Milwaukee has quietly ascended the Eastern ladder, sitting pretty in eighth place ahead of Chicago, Toronto and Philadelphia. The defensive turnaround Scott Skiles brought to Wisconsin has been a bit of a miracle, and deserves deep study. Skiles has used the same players Larry Krystowiak had and turned them into a top-10 defense, whereas the Bucks sat in the league's bottom third last season.But some things never change, like Charlie Villanueva's consistent inconsistency. As always, the explosion-ready C.V. finds himself engulfed in the trade rumor circuit. Gerry Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (via BrewHoop) offers up two dandies centered on Villanueva, one a bit more blockbluster-y than the other. The less exciting version swaps C.V. and Tyronn Lue to Oklahoma City in exchange for one of the Thunder's veteran forwards (Chris Wilcox, Nick Collison or Joe Smith).
But the interesting version lands the Bucks Carl Landry, sends Lue to the Lakers (who need a back-up point since Jordan Farmar will be out until February), and gives Villanueva to Houston. As BrewHoop notes, Landry is a Skiles player through and through (not to mention a Wisconsin native). Villanueva, while a defensive liability, fits the Rick Adelman mold well. And Lue's greatest conquests came as a ballboy for the Lakers. Win, win, win.
