis Ant..., Khris Middleton, Damien Inglis

PF: Jabari Parker, John Henson, Johnny O'Bryant, Jonas Jerebko

Ce: Larry Sanders, Zaza Pachulia
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Prospect Clint Capela will be overseas during this season.



What This All Means

I love that roster. It's bad enough to get a Top 10, maybe even Top 5 pick in the 2015 draft, but it's good enough that the guys will feel like they're actually competing on a regular basis, sparking them to continue to work hard and not look as lifeless as least year's 76ers.

It's loaded with young talent (Jabari Parker, Giannis, Henson, Bullock, Middleton, Inglis) has TWO less bad contracts than last season, and there's still Clint Capela playing overseas, ready to come over in 2015-16 and be a force inside. PLUS there's plenty of cap space for next off season, and we now have an extra late 1st rounder in 2015 and 2017.

Sound good?

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