Fixing the Milwaukee Bucks -- Latest: Mo Williams traded (reply #290)

[yoshii8]

Bench= Ridnour/Sessions, Lue, Bell, Alexander, Malik Allen, Fransico Elson.

 

I don't think that Damon Jones and Adrian Griffen will be on the team, I'm guessing LRMAM will be in the D-league, and I'm hoping Gadz is either inactive or released. I don't think that they are done yet, however that is not the worst bench in all of pro sports. I think they are one athletic 2/3 that can shoot away from having a good bench.

 

I would really like them to sign Michael Finley, IMO he would be the perfect fit.

[Gobias Industries]

The problem with all of this cap space nonsense is that no one in their right mind would choose Milwaukee (while the team is bad) over another city without getting overpaid. This creates a never ending cycle of ugly contracts. This team needs to be built through the draft and or trades.

The Suns just gave away first-round draft picks because they didn't have the cap room. Marcus Camby, a great rebounder and shotblocker, was given away because the Nuggets didn't have cap room.

 

Good things can happen via trade when you have cap space.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I think you guys have nailed it with regards to building a team. We were one shot away from the NBA Finals in 2001, and that team was largely built on draft picks, a team concept, and a good coach.

 

We can add role players (6th, 7th, 8th men) as we go. Right now we need to stockpile youth and let them fight it out for playing time. I agree with whoever said that cap space is valuable. Draft picks (below say 5th or 6th in the first round) are pretty much worthless to contending teams and we sholuld try and amass as many draft picks as possible over the next 2-3 years.

 

I'm not sure what the 'minimum salary cap" is, but besides Jefferson, Bogut, Alexander, and maybe Redd/CV, i'd try to get rid of as many players as possible and replace them with draftees who are hungry for PT and haven't landed a bloated contract yet. The key to the NBA is to develop talent and pick the right talent to KEEP. The current CBA gives a huge advantage to the hometown team in keeping a player though most "Max Contract" guys are rarely worth keeping around

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I have a couple ideas for marketing this season as well. Not sure if its the Dallas Mavericks or another team, but i thought i read that they were going to basically give away 2nd deck seats for free or close to free. Now Herb Kohl doesn't have the money Mark Cuban does but...

 

1) I'd offer any seat in the upper deck for $10. I think the biggest complaint about the NBA is the ticket prices. I of know Herb & Bucks management did some creative things to drive down price last year, but i think $10/across the board every night, no gimmicks, would be a great way of building a fan base for this rebuilding team.

 

2) Upper Deck Season tickets......... 41 games for $100.00 You heard me right. only $2.50/ticket. So many of these tickets go unused that its basically a right off anyways. To sweeten the pot, i'd even throw in a lower level seat for a game of the fan's choice. I imagine college students would be all over season tix at that price and would help restore a "fun atmosphere" to the games. The concessions revenue would more than make up for the lost ticket revenue anways.

 

Milwaukee has already shown that it will support a winning team. To have rabid fans during the rebuilding years, you need to be creativen or be the Packers

[statman0007]

I like the suggestions for keeping things fresh. I'd be ok with the Bucks taking a minor league baseball approach to things, I might go to more than one game per season if they did.

 

Personally, I'm glad they did this trade. They weren't going anywhere with Mo at point guard. I think that the last few years have shown that having a pure point guard with some scorers and a big man is the way to win. By getting rid of Mo, we got closer to that formula. We'll see if Sessions and Ridnour can step to become that pure, distributing point guard. If they can, I'm sure we'll be in the playoff hunt. The East is so bad all we have to be is ok to make the playoffs, and I think Jefferson will be a huge boost to the team.

[bobbledude25]

Luke Ridnour! Awesome! Finally, a deal that makes me want to go buy season tickets!

[trwi7]

The Suns just gave away first-round draft picks because they didn't have the cap room. Marcus Camby, a great rebounder and shotblocker, was given away because the Nuggets didn't have cap room.

