Keyon Dooling appears to have taken his last shot for the Milwaukee Bucks (Photo: Jonathan Daniel)

UPDATE: Charles F. Gardner is reporting Dooling and a second round pick will be heading to Boston for a trade exception.

Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld adds on to an earlier report from Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, tweeting that Milwaukee Bucks backup point guard Keyon Dooling will be heading to the Boston Celtics for a second round draft pick.

Dooling had been a likely trade candidate since June after Milwaukee acquired two point guards, Beno Udrih and Shaun Livingston, along with forward Stephen Jackson in a draft day three-way trade with the Charlotte Bobcats and Sacramento Kings.

Dooling’s one season in Milwaukee was a rocky one. Originally signed to backup Brandon Jennings, Dooling spent a large part of the season in a shooting guard role that he wasn’t quite cut out for. Dooling started 22 games when Jennings went down with an injury mid-season. After a stellar year from Luke Ridnour in the backup point guard spot, Dooling’s sub-40% shooting often made him a target for the criticism of fans.

Dooling’s departure essentially leaves the Bucks with 15 current roster candidates, not including the backup center many suspect they will be after. Dooling was set to make just under $2.3 million this season. Assuming Mike Dunleavy Jr., signed earlier on Thursday, is going to make in the neighborhood of $3.75 million next season, losing Dooling’s contract leaves the Bucks $1.825 million under the salary cap when accounting for Luc Mbah a Moute’s qualifying offer. This number does not take into account Darington Hobson, but does take into account Tobias Harris and Jon Leuer.

While the point guard log jam appears solved, Milwaukee will still have a decision to make now that Mike Dunleavy Jr. is reportedly in the mix. Stephen Jackson, Carlos Delfino, Dunleavy, Harris and Hobson will all compete for minutes at the two and three, with Udrih and Livingston able to spend some time on the wings as well.

Clearing Dooling gives the team the option to hold steady with this group or drop one more wing and make a run at another big man.

It’s worth noting that oft-mentioned Bucks backup target Joel Przybilla is considering the Bucks, but is rumored to be leaning towards retirement.

Jeremy Schmidt writes the Milwaukee Bucks blog Bucksketball.com. Follow him on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo!, the Milwaukee Bucks have reached an agreement with Indiana Pacers 6-foot-9 swingman Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Free agent forward Mike Dunleavy will sign a two year, $7.5 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, league source tells Y! Sports.

Those of you who were Bucks fans during the early to mid-90s will remember how his father ran the organization straight into the ground. And those of you who were Bucks fans in the mid-to-late 80s will remember he also played for the team. Dunleavy Jr., 31, is said to be taking his father’s former number 10 jersey.

Dunleavy Jr. the basketball player is likely to fair better with Milwaukee than his father the general manager/coach.

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The Bucks 2011-12 schedule was released. Again. The month-to-month dynamics haven’t changed much for the Bucks. January is still conspiring against them, except this time they won’t have two months to build a decent cushion. And the Bucks may be too tired after January to mount any sort of a comeback.

I think we can all agree that these scheduling quirks, plus the fact that the Bucks don’t have a superstar yet, prove that the lockout was just a giant anti-Milwaukee conspiracy.

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It begins.

Monday was the first day NBA teams could openly court free agents, and the courting has begun with some gusto. And not surprisingly, the Milwaukee Bucks haven’t been widely rumored to be involved with much of the bidding.

But Gery Woelfel has a few tidbits about potential Bucks targets. Woelfel interviewed long shot Bucks target, Dallas Mavericks forward and Racine native Caron Butler. Butler did not outright rule out the Bucks as a landing spot:

Milwaukee definitely reached out and, obviously, that’s always a high consideration because it’s home. I’m a hometown guy. I’m a guy who always likes coming back and doing things in the community.

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Stephen Jackson was all smiles and hilarious quotes in late June.

It’s been a long time, so you’re forgiven if you don’t recall the colorful flourish Stephen Jackson arrived in Milwaukee with.

And if you remember, kudos to you. Though Jackson made it clear from his introductory news conference that his tenure in Milwaukee, if nothing else, is likely to be one people will remember. The Bucks have used the motto, “Work Hard, Play Hard” for each of the past two seasons, but Jackson did his best to give them something else to consider back in June.

“It’s no time for being babies or being scared. Scared, go to church.”

“Scared, go to church.”

If the Bucks miss the playoffs and Jackson flames out like Corey Maggette, we’ll always have that. Things are always going to be interesting when Jackson is involved. He pledged to be a leader, to be vocal and said he arrived in Milwaukee to win games.

So as you prepare for the return of the NBA and engulf yourself in the trade rumors, free agent activity and madness that’s going to consume the league until training camps open and the season finally is under way, don’t forget about the move Milwaukee already made. The Bucks are likely to be quiet on the free agent front during this shortened free agent frenzy. A backup center may arrive and something must be done on the Luc Mbah a Moute front, but Milwaukee isn’t in the mix for Nene, David West or even Nick Young. The Bucks made their move back in June.

The team hopes in that one June move, they added both the scoring punch and locker room fire sorely lacking throughout the disappointing 2010-11 season.

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