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8:02pm: The trade is official, the Mavericks and Bucks announced via press release. A future second-rounder is on the way to the Bucks in the transaction.
7:55pm: The Bucks would receive a second round pick in return from Dallas, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
7:53pm: The Mavericks and Bucks are engaged in discussions regarding Dallas acquiring Zaza Pachulia, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). It’s unclear what Milwaukee is seeking in return for the 31-year-old center, be it draft picks or players. Pachulia is set to earn $5.2MM next season, the final year of his current deal.
Dallas is badly in need of help at center after being spurned by unrestricted free agent DeAndre Jordan, who reversed course on Dallas after reaching a verbal agreement on a contract and returned to the Clippers. Pachulia would certainly be a step down talent-wise from Jordan or last year’s starter, Tyson Chandler, but the Mavericks are stuck having to sift through the remaining available players in the wake of the flurry of signings that became official today.
Pachulia appeared in 73 games for the Bucks last season, including 45 as a starter, and averaged 8.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 23.7 minutes per contest. His slash line was .454./.000/.788. Through 12 NBA campaigns the big man’s numbers are 7.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 1.2 APG.
Not bad for Dallas. He gave Milwaukee some very good minutes last year.
Mavs got to start somewhere. They need all the frontcourt defense they can get. Zaza can give them 15-20 solid minutes.
Dallas should also bring in a few prospects to see if they can find this year’s Hassan Whiteside.
Willie Reed, the guy the Nets just signed, seems pretty legit
Mavs rebound to get a good all around center in Zaza, who played very well as the starter for most of last season with Milwaukee. Nothing flashy, but he does everything pretty well. Can shoot, pass, rebound, set screens, 78% FT shooter last season, and solid defensively.
Very good move for Dallas, he is underrated and played well for the Bucks last year.
That’s all good but what about a back up? Where us Greg Oden playing? Where is Brandon Bass?
Bass is in L.A.
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