Mike Dunleavy signed a two-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2011 and will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. Heading into free agency, Dunleavy believes he will definitely consider returning to the Bucks and liked his situation over the past two seasons.

"I like being here; I grew up here," Dunleavy said. "I signed as a free agent here. I'm willing to come back. I've got to talk to the team and see what they want to do and go from there."

Still, Dunleavy -- like many of the Bucks' role players -- was not pleased with the way the season unfolded.

"I have no issue about getting swept by the Heat," Dunleavy said. "They're a great team. The issue is having to face the Heat. We basically dog-trotted down the stretch for March and April.

"We should have never been in the position of having to play the 1 seed. Kind of shame on us. That's the disappointing part of the whole season."

Dunleavy averaged 12.3 points and provided a spark off the bench in 55 games during the lockout-shortened season, then averaged 10.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 75 games during the past season.

Despite speculation surrounding his future in the NBA, Gustavo Ayon expects the Milwaukee Bucks to pick up the team option on his contract for next season and is looking forward to returning, his agent Emilio Duran told RealGM.

The Bucks traded for Ayon in the deal that brought them J.J. Redick, and the organization insisted that the Orlando Magic include Ayon. From the start, the Bucks have let Ayon and his agent know that playing time would be scarce this season, but they would prioritize him long-term.

“Gustavo likes Milwaukee, he just really wants to help the team and as far as we’ve been indicated he will be with the Bucks next season,” Duran said. “He wants to keep getting better there and help out.”

Newspapers out of Ayon’s native Mexico have published stories claiming the 6-foot-10 big man is not pleased about his situation with the Bucks and has thought about playing overseas. Still, Duran was adamant Ayon’s supposed quotes were fabricated.

“He didn’t even talk to those papers, so the quotes are totally made up,” Duran said. “I have no doubt in my mind he will play in the NBA next year.”

Ayon, whose team option is worth $1.5 million, has shown flashes of skill and solid rebounding in two NBA seasons. Ayon, 28, has averages of 4.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in 16.7 minutes a game over 109 games, playing just 13 times after being traded to the Bucks in late February.

Jeff Weltman is considered by many around the NBA to be the frontrunner to replace Lance Blanks as general manager of the Phoenix Suns.

Weltman is currently assistant general manager of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Lon Babby remains president of the Suns.

Monta Ellis broke his ankle in a moped accident in 2008 shortly after signing a six-year, $66 million contract extension.

Ellis received support from then-general manager Chris Mullin, but the Warriors wanted him to return an additional $500,000 beyond the nearly $3 million he had already agreed to.

The situation revealed the developing rift between Mullin, former owner Chris Cohan and former team president Robert Rowell.

Mullin left the franchise in May of 2009.

"Chris Mullin, he had my back 100 percent," Ellis says. "And they jerked him off. Then when they jerked him off because he was sticking up for me as being a guy who made a mistake or a young man who made a mistake, when they did that to him, I was totally off the organization then. There wasn't nothing I could do then, because who could I trust? The people that I could trust in the organization, you had just sent them away. It was a dark cloud from then on with the owner in that organization there."

The Warriors were eventually sold to a group led by Joe Lacob in 2010. Ellis was traded in a deal for Andrew Bogut at the 2012 deadline.

"The thing is with that, you trade me, you didn't let my agent know that you were going to trade me," he says. "The killing thing about that, I'm in Sacramento, the trade deadline is going on and I talked to them. We talked to them. They said, 'You're not getting traded. You're not going anywhere. Get ready for the game.' I'm cool with that. We were just two games out of the eighth spot for playoffs. We rolling. Everybody's jelling. We good. I get from the hotel to the gym. I'm getting dressed, the next thing you know, it comes on the bottom of the screen. One of my teammates sees it. I say, 'Nah, I ain't getting traded. They said I'm not getting traded.' At the bottom of the screen, it comes across again. I'm fitting to go out there and work out for the game. Then Mark Jackson brings me back, he tells me, 'Well, they didn't want me to tell you, but I'm going to be a man and tell you we traded you.' Those were his exact words."

Lacob was subsequently booed at Mullin's jersey retirement in Oakland during the next week, at least in part because of the unpopular decision to trade Ellis. Other reasons that played a part were the new ownership's clear wishes to relocate to San Francisco, as well as guaranteeing a playoff spot before the start of the season.

"After everything I've done for that organization, playing through injuries, going out there every night, competing every night, leaving everything on the floor, for them to do me the way they did, it stung a little bit," Ellis says of the trade. "At the same time, I put some dirt on it and moved on."

Ellis seems to prefer the culture with the Milwaukee Bucks over the Warriors.

"The difference here?" Ellis says. "You've got guys over here that actually play hard. Over there, guys didn't play hard. They didn't play hard at all. They make it out to seem like 'Monta was the selfish guy. He was always the one complaining.' But if you look at it, I was averaging five or six assists throughout my whole career, top five in steals for at least six of the eight years I've been in the NBA. What more can I do? Everything was pointed at me. Everything was pointed at Monta. But what more you want me to do? You had [me] guarding the best player every night. There's nothing else I can do."

With the resignation of Doug Collins as Philadelphia 76ers head coach, associate Michael Curry will interview for the franchise’s vacancy while eyeing job openings around the NBA, Curry told RealGM on Thursday afternoon.

Curry discussed the 76ers’ coaching position with general manager Tony DiLeo on Thursday and will continue his duties into the offseason as part of the staff. DiLeo has already begun compiling a list of candidates and Curry is poised to be among them to receive a formal interview.

Collins, now a special consultant to the 76ers, has always been an advocate of Curry, who served as his lead assistant over the past three seasons. Nevertheless, the possibility exists of the 76ers’ ownership clearing out the current staff and bringing in a fresh coach as its first hiring.

After being a finalist for the Orlando Magic's vacancy that went to Jacque Vaughn last offseason, Curry has established himself as a defensive coach who will attract interviews from teams with openings – such as the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers, who fired Byron Scott on Thursday, have made clear their hunt will be predicated on finding a defensive mind with strong schemes. The Milwaukee Bucks could also have an opening this offseason, given Jim Boylan’s seemingly tepid status.

In one season as the Detroit Pistons’ coach in 2009, Curry went 39-43 and reached the playoffs as the eighth seed before being fired. Since then, he has emerged as an influential voice within the 76ers’ staff, and he led more and more huddles in recent years.

“I have grown as a coach since [the Pistons season] and I know that it’s not just about Xs and Os; you also have to be a great communicator, good with your dealings,” Curry said. “I feel I am there now, and I helped a lot of those young players grow in Detroit and now here in Philadelphia.”

Monta Ellis will likely invoke the early termination option on his contract and become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Ellis, 27, is on the books for $11 million next season.

Ellis’ scoring has wildly fluctuated this season -- he has shot 41 percent from the floor and 29 percent from three-point range.

J.J. Redick will be a free agent this summer and he figures to cash in with the market being down.

The Milwaukee Bucks, who acquired Redick from the Orlando Magic in February, have cap space and have told the shooter that they hope to have him over the long-term.

Redick could land a contract worth $8 million annually over four or five years.

"I think for any player sometimes, if the money is so different between offers, you go with the money," Redick said frankly. "You secure you and your family's financial future. But there's other things, for sure."

Redick, headed to the playoffs with the Bucks, wants to win as well.

"Hypothetically, if there were multiple offers, I think you just have to value things out," he said. "You do put a value on winning. You put a value on peace, the situation, the organization, who the coach is, who your teammates are. Then, of course, the money – that's another factor you have to weigh."