I’ve been beating the rebuild drum for quite a while.
I’ve watched Oklahoma City and more recently, the Minnesota Timberwolves, load themselves up with talented young players. I’ve seen them flounder and flourish. I’ve also seen the risks. The Washington Wizards present the flip side of the destroy and rebuild plan. Sure, they landed John Wall, but they also have hitched their wagon to Andray Blatche and Javale McGee. It’s a dangerous game.
Dangerous as the game may be, I’ve wanted to see the Bucks play it since it was obvious Michael Redd wasn’t enough to make the Bucks relevant. Playoff appearances may generate some revenue, but title contenders are what really sparks fan interest. Title contenders capture hearts and minds. The middling records and low playoff seeds the Bucks have been shooting for since 2003 haven’t been of much interest, they’ve been Band-Aids on a basketball wound.
Many have been begging for the tank. We saw it roll out for a little bit in 2006-07, but the Bucks got burned, landed the sixth pick and Yi Jianlian. But with Redd coming off the books in 2011 and John Hammond the new GM, it seemed 2008 would be the start of a new era. An era where the Bucks would spend a couple years losing then many years reaping the benefits. Joe Alexander didn’t work out, but Brandon Jennings seemed like just the young dynamic talent the Bucks would be acquiring over and over for the next few years.
But the Bucks were ahead of schedule in 2009-10. The planents aligned and some how that team started playing like a real threat, eventually landing a sixth seed in the playoffs. That team’s success looks to have the Bucks set on an infinite loop of mediocrity.
(We’re counting down the best 20 Bucks since 1991 over the next few weeks. It’s something to do with the lockout sucking the life out of NBA fans. We continue with number 14. Richard Jefferson. Another in a long line of players with one successful season (though many other had a few crappy ones too), RJ initially had some Bucks hesitation, but turned around and gave Milwaukee all he had during his one year stay. – Jeremy)
Spoiler Alert: Richard Jefferson is the only one-year Buck on this list. That doesn’t really matter. Hisbiggest contribution to the Bucks had nothing to do with his play on the court. This isn’t to say that he didn’t play well. He played damn well. Even if he never would have played a minute for the Bucks, he probably would still have made the list.
He was the guy traded for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. That’s the only reason he needs to be on this list. So, thanks to Jefferson, John Hammond, Nets General Manger Kiki Vandeweghe, and the entire New Jersey Nets organization for getting two presumably good human beings, but terrible basketball players out of Milwaukee. For fun, let’s look at some stats:
2008-09 Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian: 96 GS/ 1081 PTS/ 603 REB/ 152 AST/ .413 FG%/ .410 FG%/ $13,588,747
I love advanced stats. I love giving the counterargument to common sense. Sometimes you have to look at the ol’ regular stats and common sense (Jianlian is one of the worst Bucks draft picks ever and Simmons’s agent is a con man) and nod your head accordingly.
Remember when we were all so certain about who the Milwaukee Bucks would draft on Thursday? No, we didn’t have it down exactly, but there were three or four names we felt good about. Even after they moved down, there was still two or three guys we figured were a lock. The scuttlebutt had been out on Marcus Morris and Marshon Brooks for some time. We knew one of those two, or somebody like them would be available and would be the pick. It’s 2011, the Twitter Age. We have rock solid information about everything seconds after and often way before it happens.
Boy, were we wrong. Tobias Harris snuck in the back door on a big Bucks news day. He wasn’t a flashy selection that Bucks fans could ooh and aww over. His game isn’t athletic like Alec Burks, he isn’t a scorer like Brooks or powerful like Morris. And he doesn’t have that beautiful three-point shot that Klay Thompson has. He’s one of the few prospects that hasn’t really been connected with the Bucks at all of late, probably because he’s one of the few prospects in this draft that isn’t much of a one-skill guy.
You don’t look at Tobias Harris footage and take away that one NBA skill he has from it. But, fortunately, it’s tough to watch that footage and feel like the wool has been pulled over the eyes of the Bucks either.
The Klay Thompson Bandwagon appears to have picked up some steam in Milwaukee yesterday.
A new mock draft projection, glowing articles about how he compares to an NBA Hall of Famer and plenty of positive quotes about his workout in Milwaukee. That’s the upside of working out with a team, having the right information leak out and putting on a happy face when the media comes calling. But ultimately, it seems like the Bucks draft night decision may hinge on something else, assuming their choice boils down to the two swingmen that have often been discussed recently.
Is this squad more in need of versatility and shooting or athleticism?
In a nutshell, that’s the decision Milwaukee will be faced with if both Thompson and Alec Burks are on the board.
Most mornings I wake up and look to my laptop. It’s often out of battery, drained from a night of Netflix. When I find the motivation, I plug it back in and head to ESPN.com. Shortly after I begin my search for the latest news on our beloved Milwaukee Bucks.
That search never lasts very long.
You’ve likely noticed, the Milwaukee Bucks are hardly the talk of the pre-draft rumor world. Sure, there were rumblings about Brandon Jennings. He at some point may or may not have been available, and, depending on who you want to believe, could actually have been offered up in a trade at some point. But don’t bet on him going anywhere. He’s set up shop in Milwaukee, of all places and he seems intent on improving this summer. Cross your fingers on that issue. But beyond Jennings, based on how things have gone so far this summer, don’t bet on anyone going anywhere.
There’s been virtually no talk of the Bucks looking to move up in the draft. But that could be due to the deflated draft class staring the NBA in the face. Not so much as a whisper of something along the lines of the Richard Jefferson trade that kicked off John Hammond’s tenure as Bucks GM either. And no rumors of any peripheral deals involving restricted free agent to be Luc Richard Mbah a Moute or extra piece Ersan Ilyasova.
This was not how I always envisioned the summer after Michael Redd’s contract expired.