 

Good things can happen via trade when you have cap space.

 

The problem is the Bucks don't have cap room now and won't have cap room for the forseeable future with Redd, Jefferson and Gadzuric still on the books. We're only getting cap room when those three contracts expire three years from now. This was to avoid the luxury tax, not gain cap room and it's a terrible deal considering we only gained about $800,000 in expiring contracts this offseason and just shaved a few years off Mo's deal for a player with a shorter contract but who is much less talented.

We now have one of the worst presents and futures in the NBA. Sessions, Bogut and Alexander is a terrible young core compared to the rest of the league and Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando, Philadelphia, Miami, Toronto, Washington and Atlanta are all still better than us. So we're not a playoff team, we have no great young players in the future to look forward to. We're just terrible.

[davego]

Tri might be closer to the truth but I'm not as down on this team as that. Redd (like him or not) is a nice player. RJ might be our best player. If Bogut can take the step up and make more touches have value...they are not that far away from being...ok. Not saying more then a fringe #8-seed but the NBA, maybe more then any other of the leagues, is the hardest to get 'good' once you go bad.

 

As far as getting mid-level talent. That is easy. It is the top-tier guys that rarely even hit the FA market (or get traded) that you have to draft.

[thablingster]

Well, the Mo deal is a ridiculously bad deal for the Bucks, but as some people said it is kind of addition by subtraction. It does get the team one step closer to blowing up the team and getting the kind of guys in here that fit what the team is trying to do, but it will probably be a rough year this year.

[twobrewers]

I think you need to imagine that Mo Williams was part of the Richard Jefferson trade.

 

As soon as we took on Jefferson's contract, we needed to shed a few dollars. (The problem is New Jersey didn't want Mo Williams)

 

Jefferson > Mo Williams.

[trwi7]

I think you need to imagine that Mo Williams was part of the Richard Jefferson trade.

 

As soon as we took on Jefferson's contract, we needed to shed a few dollars. (The problem is New Jersey didn't want Mo Williams)

 

Jefferson > Mo Williams.

 

We're trying to win now, at least that's what the Jefferson trade told us so to trade one of your best players for salary relief is ridiculous.

[jjfanec]

The Bucks did not need a shoot first point guard. This team is going to be built around Redd, Jefferson, and Bogut this year. The Bucks do not need someone who is a scorer. They need someone who can distribute the ball and play defense. I think between Sessions and Ridnour the point guard position will be fine and the assists out of the point guard will go way up. I do think they could have gotten more value for Mo Williams but I guess I did not really think he was that good to begin with. I thought he was the 4th best player on this team so to me he was disposable, especially with that contract.

[nate82]

I think you need to imagine that Mo Williams was part of the Richard Jefferson trade.

 

As soon as we took on Jefferson's contract, we needed to shed a few dollars. (The problem is New Jersey didn't want Mo Williams)

 

Jefferson > Mo Williams.

We did shed some money with losing Simmons in that trade.

 

I don't really like this trade though I believe the Bucks could have done better than what they got. Maybe the Bucks will still trade Redd away if they are truly going to rebuild this team.

 

[danzig6767]

The Bucks did not need a shoot first point guard. This team is going to be built around Redd, Jefferson, and Bogut this year. The Bucks do not need someone who is a scorer. They need someone who can distribute the ball and play defense.

 

The problem is Ridnour doesn't play any defense. We traded a soft non-defending PG for another soft non-defending PG. Last year far and away the Bucks horrid defense was the biggest problem with the team, particularly in the backcourt. Well a Ridnour/Redd combo is as bad defensively as Mo/Redd was. Charlie Villanueva just might be the worst defensive player in the NBA and he's our starting PF. Bogut is a solid defending center, but he's not a great defender.

This team still has a soft starting lineup that doesn't have a single really good defender and three of the starters are terrible defenders. The Bucks have a miserable bench.

