Milwaukee Bucks: 4 players likeliest to be dealt by trade deadline

The Milwaukee Bucks will have a handful of difficult decisions to make with the NBA trade deadline rapidly approaching.

For better or worse, the team has failed to maintain their regular season dominance that the NBA world has gotten so accustomed to over the previous two seasons. Sitting at third place in the Eastern Conference with a 22-14 record, the Bucks have been up and down this season in trying to find the perfect balance.

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Among these struggles, the Bucks have been linked to several top trade targets on the market, and they could potentially be looking to shake up the roster if it means improving.

Any potential trades, especially sizeable ones, will be hard to come by given Milwaukee’s limited asset cabinet, but nothing is impossible.

Those decisions will be up to former Executive of the Year Jon Horst and company, a group that has showcased their willingness to make sizeable moves in the past. With that being said, here are four players for the Milwaukee Bucks that are the likeliest to be traded by March 25.

Milwaukee Bucks likeliest to be traded by the deadline — D.J. Wilson

The Bucks selected D.J. Wilson 17th overall in the 2017 NBA Draft, and all throughout his four seasons with the team, he has never been able to find his place.

Wilson started this season as a member of Milwaukee’s rotation, showing promise when given the opportunity. However, he was soon benched in favor of Thanasis Antetokounmpo and has not seen any meaningful run in the rotation in weeks. In his 11 appearances this season, Wilson has logged just 99 total minutes and is putting up averages of 3.6 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.3 assists per game.

For a player that currently has the seventh-highest salary on Milwaukee’s roster, his non-existent place in the rotation is certainly not ideal. Wilson is in the final year of his rookie deal. With an expiring $4.5 million salary, he could be easily moveable from a financial perspective if the Bucks are looking to add a cheap veteran prior to the deadline.

The Bucks have already shown a willingness to trade Wilson, as he was reportedly headed to Sacramento as part of their botched Bogdan Bogdanovic deal this past offseason. With the fourth-year forward spending most of his time as a spectator this season, it seems feasible to believe they could look to ship him out once again to clear his salary or bring in another contributor.