Report: Bucks Get John Salmons for Warrick and Alexander

February 17, 2010

The Bucks have made a trade. Details have not been finalized and the two players the Bucks give up could end up being HakimWarrick and Joe Alexander, but here was the initial report.

From ESPN TrueHoop:

The Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks were nearing completion of the John Salmons trade Thursday morning. However, although the early word last night was that the Bucks would send Kurt Thomas and Francisco Elson to the Bulls, sources close to the process told ESPN.com this morning that there is a “90 percent chance” Milwaukee sends Chicago Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick instead.

JSOnline is reporting it is indeed Warrick and Alexander.

The financial implications are as such:  The combined salaries of Warrick and Alexander ($5,583,360) leave the Bucks on the hook for just $253,646 additional dollars in salary this year, as Salmons contracted called for $6,421,151 (Salmons’ deal – combined money going out, divided by the remaining games left is the math there).

Salmons will have one year left on his contract after this season at 5,808,000, while the now former Bucks Warrick and Alexander are expiring contracts.

***All salary information from ShamSports.com

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AuuXc0MjidL0hS9JFLZ7l4O8vLYF?slug=ys-salmonsbucks&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
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The Bucks and (even more) Trade Rumors UPDATE 2-17 10:29 AM

February 17, 2010

So.

Many.

Rumors.

I know no one can get enough, so I thought I’d try and keep updating this post to do my best to keep everything together for the next day or so.

  • That rumor about Kurt Thomas to the Hawks?  Just a rumor according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.  I was suspicious of it right away, as Mo Evans didn’t seem an uber-logical fit with the Bucks.  And that was before the AJC alerted me that he has a $2.5 million player option next year.
  • Yahoo! Sports notes that the Bucks have had some interest in Al Harrington.  This was reported at 3 AM CST, and that sounds like the kind of thing a GM would think only at 3 AM.
  • Chris Broussard reports that the Nuggets contacted Milwaukee about Hakim Warrick and (here’s a shocker … but not really) Kurt Thomas, but talks didn’t go far after the Nuggets revealed that they have nothing to offer for anyone.
  • Chad Ford wrote that the Bucks have interest in Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas and may be interested in a shooting guard as well.  John Salmons is on the hook for 5,808,000 next season while Thomas is a restricted free agent with a $6,256,806 qualifying offer.  Those two could be successfully traded for any of the packages the Bucks have looked at with regard to Troy Murphy.

UPDATE

  • Drew Gooden? Gooden will reportedly be bought out by the Clippers after his arrival from Washington, freeing him up to pursue other options.  His number one (or one A) option supposedly is the Bucks.  Milwaukee may present an intriguing option for Gooden in the same way it did for Warrick this past off-season: more playing time and more points than others can provide.

UPDATE

  • Mike Dunleavy (Clippers GM not Pacers SG) told the Los Angeles Daily News it is not the Clippers intention to buyout Gooden.  Thus, if the Bucks wanted Gooden they’d have to make a deal with the Clippers, which seems unlikely given the time constraints.

It’s worth noting what teams do NOT have a first round pick in this June’s draft:

L.A. Lakers
Denver Nuggets
Dallas Mavericks
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors (unless it’s in the lottery)
Charlotte Bobcats (unless it’s in the lottery)
New York Knicks

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Navigating Through the Swamp of Trade Rumors

February 15, 2010

The weeks and days leading up to the trade deadline involve so many rumors that it’s hard to keep track of what’s reality and what’s fiction.

That’s where I come in.

I’ve constructed a handy guide of the Bucks players most likely to be on the move.  I’ll fill you in on where they could be heading, what the Bucks are looking to get back and why it does or doesn’t make sense.

Luke Ridnour

Rumored Destinations: New York, Indiana, playoff teams?

Ridnour was one of the quiet first half surprises, the kind of guy who likely caught the eye of many scouts, but wasn’t necessarily making headlines in the news.  While Ridnour hasn’t been able to maintain the absurd hallowed 50/40/90 shooting percentages he had earlier in the year, he’s not far off at 48/40/92.  Add those numbers up with his “the little tough guy” demeanor and veteran know how and you have exactly the kind of backup point guard playoff teams covet.  On top of that, Ridnour has an expiring contract worth $6.5 million.

Ridnour’s name has been connected with the New York Knicks, who would presumably like to dump the two remaining years of Jared Jeffries on the Bucks as they match up perfectly with Ridnour.  The Bucks would probably want Jordan Hill to be included in any deal with the Knicks, as they don’t have a first round pick to make taking Jeffries otherwise worth the Bucks while.