If Skiles can lead this roster to a playoff berth, he should win COY honors without question.

 

[davego]

I would think the plan is for Ridnour to be the PG if Lue or Sessions can't beat him out. Maybe they would like to go with Sessions but he is such an unknown, insurance is needed. That could make D at the PG ok, or at least better.

 

Agreed on the CV comments. I'd really like to see him play off the bench, but not sure who can play the 4 then. I would have liked to see CV moved too, but this is more then a one-year process. Trading YI for RJ doesn't necessarily mean win-now, but does tell you that Hammonds/Skiles were not as sold on the kid as the last administration.

[MarquesJohnson2000]

Did anyone see Garry Howard's column in the Journal Sentinel this morning? He talked about the PG situation extensively without even mentioning Sessions.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=783166

 

???

[fondybrewfan]

I think I like Ridnour over Williams only because he seems more of a pass first kind of guy. We do have a decent amount of offensive firepower so the Bucks need a good distributor. Now only if they learned how to play defense..............

[Gobias Industries]

I'm guessing LRMAM will be in the D-league,

 

I would really like them to sign Michael Finley, IMO he would be the perfect fit.

LRMAM has a chance to be a decent rotation player, but I'm still bummed that they didn't take Chris Douglas Roberts out of Memphis.

 

Is he a free agent? That would be an ok signing with me.

[Oldcity]

I came on here to mention that Howard article too. Your MJS Sports Editor, ladies and gentlemen.

[yoshii8]

Yes, Finley is a free agent, and he would be my number one choice as the backup 2/3. Here are some other players that might be good options of the bench:

 

J.R. Smith- Res. FA, not sure about the attitude issues, but the talent is definitely there. Denver would probably match, but are looking to save money, sign and trade?

 

Bonzi Wells- I've always loved him as a player, but I'm not sure about how he is as a teammate.

 

Carl Landry- Not really a wing player, but this would be a great signing if we could offer an expiring in a Sign and trade, he is also restricted. Would be eventual starter at the 4, leaving Charlie V. to come off the bench.

 

Other guys that could be had for cheap are Kirk Snyder and Gordan Giricek, both don't really impress me.

[MarquesJohnson2000]

Howard's posted a blog item admitting he should have mentioned Sessions but essentially saying that Sessions has no chance to be the starter this season.

[fondybrewfan]

Atleast Howard was professional about the bloggers questioning his omission of Sessions. Unlike other JS employees. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

I tend to agree with Howard though, he really ripped apart Sessions big assist game last year, deservedly so. I guess I just don't know enough about Ridnour to say Sessions should or shouldn't start. From what everyone says Ridnour is an upgrade over Williams in terms of a true pass first point guard. We certainly need a good passer to get the ball to Redd and Bogut.

[homer]

I'll let Hammond make all the moves he wants until he proves he's made a bad one. Too early to tell on everything at this point.

 

Wasn't he the guy that got Chauncey Billups prior to his big years?

[trwi7]

Wasn't he the guy that got Chauncey Billups prior to his big years?

 

Considering this is his first GM job I'm going to go with a no on that.

[dpapo]

From Mo Williams press conference,

 

"Williams was asked about his defense and how he would fit into coach Mike Brown's plan.

"Defense comes with a lot of different things," Williams said. "You've got to want to do it; you've got to have the mentality to do it. I've got away from that the last few years, for whatever reason. We can go on and on for the reasons."

 

Gee, maybe now that Williams is playing with Cleveland, he'll decide to try to play some defense. Would have been nice if Mo would have wanted to try to play defense while with Milwaukee.

Like most people, I am not thrilled with the trade, but maybe Ridnour will at least try to play defense.

I think that quote alone by Williams is a big reason why he was traded.

 

http://blogs.jsonline.com/bucks/archive/2008/08/14/cavs-owner-gilbert-welcomes-mo.aspx