The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

In an interview with the Journal-Sentinel, Charlie Villanueva says that he feels that he’s the odd man out with the Bucks and will probably be traded soon. No big news there, it seems pretty obvious that he would be on the trading block.

But what can the Bucks get for him? It’s actually kind of tough to come up with good Villanueva trades because of his salary. Basically, he can only be traded for players who make a similar amount of money to his $3.5 million, which means that most of the people he could be traded for are either overpaid benchwarmers or valuable young players who would never be traded by their current teams.

So I went through the league and came up with 12 potential trades. Most of them are highly unrealistic, a couple of them are just plain dumb, and most of them aren’t really what you would call “blockbusters”. But it just goes to show you how difficult it is to actually come up with a good trade that both teams might do.

Here they are, in reverse order of how realistic they are:

REALLY DUMB IDEAS:

Phoenix: Shaquille O’Neal and the #15 pick for Redd and Villanueva. I only include this because in Phoenix’s twisted world of luxury tax avoidance they would see this trade as saving them money. Phoenix loses the 2yrs/$20 mil on Shaq’s deal, saves $1 million next year and $1-$5 mil the following season if they let Villanueva walk. However they then pick up Redd’s $18 mil 2010/11 contract , it makes no sense but that’s the same financial logic they used in the Shaq-Marion trade. Shaq’s game has slipped to the point that the Bucks would laugh at a proposal like this, and I’m sure that he would come to Milwaukee and instantly get “hurt” anyway, so it’s pointless to continue speculating. But it’s kind of fun to imagine the in-his-prime 1999 version of Shaq on this team.

Indiana: Danny Granger and Travis Diener for Villanueva and the #8 pick. Strange deal that doesn’t really work for either team. Granger is the Pacers’ best player (so no reason for them to trade him away) but he’s eligible for an extension soon (so the Bucks would be grabbing the right to give him $12 mil a season). And it costs the Bucks a top 10 pick. Just an all-around bad idea. I only included this trade because having 12 trade ideas sounds better than just 11.

Chicago: S&T Luol Deng + Kirk Hinrich for Redd, Villanueva and the #8 pick. No way on earth this trade happens , both because it is inside the division and John Paxson isn’t going to trade Deng and Hinrich to Scott Skiles , but it makes some sense if the Bulls take Derrick Rose.

Toronto: TJ Ford and the #17 pick for Mason and Villanueva. Talk about irony , Villanueva and Ford traded for each other again? This trade would clear room for Toronto to commit to Jose Calderon as their starter and would save them money once Mason’s contract expires. Obviously, if Toronto wanted Villanueva they wouldn’t have traded him away in the first place, though.

PRETTY DUMB IDEA:

Denver: Carmelo Anthony for Williams, Villanueva and the #8 pick. While rumor has it that Denver would entertain offers for Anthony, if they were to take an offer like this then you’d have to wonder what is so wrong with Anthony that Denver would accept it. Anthony has spent years replacing his reputation as a clean-cut kid who makes the players around him better with that of a sullen, me-first scorer who doesn’t play defense, is known as one of the league’s hardest partiers, and recently picked up a DUI at 4am. This trade also leaves Denver with the smallest backcourt in the league in Mo and Iverson.

NOT ALL THAT DUMB, BUT STILL WOULD NEVER HAPPEN:

Atlanta: S&T Josh Smith for Simmons, Villanueva and the #8 pick. It seems unlikely that the Hawks would let Smith get away, but you never really know with them. There have been stories that they don’t want to pay him big money because of his personality and they may want to get a top 10 pick (their pick this year goes to Phoenix) but it’s very unlikely that anyone would let a player that talented get away.

Philadelphia: The #16 pick for Villanueva. The Sixers are $15-$20 mil under the salary cap, and if they like what they currently have then they may be more interested in adding a player than in risking a bust in the draft. It’s unlikely, though. This trade would have to be consumated after the draft.

Cleveland: Wally Szczerbiak for Simmons and Villanueva. Interesting trade , not for the on-court ramifications, but the off-court ones. Szczerbiak has one year on his contract ($13 mil) and Simmons and Villanueva two ($15 mil in 09/10 if Villanueva signs the 1 year qualifying offer). Basically this trade would allow Cleveland to postpone a big salary coming off of their cap next offseason until the following year, when LeBron will be a free agent. The Bucks would save $10-$14 million in 09/10.

MAKES A LITTLE SENSE:

Dallas: Josh Howard for Mason, Villanueva and the #8 pick. Just how serious is Dallas about making wholesale changes? Howard’s contract is relatively low risk (2 years plus a team option) and I’m sure the Bucks would jump at this deal. The Mavs would have to be seriously disillusioned about Howard (after his stoner comments and poor playoffs) to consider a deal like this, but if there’s a player in the draft who they really want they may be willing to make the splashy move.

Memphis: Brian Cardinal, Hakim Warrick and the #5 pick for Mason, Villanueva and the #8. This trade would give Memphis some cap relief (Cardinal has 2 years remaining on his contract, and Mason only one) and keeps them in the top 10 in the draft, while pretty much assuring the Bucks a shot at Kevin Love. If Memphis is interested in trading down, this would be fair.

New Jersey: Stromile Swift and the #10 pick for Charlie Bell, Charlie Villanueva and the #8. If New Jersey sees a player they want they may be interested in moving up a couple of spots to get him. Swift’s contract has one year left, and should the Nets then resign Villanueva to a 1 year qualifying offer, then he would be gone the following year and this trade would help New Jersey’s master plan of being under the cap when LeBron opts out of his contract in 2 years.

Orlando: Brian Cook and the #22 pick for Villanueva. While Cook is pretty much useless, this trade should land the Bucks in the perfect spot to get Richard Hendrix while still allowing them to keep their other two picks. Orlando gets a player who can help them now (instead of risking that their draft pick doesn’t pan out) and the ability to move Rashard Lewis back to small forward without losing a key contributor.

What does this show you? While Villanueva has talent, he’s not exactly going to command much of a premium around the league. He’s not so good that he can command a valuable, inexpensive player in return; nor is he so valuable that he would be much of an incentive in packaging him with one of the Bucks’ bad contracts for a really good player.

John Hammond has his work cut out for him. Of all of these trades, the only one I could see the other party likely to do is the one with Orlando, and I’m sure Hammond thinks he can get more than the #22 pick for a guy who was the runner-up ROY a couple of years ago.