Detroit Pistons Trade Rumors: NBA Trade Between Milwaukee Bucks, Pistons Takes Place


Detroit Pistons trade rumors just led to something. An NBA trade between the Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks has taken place, with the two teams exchanging role players. The report from CBS Sports on Thursday (June 11) revealed that the Bucks will send Ersan Ilyasova to the Pistons in exchange for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams. This deal will free up salary cap space for the Bucks, and it nets the Pistons another scorer for the next NBA season.

Caron Butler is due $4.5 million next year, and it is expected that Shawne Williams will get released from his deal. The Bucks could offer Williams a new deal, but he currently has no guaranteed salary for the 2015-16 NBA season. Ersan Ilyasova is on the books for $7.9 million next season, and then has a team option of $8.4 million in the 2016-17 NBA season. Should he work out with the Pistons, the team could decide to keep Ilyasova around with that very affordable option. Last season, he averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds over 58 games.

The Bucks have a lot of free space coming up in the 2016-17 NBA season, as the team now has only one player under contract. Larry Sanders is due $5 million for that year, but nobody else is currently getting paid. It is expected that Jabari Parker, Michael Carter-Williams, and several other players will have their options picked up, but it is clear that the Bucks have a lot of financial flexibility coming up. As for the acquisition of Butler, he played part of the 2013-14 NBA season in Milwaukee, giving the team a good weapon from three-point range.

As previously reported on the Inquisitr, this isn’t the first trade that the Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks have made in recent years. In a sign-and-trade deal before the 2013-14 NBA season, the Bucks dealt Brandon Jennings to the Pistons in exchange for point guard Brandon Knight. Both teams have made major moves since then, but the Bucks made it to the 2015 NBA Playoffs when the Pistons did not. The Pistons have unloaded several contracts recently, including that of Josh Smith to the Houston Rockets, and the team has several roster holes it needs to address in the NBA offseason.

These Detroit Pistons trade rumors might just be the first of many to come, as the team tries to fight back to respectability in the Eastern Conference. Adding a player like Ersan Ilyasova is a step in the right direction, but the Pistons will also need to have a good draft and then add several free agents during the NBA offseason.

[Image Source: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images]

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