The Milwaukee Bucks know they are building for the future with Jabari Parker and heading into the back stretch of the summer and into the 2014 season, the team may look at trade deals and names like Larry Sanders, Brandon Knight, Ersan Ilyasova, OJ Mayo, Kendall Marshall or Zaza Pachulia could be moved, as teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Philadelphia 76ers or Orlando Magic could be interested in dealing.
The Bucks come into the season with some optimism even though they know they will be terrible, as they hired Jason Kidd after trading for him from the Nets. According to ESPN.com, the team has thought about moving Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Knight this offseason, but so far the team has not moved on a deal. Marc Stein from ESPN wrote on Twitter last week that it was likely that Ilyasova would stay with the Bucks after being shopped and he listed the Hawks, Hornets and Magic as interested parties.
The Bucks have some solid young talent in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker and those players will be the main focus as the team tries to rebuild. Jason Kidd has a tough task ahead and after Larry Sanders was mentioned in trade rumors last season, he could pop up again after he had some off court issues and injury problems. The Bucks used to be a perennial playoff team with Michael Redd back in the day and now Parker hopes to emulate that as he brings the team back from the brink.
Parker comes in after a great season at Duke and while the team did not get too far in the NCAA tournament, Parker was integral to their success. Kidd now takes over for Larry Drew and Parker comes in after leading Duke in points and rebounds per game last season and the Bucks hope he does the same here. Sanders signed a four year deal before last year and he could be moved at the deadline depending on how this season rolls along.
Last season the Bucks were terrible and had just 15 wins on the year and they ranked near the bottom of the league in most categories. The team was second worst in scoring and fifth worst in team defense by points allowed and now Parker comes in and they hope he will be NBA ready. Many see Parker as a player with a higher upside than Andrew Wiggins and he also has an NBA body already and put up some solid numbers at Duke.
The Bucks claimed Kendall Marshall off waivers from the Lakers and now he could be a solid option off the bench after playing well for LA. Last season he shot near 40 percent from three and that is big for the Bucks, while he averaged 8.0 points, 8.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game last season in 54 games for the Lakers. Marshall was previously with the Suns before ended up with the Wizards with Marcin Gortat and he ended up in LA after being used in the D League.