Kohl arrives at owners meetings before the lockout (Photo: AP/LM Otero).

Chris Paul is going to the Los Angeles Lakers. And then he isn’t. And then Dwight Howard is. And then Howard is going to the New Jersey (soon to be Brooklyn) Nets. And then Paul is going to the Los Angeles Clippers. And big markets across the NBA are all salivating over an all-you-can-afford buffet of small market stars.

That’s been the NBA this past week. At least that’s the scene that’s been unfolding before the eyes of the small market NBA fan.

So maybe competitive balance wasn’t achieved with one fell swoop. But, maybe it can’t work like that. Maybe it isn’t a system issue that can be solved with one lockout and a few rule changes. Maybe the impetus is on franchises to make smart decisions, over and over and accept that there is less room for error in a small market.

Maybe I should let someone more qualified to discuss the matter discuss it.

“Because your resources are not unlimited, for every dollar you spend you need to get value,” Herb Kohl said at media day Saturday. “And that depends on expertise  and the value you get has to be able to get out there and play well together.”

“It is true, the day after we signed you had the situation down in New Orleans, the situation down in Orlando so you might say, well, the more things change, the more things stay the same,” Kohl said of competitive balance. “So there is an issue and a problem in the NBA that maybe baseball and football don’t share to the same extent.”

He wouldn’t accept that there was nothing the owners could do on a systematical level that could nudge the league a bit closer to that competitive balance the owners have been seeking though.

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According to Charles F. Gardner, the Milwaukee Bucks will match the Denver Nuggets four year, $19 million offer sheet signed today by forward Luc Mbah a Moute.

Mbah a Moute has averaged 6.7 points and 5.6 rebounds in three seasons for the Bucks after being a second round pick out of UCLA in 2009.

At media day, Andrew Bogut mentioned that he loved playing with Mbah a Moute.

“I love playing with Luc,” Bogut said. “People always question his offensive liabilities, but the guy still averaged six or seven points and five rebounds a game. Most importantly, he’s on their best player every game. I read last night online he’s the best on ball defender, not just me saying it, but statistically someone did a stat and he’s the best on ball defender in the league.”

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Stephen Jackson is hoping to replicate his success with the Warriors this season.

If you’re not talking about an NBA title, don’t come and talk to Stephen Jackson.

The most colorful character the Miwaukee Bucks have had in some time held court with the media on Saturday and, as always, failed to disappoint. Here’s a collection of Jackson quotables provided without questions asked or referenced, because they are more hilarious that way:

“If guys come in here not focused on a championship, just making the playoffs, we need to trade them. We need to be talking about championship and nothin’ else. You can’t limit yourself to just playoffs. Who wants to do that? Playoffs is not really an achievement to me. Anybody can get to the playoffs.”

“If I’m shot, I’ma get stitched and play the next game. I got hit by a car and played two days later.”

“I’m always 100 percent.”

“Last time I had a good point guard and a big man, I was able to win a championship, that was with San Antonio.”

“I think he’s top three. I got him behind Dwight and Gasol.”

“I was on the opposite end of 55 points, so I know what this kid can do.”

“Ya’ll know me, I’ma tell you the truth, love it or leave it. You don’t like me, I don’t care anyway. I’ma tell you what’s real and I’ma tell you how I feel. I definitely feel we can get this thing done. I’ve always wanted to play for Scott, He’s one of the very few coaches I go over and shake hands with when I’m on the opposing team.

“He’s a fiery guy, and I’m looking forward to me and him arguing, because that means the fire is on the team and we goin’ in the right direction. To be able to play for him and Jim is a blessing for me.”

“Who won the championship again? I didn’t even watch the playoffs.”

“Dallas sucks to me.”

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Tomorrow is the Milwaukee Bucks annual media day. Along with many other area media members, Bucksketball will be on hand asking questions of players, coaches and front office personnel.

That’s where you come in.

After all, this site, and all media sites really, are for the fans. You’re the reason we keep these things going. With that in mind, we want to hear from you. Respond to this post and let us know what you’d like to hear about, what questions you would ask of the Milwaukee Bucks brass.

New acquisitions, Bucks veterans, rookies, it doesn’t matter. Let us know what you want to know, and we’ll do our best to get your questions, the serious ones of them, to the masses.

And if you think of one later in the day while you’re not by a computer to get a post in, shoot a tweet to me with your question. Toss the hashtag #bucksqs on there so I can sort them with ease.

Thanks, and let the comments begin.

Mike Dunleavy: Keeping it classy with the Warriors.

The truncated timetable, new CBA and still-present pettiness from the lockout is basically like throwing a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets into the offseason. Caron Butler for three years, $24 million dollars. Tyson Chandler for four years, $14 million a year. Eddy Curry back in the NBA. All the Chris Paul trades that aren’t happening. Madness, I say. Just madness.

Meanwhile, John Hammond is just making reasonable deals that the Milwaukee Bucks need. Keyon Dooling’s expulsion was necessary. He’d be buried deep in the depth chart anyway and the Bucks could use the roster spot for the 15ish other guys linked to them. Mike Dunleavy for two years and $7.5 million was also eminently reasonable.

The Bucks offense doesn’t have to be good. It just has to be good enough. As long as Scott Skiles is the coach and Andrew Bogut is patrolling the paint, the Bucks will have an elite defense. If the Bucks have a middling offense (2009-10) and not the worst offense (last year), they can be a moderately successful team. That’s what signing Dunleavy pushes them towards: being good enough.

Obvious: the Bucks need more scoring. Less obvious: they need a certain type of scoring. The Corey Maggette experiment proved that much. Let’s look at the four things wrong with the Bucks offense last year:

1)      Aggressively moving the ball inside

2)      Shot creation

3)      Off-ball movement

4)      Three-point shooting

Everyone the Bucks got during the draft address issues one and two. Dunleavy addresses problems three and four.

Just looking at basic per-game team stats between the 2009 – 10 season and last year, the most notable difference concerns three-point shooting.

2009 – 10: 7.9 3FGM, 22.1 3FGA, 53.4 eFG% (effective field goal percentage; accounts for how much more efficient a three is than a two)

2010 – 11: 5.9 3FGM, 17.2 3FGA, 51.2 eFG%

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