The Indiana-Milwaukee rumors have been running wild as of late, with Troy Murphy being the reported apple of Milwaukee’s eye.  Ridnour would be one of the expiring contracts included in that deal and would serve as little more than a cap figure, as Indiana won’t be making a playoff run or keeping him past this season.

A number of playoff possible teams could use an upgrade at the backup point guard spot, Atlanta and Memphis come to mind, but they all lack the assets to matchup with Ridnour’s contract, so they’d need to involve a third team to get a deal done.  Atlanta does have a first round pick that would attract the Bucks. Read More »

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Buck Hits and a Prevew: 2-10-10

February 10, 2010

Milwaukee headed towards New Jersey last night for their last game before the all-star break.  New Jersey, as you already know, is the worst team in the NBA and could possibly go down as the worst team of all time, their record currently sitting at 4-47.  Former Badger Devin Harris didn’t play in Tuesday’s game against Cleveland and may return against the Bucks, but sitting him through the all-star break seems logical.

The thought of the Nets once again sans D-Ha sounds good to me.  Good enough that I’d expect it to be just the medicine the Bucks need after a very disappointing home loss against Detroit on Tuesday night.

  • Chris Douglas-Roberts, he of the 31 and 10 line in Milwaukee earlier this year, after last night’s game from ESPN.com:

“You get surprised a lot in the league. It is what it is,” Douglas-Roberts said. “Things don’t work out all the time. I guess I’m out of the rotation.”

Douglas-Roberts doesn’t plan on discussing the situation with Vandeweghe.

“Absolutely not. I don’t think talks really do anything,” he said. “I’ve probably had the most talks with him on the team. But they don’t do nothing.”

So, no D-Ha, probably no CD-R and an organization recently thrust even further into turmoil?  I like the Bucks odds a lot.  I’m saying 104-95 Milwaukee.  Check out previews at BrewHoop and Nets Are Scorching

Other Notes

  • Hakim Warrick in three words: shy, dunk, Playstation.  Jodie Meeks in three words: rookie, cliche, Kentucky.  Aron Phillips at Dime has the goods on them both.
  • The Cavs don’t want to part with J.J. Hickson and that may leave the Pacers to pursue other options with Troy Murphy. Could the Bucks be an option?  Word is they are in talks.  I’m not sure how serious it is right now, but things could heat up before next Thursday’s trade deadline.  From Brian Winhorst at the Cleveland Plain-Dealer:

The Pacers, a source said, are also in talks with the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings involving Murphy and both teams can offer expiring contracts.

  • Andrew Bogut is approaching some milestones as an Australian.  More on this in the coming weeks.
  • Tom Enlund has an update on Joe Alexander’s D-League progress.
  • Paul Swaney of StadiumJourney.com recently visited the Bradley Center and made a poor food decision.
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Defense Not Necessary: Bucks 114 – Knicks 107

February 6, 2010

Box Score/Recap

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Hak' = Dunk

(Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) Hak' = Dunk

New York’s basketball team isn’t typically apart of my basketball viewing schedule.  They aren’t on national television very often and when they are I tend to look the other way.  I’m not big on teams that have gutted their roster in order to pursue free agents.    While I generally liked Mike D’Antoni’s Suns teams, I know the Knicks can’t be as efficient, mainly because they have few shooters and even less competent point guards.  Plus they play even less defense than those Suns teams did.  There’s a word that I can’t think of right now that would describe them aptly I assumed, but I had little proof since I never watched them.  But I had high hopes for the Bucks on Friday night coming into their game on Broadway.

Then Andrew Bogut got hurt.  So I went from hopeful that the Bucks would be able to leave the Big Apple with a win, to downtrodden that Bogut’s injury might be more than a migraine.  My thought process went something like this:

Migraine?  What?  He’s never had migraines before.  Didn’t he just take a charge a minute or two ago?  Is this another back injury?  Will we see Bogut again this season?  Is his career in jeopardy?

So that may have been an overreaction.  Call me a little snake bit after years of injury problems that seem to never end and spread across the roster.  Bogut walked out fine, no limp, no slouch, no teammates dragging his body to the locker room, so I’ll operate going forward under the assumption that all is well.  As for Friday night’s game, I thought of the word I was looking for and it isn’t even very fancy.  Simply put, the Knicks are defenseless. Read More »

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