Eastern Notes: Bucks, 76ers, Okafor, Heat

While an Oshkosh wealth management firm is in talks with the Bucks about potentially bringing a D-League team to the city, Milwaukee doesn’t expect to have a D-League franchise in place until at least the fall of 2017, and other midwestern cities are in play, writes Nate Beck of USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. The firm, along with local stakeholders, will submit plans to the Bucks by the end of June, and the plan is to fund the project entirely with private money. If Oshkosh is ultimately chosen as the location for the Bucks’ D-League team, it would be the first professional sports team to play in the city since the Wisconsin Flyers, a minor league basketball team, disbanded in 1987.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

  • Appearing on 97.3 ESPN, Chad Ford of ESPN.com (link via Andrew Kulp of CSNPhilly.com) suggested that he doesn’t expect to see Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor both return to Philadelphia next season. In Ford’s view, the 76ers will gauge the trade value of both players, perhaps with a slight preference to keep Noel over Okafor.
  • With the possibility of an Okafor trade in mind, John Gonzalez of CSNPhilly.com examines potential destinations for the Sixers big man, concluding that Boston, Phoenix, Denver, and the Lakers would probably be the best fits.
  • In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel explains why he doesn’t see Mike Conley as a great fit for the Heat, and why Mario Chalmers probably isn’t all that likely to return to Miami.
  • The odds of Kevin Durant joining the Celtics in free agency this offseason are long, but New England Patriots defensive lineman Terrance Knighton, who is friends with the Thunder star, says he’ll be “in [Durant’s] ear a lot” once the season ends, trying to encourage him to come to Boston. Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com has the quotes and the details on Knighton’s recruiting efforts.
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