Rumor: Bucks Want a Small Forward Like Mickael Pietrus

by Atma Brother ONE on Jan 11, 2008 10:14 AM PST in Rumors Comment 25 comments

You don't hear much about the Warriors and Bucks as trade partners, but with the Bucks wanting to play Let's Make a Deal it might be worth considering. From Gery Woelfel [The Woelfel World of Sports - The Journal Times]:

So, who will the Bucks try to acquire before the Feb. 21 deadline? That's the $64,000 question. It's no secret, though, the Bucks would like to acquire an athletic small forward like Golden State's Mickael Pietrus, who not only has a small contract ($3.47M) but a willingness to play defense.

The Bucks, who are apparently open to dealing Charlie Villanueva, Bobby Simmons, Charlie Bell or Dan Gadzuric, will have a plethora of options besides Pietrus. That's because seldom, if ever, has there been so many quality players available before the in-season deadline.

Make the jump for a few thoughts.

Let's take a look at the Bucks reportedly on the block:

Charlie Villanueva- Now here's an intriguing guy for the Warriors. After his rookie year in Toronto Villanueva proclaimed Chris Bosh and himself as the next David Robinson and Tim Duncan pairing. That didn't exactly go according to plan, but Villanueva is a talented player who is still young enough at 23 to have some substantial upside. Right now he seems like a poor man's Al Harrington, but I'd be curious to see how he'd do under Nellie. He has good size and athleticism. Plus he's on his rookie contract for the rest of this season and next with a qualifying offer in 2009/2010. Low risk, potentially high reward.
Bobby Simmons- There's no way the Warriors take on his Dunleavy-like contract. It would probably take Michael Redd and Yi Jianlian for them to even consider it.
Charlie Bell- Bell seems like a decent enough player (although his shot has been awful this season) and a reasonably good defender, but the Bucks have him locked up till 2011/2012 at about $3.5 million a season. That's a fairly ridiculous commitment to a guy who's giving you the equivalent production of a D-League balla you could get on 10-day and year-to-year contracts.
Dan Gadzuric- How would you like to add a player that is currently averaging 3.0 ppg and 2.7 rpb to your payroll at nearly 21 million after this season for 3 more years? Didn't think so.

No wonder the Bucks are looking to blow things up. They couldn't give away Simmons, Bell, or Gadzuric. If they played in a bigger market you'd be reading daily "What the Buck?" articles.

FREE YI! Part of me still cringes every time I see our man Yi Jianlian sporting Xmas colors all throughout the hoops season in the midwest. Maybe the Bucks will have a brain lapse before this year's trading deadline and let The Movement come to the Bay. This will NEVER happen, but let's dream for a second:

I know what you're thinking: "Yi-sy on the trade machine!"

Are the Bucks a good trading partner for the Warriors? Are there any good trades you can put together that make sense for both teams?

99% of rumors never happen, but 99% of them are fun to talk about.

For more on the Bucks check out Brew Hoop and their recent Q&A with us.

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Comments

Not it.

I scoff at his "willingness to play defense."

I really don't like any of those options though. It's basically like: We, the Milwaukee Bucks, would like to trade for Pietrus, using our garbage. Please cooperate. Thank you kind sir.

by xcoma on Jan 11, 2008 10:19 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Ummmm...NO!

Unless they offer something amazing like Yi or Redd should we give them Pietrus. None of the guys mentioned (except maybe Villanueva, but still, no) would be a great addition to the team.

by cruzkontrol on Jan 11, 2008 10:26 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

White Castle!

ROFL. Yi and Redd? Seriously, pass the dutchie. I NEED some of what you're smoking. Seriously though, I need it. I am terminally ill.

by xcoma on Jan 11, 2008 10:30 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

LOL Redd

by The City Warjorz on Jan 11, 2008 10:36 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

forget yi and redd man

pietrus for wade.

by baller90210 on Jan 11, 2008 1:14 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

LeBron.

Nay, Howard.
Nay, one of each.

by Sleepy Freud on Jan 11, 2008 4:23 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Clarification

Let me clarify by saying I'm not saying that it should be Redd for Pietrus or Yi for Pietrus but I just don't think the players listed above should be traded for Pietrus.

