The New Jersey Nets have acquired forwards Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons from the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for forward Richard Jefferson, Nets President Rod Thorn announced today.
InsideHoops.com reaction: This is wild. The Nets clearly want to rebuild for the future, and they have parted ways with RJ’s contract. Is Vince Carter the next to go? Yi Jianlian hasn’t proven anything yet — of course, he’s just entering his second year, so that isn’t saying much. Bobby Simmons got a decent contract from the Bucks and then disappointed them. On paper, as of this minute, the Nets will miss the playoffs again next season. As for the Bucks, this is a good move for them. They have talent up front with Andrew Bogut. Charlie Villanueva is pretty good, though probably best as the main forward off the bench. Though, he’s good enough to start in some situations. The Bucks backcourt of Mo Williams and Michael Redd was disappointing last year, but the additional of RJ will make them better. On paper, Milwaukee now has a pretty decent 1-3, and center. If they can solidify that power forward spot they could make a bit of noise. And by that I mean be a lower playoff seed in the East. Which isn’t that special. But it’s a step in the right direction.
“We feel that Yi can be a very special player,” said Thorn. “He is a 20-year old seven footer who shoots the ball extremely well, and he is an excellent addition to our frontcourt. Bobby Simmons is a veteran NBA player who has averaged 10 points for his career, and should be a rotation player for us.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Michael Hunt) reports: A tad more than $16 million, or almost 30% of the Bucks’ payroll, is committed this season to Bobby Simmons and Dan Gadzuric. To unload those contracts, the Bucks would have to take back roughly $16 million in salaries of players who have most likely been likewise financial drains on their franchises in hopes that the changes might do somebody good. Michael Redd and Mo Williams do not represent dead-money contracts, but they are scheduled to make almost $24 million between them this season. That’s about 40% of the payroll wrapped up in a backcourt that does not work well together. So you can see how creative Hammond is going to have to be to dig the Bucks out of this financial hole, and that’s not even to mention a resolution of the Yi Jianlian-Charlie Villanueva overlap, mostly because Villanueva’s rookie contract against his production would make him easy to move, should the Bucks opt to go that way.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Tom Enlund) writes: “Ersan Ilyasova has been working out at the Bucks practice facility but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he fits into the team’s plans for next season… The 6-foot-9 forward was a Bucks’ second-round draft in 2005 and played in 66 games in 2005-’06, averaging 6.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Last season, he played for the AXA FC Barcelona team in the Spanish League and averaged 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 18 minutes in 22 games. Ilyasova still owns a home in Mequon so he is back in town and, since the Bucks still own his rights, he has been working out at the team’s training facility. But since he has the opportunity to make more money in Spain, he will probably be headed back there next season.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Michael Hunt) writes: The Bucks also erred in bestowing a maximum contract on Michael Redd. Do that, and the player had better be able to carry a team. Redd is one of the league’s premier scorers - mitigated by the fact the points have to come from somewhere on a bad team - but he could not lift the Bucks to even mediocrity. For the $17 million a year they pay him, the Bucks could’ve finished last without Redd. Eighty games below .500 and one playoff victory. Of course, you can’t pin all that on Redd, who was stuck here while Glenn Robinson got a ring in San Antonio, and while Allen and Sam Cassell might get one in Boston. Management failed miserably to surround Redd with a supporting cast once the decision was made five years ago to dismantle one of the NBA’s better teams.