It is difficult to know exactly where Milwaukee stands due to how long Brandon Jennings was out. Led by Andrew Bogut and his exceptional defense at center, the Bucks allow just 103.1 points per 100 possessions. They play particularly good defense against teams that rely on jumpers or ISOs and only succumb to their vulnerabilities when teams get ahold of Ersan Ilyasova or Drew Gooden before his injury.

If the NBA was the NFL, the Bucks would probably be the 2010 Chicago Bears with Jennings playing the Jay Cutler role (no offense intended to either party) and make it deep into the playoffs. But you also need to score buckets in the NBA (just like you need Aaron Rodgers to win a Super Bowl) and the Bucks have slipped from a surmountable 23rd in offense last season to 29th.

Jennings has been hurt, but his numbers in 10-11 are virtually identical to his rookie season and we need to see a sophomore jump to feel encouraged about where his career is heading. He is shooting less than 40% from the floor and that leads to trouble for a player who takes nearly one shot every other minute.

More troublesome offensively are the veteran combo of John Salmons and Corey Maggette. Salmons has the distinction of being a much better shooter from three-point territory than in his two-point shots, while Maggette's outlier efficiency of 09-10 (52.3 eFG%) has regressed back to the mean this season (46.8 eFG%). The Bucks are paying Maggette and Salmons a combined figure of close to $20M in each of the next two seasons before Maggette expires in 2013. Maggette and Salmons make more combined than every All-Star wing not named Kobe Bryant, but I can promise you that Dwyane Wade and Paul Pressey at 52 would win more games than this combo.

The fundamental problem with a backcourt that features heavy doses of Jennings, Maggette and Salmons is that there is far too much individual play and too little ball movement.

Desperation Meter: The Bucks are largely stuck with their current team, so their ceiling is almost exclusively predicated on how Jennings develops. Larry Sanders is one of the more interesting rookies in the NBA and has the makings of an appropriate long-term fit, but he will be a continuation of Bogut defensively.

Milwaukee's financial situation improves this summer with Michael Redd coming off the books, but taking on a second expiring to ditch Maggette's $10.26M in 11-12 would be excellent. Drop him off on Mark Cuban's doorstep for Caron Butler with a wink nod to waive him, call last summer's trade a corrected mistake and then pursue some sort of combination of Marcus Thornton, Arron Afflalo or Wilson Chandler in free agency.

• Click here for the latest trade deadline rumors.