Trust me, if I advocated a Redd for Air France trade, I'd slap myself.

by cruzkontrol on Jan 11, 2008 2:17 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Yes CV

small risk (cheap contract for 2 yr)
fills need = depth on front line

-Barnes and Buke can likely fill MP min & production
-Mbenga is gone and Kosta is not a player

AND
-Still we have large amount of TPE to use if opportunity presents itself

On the surface, compared to MP, CV has about double the ppg/rpg in only slightly more min/pg - plus he's not a bad FT shooter to boot

he's used to 20 min per night - to mix and match with AB & Harrington

we are not resigning MP & Barnes again - this is an opportunity to address the need using an asset that has an expiration date, don't let the "loss" of MP's contribution scare you away - he's out the door & what does he provide that CV, Barnes, and Buke wouldn't?

don't let the fact that he hasn't "fit" in in Tor or Milw scare you away if there is nothing else in his closet - this seems like a no-brainer move

by hardcore on Jan 11, 2008 4:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

Well put.

by jtoj on Jan 11, 2008 5:56 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Villanueva would be the right fit

I'd trade Pietrus for him in a minute. We need a PF with an inside presence. Granted he isn't going to displace Al as the primary PF (he isn't Boozer or anything) but the Pietrus experience is past due. We have plenty of guys to jack up 3s from the corner (Barnes and Buke take his minutes easily) and Pietrus simply can't handle the ball in the open court or do anything off the dribble well enough to be a long-term productive SF for this team. I REALLY like the guy as a person, but a real PF is our biggest need (especially if the Quiet Storm is for real as a backup PG, and I liked what I saw in him against Portland).

I know that Charlie V. hasn't exactly taken Milwaukee by storm, but I think he is better than what they've been getting from him and a change of scenery might do him some real good.

by McJ on Jan 11, 2008 11:13 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I'm not for trading for Charlie V.

because there must be something wrong with him. Every team he's been on, they ended up wanting to trade him.

by callahan on Jan 11, 2008 11:16 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

You might be right...

maybe there is and maybe there isn't. But where is the risk? We need a PF, you can't deny that. And we probably aren't keeping Pietrus anyway. Charlie V's contract isn't a burden and I don't see us finding a better player to take a flyer on.

by McJ on Jan 11, 2008 11:18 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

addition by subtraction

just by dumping mp2 the dubs are lowering the "wtf" comments on the open game threads, and if charlie v adds anything - the dubs come out better for it.

Best duo since...

by Tim N Chris Burger on Jan 11, 2008 11:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Charlie V!

Get it done!

by krazybalr on Jan 11, 2008 11:24 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

every time I see my man Yi

fixed that for ya

by GameSix on Jan 11, 2008 11:29 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

The Yi Movement from Mil -> Bay Area Resumes...

Just kidding....maybe...

by ThermoElectro on Jan 11, 2008 11:32 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Hmm...

Charlie seems like the kind of low risk/high reward player that might flourish here. I have heard a lot of things about the guy that make me nervous. The fact that Toronto gave up on him so fast (trading a big for a small no less) raised some red flags right away.

Having said that, I wouldn't mind taking a chance on the guy if all it took was MP. I feel a little better about the back-up PG spot after watching the Quiet Starm play, so if we can swap MP for a low cost, high upside player let's do it.

by olympicmike on Jan 11, 2008 12:14 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Just when you thought

the Yi movment was done! Yi movement = my boul movments.

by gabezgsw on Jan 11, 2008 1:14 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Yes

I'm a bad spellller.

by gabezgsw on Jan 11, 2008 1:15 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Villanueva?

Why? If we already have Al Harrington, why would we need an Al Harrington type player? Charlie V is a Harrington clone... I know a Harrington/Villanueva may seem better than a Pietrus/Barnes combination... but at least Pietrus plays some defense. Now if the Bucks GM just happened to smoke crack one day and offered Yi and signed off on it right away... I'd be all for that!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

by mightymadskillz on Jan 11, 2008 3:28 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Charlie Villanueva

Yeah, I caught this from some Bucks fans a couple days ago- almost too good to be true. Villanueva isn't a savior, but there's potential for him to be more than just a slightly bigger, but less efficient Al Harrington (which is what his FG/FT/3P%'s would suggest).

Villanueva is a "soft" big man, but skilled. He doesn't bang in the low post at all (Harrington is very capable there, just underutilized); he's not a terrific creator for others, but he has speed and athleticism to score individually as matchup nightmare for other 4's and 5's.

MOST intruging, however, is his superior rebound rate to Harrington and his potential as a shotblocker. He hasn't done much of it since his rookie year, but he has also been hurt.

Looking at his college numbers (from Draft Express, CV blocked 2.9 and 3.2 shots per game his two years in the NCAA. Even his rookie year he managed to to average around 1 steal and 1 block per 40, so he's capable of activity defensively. FOr some reason (injury, team scheme, laziness) he hasn't done much of it since then, but I wonder if we could get more out of him on that end of the court.

I highly doubt Pietrus is sufficient to do it given that he's an impending FA, but if Mullin swings it, more power to him.

SB Nation Quality Control

AIM: Jetforze

by OptionZero on Jan 11, 2008 6:04 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

I do it

for Charlie. I would love a big who can pop the 3 and can probably thrive in a new environment. Charlie has great potential and when he was in college he was a stud. Definitely a good guy to trade for Pietrus.

UCONN HUSKIES PRIDE!

Ballin