The Bucks are buyers. Seriously.

The Milwaukee Bucks are buyers in a bear market. Yes, those Bucks.

They are 7-3 in their last 10 games and now sit ninth in the east, just one game back of Chicago in the last playoff spot. The Bucks want to go to the dance this year and they want to make a move to ensure that happens.

With the NBA deadline fast approaching, the Bucks are exploring a wide-range of possibilities with the clear intention of obtaining a player to enhance their playoff chances.

It’s no secret the Bucks would like to obtain a veteran big man and a swingman. Troy Murphy of the Indiana Pacers would certainly fit the bill of the former. Murphy, 29, is being shopped by the Pacers and the Bucks, as the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently reported, are among several teams that have an interest in him.

Murphy is a great fit for the Bucks -- he is the backup big but can also spread the floor as a classic stretch four, shooting 38.6% from three-point range this season. That makes him a target for kick-out passes if his man doubles Andrew Bogut in the paint (Bogut has been the second or third best center in the East the last few weeks) or spot-up threes in transition when Brandon Jennings has the ball.

The sticking point appears to be what Indiana gets back -- they want Ersan Ilyasova. The Bucks see a 22-year-old sharpshooter and don’t want to give him up. That may be part of the problem, along with numerous other teams having an interest in Murphy, including Cleveland. But don’t be shocked if the Bucks do something.