Milwaukee Bucks: D.J. Wilson might as well start packing his bags

D.J. Wilson has completely fallen out of the Milwaukee Bucks rotation. It’s more than likely his time as a Buck is coming to an end.

The Milwaukee Bucks drafted D.J. Wilson with the 17th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Ever since then, Wilson has shown little promise in living up to his status as a first-round pick.

Throughout his four-year status in the NBA, the 6’10” forward has career averages of just 4.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 0.2 blocks on 41.4 percent field goals across 12.2 minutes per game. Wilson’s production has been nowhere near his initial expectations coming into the league.

Although, an argument can be made that he hasn’t been given enough meaningful opportunities with the Bucks. Wilson only played an average of 3.2 minutes per game during his rookie season, but that was reasonable for him as a rookie. He eventually developed a consistent role throughout his sophomore year, where he averaged 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds across 18.4 minutes per game, but his impact apparently wasn’t efficient enough to maintain his minutes with the organization moving forward.

With Milwaukee beginning to emerge as legitimate title contenders the following 2019-20 season, the former University of Michigan standout saw his averaged minutes nearly cut in half to 9.8 per game and didn’t come close to sniffing the atmosphere of the playoffs. The Bucks clearly had better options at the time, but it could also be assumed that they thought he wasn’t ready for the spotlight yet even after three years of development.

At the time being, D.J. Wilson is completely out of head coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation. It’s his fourth season in the NBA, and Wilson is currently losing out on minutes to Thanasis Antetokounmpo. Most recently against the Detroit Pistons, he played a whopping zero minutes. Before that, he played three minutes of garbage time against the Orlando Magic.

That says a lot about the trust that the coaching staff has in him along with his lack of progression. He didn’t step up when he was expected to. It’s becoming crystal clear that D.J. Wilson will not be part of Milwaukee’s present or future plans.

D.J. Wilson’s time with the Milwaukee Bucks is drawing to a close

Wilson is on an expiring $4.5 million contract this season and will become a restricted free agent next offseason. He’ll have a qualifying offer of $6.4 million for the 2021-22 season that the Bucks are not expected to match. However, it may not even come to that decision when the time comes.

Since the Milwaukee Bucks are a title-contending team and not utilizing Wilson at all right now, they should explore shopping Wilson’s $4.5 million salary as a trade chip before the March 25th trade deadline. General manager Jon Horst and the front office did a terrific job reshaping the supporting cast around All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton in the offseason, but they could still search for more help on the wing or for another big.

Wilson was almost traded in the offseason as part of the unjustifiable botched Bogdan Bogdanovic trade, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was involved in trade talks once again.

It’s also important to note that the Bucks are hard-capped due to the rules within the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which means they’re unable to take in more salary than they send out in any potential deals. Offloading Wilson’s salary would create much more options and flexibility for the franchise to gear up for another chase toward the ultimate goal.

Either way, it seems like D.J. Wilson’s time in Milwaukee is coming to an end.

It’s a shame that the 24-year-old never established consistent production with the Bucks and ultimately found himself in Budenholzer’s dog house. He’s had his ups and downs throughout his career, and it seems as if there are still many different opinions about him across the Milwaukee Bucks fanbase and Bucks Twitter.

To Wilson’s credit, he has always been ready to ball when his name has been called and has brought forth numerous promising moments on the court. There’s a logical part somewhere inside of him that says he can make a greater impact in the NBA as an athletic rim runner, floor spacer, and versatile defender. Nevertheless, he simply hasn’t been good enough, at least for the fondness of Coach Bud.

D.J. Wilson might as well start packing his bags because his time as a Buck is quickly beginning to fade as the Milwaukee Bucks organization continues to push toward their aspirations of an NBA championship.