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Milwaukee Bucks (Last Year: 34-48)
Depth Chart:
C: Andrew Bogut/Kurt Thomas/Dan Gadzuric/Francisco Elson
PF: Hakim Warrick/Ersan Ilyasova/Walter Sharpe
SF: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute/Joe Alexander/Carlos Delfino
SG: Michael Redd/Charlie Bell/Jodie Meeks
PG: Brandon Jennings/Luke Ridnour/Roko
Ukic
Head Coach: Scott Skiles (2nd
year)
2009-2010 Team Salary: $67.6 million
Projected 2010-2011 Team
Salary: approximately $50.9 million
Off-Season Grade: Barely Pass
When the Bucks gave away Richard
Jefferson to the Spurs for the expiring contracts of Kurt Thomas, Fabricio
Oberto, and Bruce Bowen, I laughed at general manager John Hammond saying
he didn’t just pull the trigger on the deal as a salary dump.
Coincidentally enough, Hammond decided to release Bowen to save money
when they couldn’t trade him to another team. That’s not a
salary dump? Trading undoubtedly your most consistent player from
a year ago for three aging players who just so happen to become free
agents next summer? Right, and Megan Fox is just average-looking.
That trade was only the beginning
of a whirlwind of an offseason in Milwaukee. Oberto was immediately
dealt to Detroit for Amir Johnson, who was then sent to Toronto along
with Sonny Weems (who was acquired from Denver along with Walter Sharpe
in exchange for Malik Allen) for Carlos Delfino and Roko Ukic.
The Bucks also signed free agent forward Hakim Warrick and brought back
Ersan Ilyasova from Europe. You still with me?
The most interesting offseason
moves Milwaukee made were actually the ones they didn’t make.
Instead of extending the qualifying offer to Charlie Villanueva and
possibly trying to work out a sign and trade deal with another team,
the Bucks let Villanueva become an unrestricted free agent, netting
them nothing in return. A similar situation occurred with restricted
free agent Ramon Sessions. Milwaukee let him leave without giving
much effort to re-signing him or trying to swing a sign and trade to
get some asset in return.
Drafting Brandon Jennings with
the 10th pick did make Sessions expendable. Jennings is loaded
with potential but I question how he will handle extended playing time
in his rookie season and how he meshes with hard-nosed, defensive-minded
head coach Scott Skiles. Jodie Meeks could prove to be one of
the steals of the second round.
2009-2010 Outlook:
With eight new players on the
roster, it will be interesting to see how this team gels during the
preseason. There are a lot of question marks at forward where
there is no certain starting combination. Second-year player Joe
Alexander will have to become more of a factor after a very disappointing
rookie season.
The ultimate fate of this team
rests on the health of Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd. Bogut has
been dealing with a back injury that put him in street clothes for the
final 31 games of last season. He hasn’t gone through any contract
drills this offseason and a back injury is nothing to take lightly.
As for Redd, he played in just 32 games and is always good for a sprained
ankle that will sideline him for a decent chunk of the season.
This team CANNOT afford to lose Redd or Bogut for an extended period
like they did last year. If they do, the season will be even more
painful in Milwaukee than it is already likely to be.
Looking Ahead to the Summer of 2010:
Next offseason will solely
depend on what Redd does. The lefty sharp-shooter has an $18.3
million player option for 2010-2011. If he chooses to exercise
the option, (which is likely since he won’t receive that sort of money
elsewhere) Milwaukee will have very little flexibility in free agency.
If for some reason Redd declines his option, the Bucks could be players
next summer, potentially being some $20 million under the cap.
Since that is unlikely, continuing to collect young players through
the draft or via trade is the method Hammond must take to try and improve
the Bucks.
2009-10 NBA Power Ranking: 29th
Written by Paul Banks of NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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