By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published Feb 06, 2018 at 10:04 AM

The Milwaukee Bucks have bolstered their frontcourt and finally given up on a disappointing former first-round draft pick, trading guard Rashad Vaughn and the rights to a future second-rounder to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for center Tyler Zeller.

The 28-year-old Zeller is in his sixth NBA season and has career averages of 7.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field. This season with the Nets, he has appeared in 42 games (33 starts) and averaged 7.1 points on 54.6 percent shooting and 4.6 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per contest. Apparently, Zeller has also turned himself into somewhat of a 3-point threat, having made 10 of 26 attempts this season (38.5 percent), after having never before made a 3-pointer in his NBA career.

Prior to joining Brooklyn this season, Zeller spent three seasons with the Boston Celtics (2014-17) and his first two professional seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2012-14). The North Carolina product was drafted with the 17th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks, but was soon traded to the Cavaliers.

Zeller is expected to backup John Henson and provide solid depth at center, a position the Bucks have been weak at this season. At North Carolina, the two big men played together from 2009-12, and Henson expressed excitement on Twitter about his college teammate coming to Milwaukee.

As for Vaughn, the 21-year-old never became the contributor the Bucks hoped he’d be when they selected him with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In three seasons in Milwaukee, he appeared in 133 games (eight starts) and averaged 3.1 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. This year, Vaughn was averaging 2.7 points 7.9 minutes per game.

The Bucks reportedly will send their 2018 second-round pick to the Nets if it is between Nos. 31 and 47 in the draft. Otherwise, the Phoenix Suns will receive the pick as part of the Eric Bledsoe trade. If the Bucks pick doesn’t go to Brooklyn in 2018, Milwaukee will send its unprotected second-round choice in 2020 to the Nets.

Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.