The Milwaukee Bucks are going through a midseason shakeup rarely seen in NBA history. A team with championship aspirations and a 30-13 record fired its head coach in January and will now reload with a new one in Doc Rivers. A coaching change is not the only thing on the minds of Milwaukee's front office, though.
The Bucks are desperately in need of upgrading one of the league's worst defenses - one of the impetuses for the change in leadership - but will need more than a new scheme to field a group able to play well enough on that end of the floor to be in meaningful games in June.
A player of interest who would help Milwaukee currently resides in Portland.
Milwaukee Bucks interested in Blazers' Matisse Thybulle, among others
General manager Jon Horst is dangling a combination of Cam Payne's and Pat Connaughton's salaries, along with the 35th pick in this year's draft (that ironically used to belong to Portland), to acquire some much-needed defensive help, according to Yahoo's Jake Fischer.
One of the Bucks' reported targets is Trail Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle.
"The combined $12.5 million salary between Connaughton and Payne would put Milwaukee in position to land several targets, such as Portland wing Matisse Thybulle and Clippers forward P.J. Tucker, sources said."Yahoo's Jake Fischer
Fischer mentions the Bucks' desire to land much bigger fish, such as Atlanta's Dejounte Murray or Toronto's Bruce Brown, but that level of player is almost assuredly out of reach for Milwaukee after it unloaded nearly every asset it had to acquire Damian Lillard from the Blazers this past offseason.
Thybulle would be a much cheaper option, but as the 26-year-old has developed into a true three-and-D wing and is on a team-friendly contract, Connaughton or Payne and an early second-round pick wouldn't be enough for the Trail Blazers to part with the two-time all-defensive team player.