Report: Milwaukee Bucks willing to trade O.J. Mayo
By Brad Rowland
After a 15-67 season that doubled as the worst performance in the NBA last season, the Milwaukee Bucks will likely be searching high and wide for ways to improve their roster. In that vein, speculation has begun about a potential trade of one of their highest-paid assets in shooting guard O.J. Mayo.
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Gary Woelfel of JournalTimes.com brings the latest:
"Bucks general manager John Hammond thought he had his shooting guard of the future in O.J. Mayo, whom he signed as a free agent last summer. Mayo was given a lavish, three-year, $24 million guaranteed contract. He didn’t come close to earning his paycheck.Mayo was plagued by injuries and personal issues and played in just 52 games this season. He shot a pedestrian 40.7 percent from the field and averaged 11.7 points. It’s no secret the Bucks would be willing to trade him, although that will be easier said than done because of his inflated contract."
As noted above, it hasn’t exactly been a hidden motivation for the Bucks to attempt to deal Mayo, but the issue will certainly be a lack of interest on the part of other NBA teams. Mayo was underwhelming from the moment he set foot in Milwaukee, and while he has projected some upside in his career (15.3 points per game in Dallas the previous season), it is tough to believe he can replicate that type of effort and production.
Woelfel’s premise is almost certainly accurate that the Bucks should be (and will be) on the lookout for a new shooting guard, but general manager John Hammond may just have to accomplish that replacement without shipping out the incumbent.