See? I told you today would be important. Sources say that the Bucks are taking part in a 3-team trade that will bring former Charlotte Bobcats shooting guard Stephen Jackson to Milwaukee. All of the details can be found at this link courtesy of Chad Ford of ESPN. Like I speculated yesterday, the Bucks will be moving down in the draft as a result of this trade and will also be receiving point guard Shaun Livingston from the 'Cats and point guard Beno Udrih from the Sacramento Kings. The players being shipped out of Milwaukee are John Salmons and Corey Maggette, and let me be the first to say good riddance to Mr. Maggette, arguably the main reason Milwaukee was unable to reach the postseason this past year.
A few notes on this trade. The Bucks will now pick 19th in the first round rather than 10th, which isn't the worst thing in the world considering the major drop off in talent after the first five picks or so (according to experts at least). Milwaukee will probably be looking at the following players that could be available at this point in the draft:
6'9" PF Markieff Morris - the other Morris twin, strong around the rim, decent shot
7'0" PF Donatas Motiejunas - lefty, foreign, great offensive potential
6'7" PF Kenneth Faried - tons of energy, great defender and rebounder
6'8" SF/PF Tobias Harris - quick for his size, good around the basket
6'9" SF/PF Chris Singleton - athletic, strong defender, can finish well
The reason I only listed forwards at this position is because the Bucks are now loaded at the guard position. By trading away a shooting guard and a small forward, the Bucks received two point guards and a shooting guard. This leads me to believe that Keyon Dooling could be on his way out of Milwaukee with only one year remaining on his deal, or perhaps Livingston or Udrih will be dealt as they have the same contract situation as Dooling. Either way, the Bucks will not be carrying four point guards on their roster once the start of the season rolls around, so look for at least one of these three players to be moved...maybe even tonight. As far as the prospects available at 19, I have a sense that the Bucks will take Tobias Harris out of Tennessee. Harris has had pre-draft workouts at Milwaukee and although he is a bit undersized for his position, he seems to be someone the Bucks are interested in. Just one man's opinion. However, there have also been reports that the Deer would like to take Markieff with their first round pick. The only problem is that he likely won't be available at this point, so maybe look for Milwaukee to trade up a few spots if they really want the other Morris twin. Obviously, a lot can happen so I'm not really going to get caught up in all the possibilities.
As for what Milwaukee now has? For one, there is a log jam at the point guard position (I seem to have jinxed that), but a formidable back up for Brandon Jennings in Udrih, a guy who can give you quality minutes off the bench and put up some points as well (averaged over 13 a game last season). My feeling is that Livingston will just become someone who gets buried on the bench or has his contract bought out while Dooling will get dealt away either tonight or at some point in the near future. The potential Jennings/Udrih combo gets me a little more excited than I initially thought. Now we turn to the main player in the deal...Captain Jack, better known as Stephen Jackson. Jax is infamously known as one of the guys involved in the Menance at the Palace (Jackson is the one with the yellow headband), but that was much earlier in his career and something Bucks fans shouldn't be concerned about. He will be someone that gives the Bucks a little more stability at the 2-guard. His career numbers are much better than those of Fish and he has done a nice job of getting back in shape. Jackson also was one of the big reasons behind the Bobcats reaching the postseason a few years ago after being traded from the Warriors.
All in all, I like the deal for a few reasons:
1) Maggette - the career loser - is gone
2) The Bucks are better at shooting guard
3) The Bucks are better at point guard
4) The forward positions aren't as much of a jumbled mess as before
5) Moving down in the draft decreases the chances of picking a bust at #19
At this very moment, here is where the Bucks' roster stands:
PG - Brandon Jennings - Beno Udrih - Keyon Dooling* - Shaun Livingston*
SG - Stephen Jackson
SF - Carlos Delfino
SF/PF - Luc Richard Mbah a Moute - Ersan Ilyasova
PF - Jon Brockman
PF/C - Larry Sanders - Drew Gooden
C - Andrew Bogut
Hmmm...maybe we should be looking at selecting a shooting guard in the first round...okay, here are a few that should be available around the 19th pick:
6'5" SG Marshon Brooks - scoring, scoring and more scoring
6'5" PG/ SG Iman Shumpert - very athletic, quick, lenghty
6'3" PG/SG Reggie Jackson - 7 FOOT WINGSPAN, athletic, creator
6'8" SG/SF Tyler Honeycutt - good defender, athletic
Brooks would be a great selection here if he's available. Not sure if the Bucks are looking to select a guard, but we'll see. Alright...I've lost track of time and talked a little more about the NBA than I'd prefer in the last two days. I'll be back later with a review of the Bucks' selections in the draft. It's time to eat dinner.
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