The summer of 2015 has finally begun with the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons the first teams to make a move.
The Bucks have traded forward Ersan Ilyasova to the Pistons for Caron Butler and Shawne Williams, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
The Bucks executed this move to shed salary, as they have picked up the non-guaranteed contracts of Butler and Williams. Per Wojnarowski, if Milwaukee waives both of them, they could have approximately $22 million in cap space.
Ilyasova is appointed to make $7.9 million in the upcoming season and $8.4 million non-guaranteed in the following year. The Pistons may have completed this move to potentially replace Greg Monroe, who will become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Early indications are that Monroe is likely to leave Detroit to sign with a big market. The Bucks could also put themselves into play for Monroe with this move.
Ilyasova averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds this past season, as the stretch four picked it up late in the season. Butler had the worst season of his career, averaging just 5.9 points in 20.8 minutes, while Williams was a mid-season pickup for the Pistons who averaged 2.6 points in limited minutes.