Putting the Bucks' summer spending in context
by Frank Madden on Jul 26, 2010 10:20 PM CDT
in Daily Notes
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FanHouse: Owners Had No Choice But to Pay Up in Free Agency
Tom Ziller with a must read over at FanHouse, using the Bucks as a case study or sorts in how the NBA has become a pay-to-play league.
Milwaukee needs to do better to get over the hump and truly contend in order to make some money for owner Sen. Herb Kohl. And to do that, they really have to spend money. Salmons, a free agent, had to be re-signed. There goes $39 million. The offense needed a serious jolt, even with Salmons returning. There's the trade for Corey Maggette, due $30 million over the next three seasons. The frontcourt needed a great rebounder and low-post threat. There's our lightning rod Gooden, signed for the full mid-level exception.Those three players alone earned combined commitments of $103 million from Kohl and the Bucks. And that's really not out of line with what most teams have done when approaching the conference elite. To go from "playoff team" to "contender," you simply have to spend this sort of money.
It's been easy to scoff at the size of the deals being dished out this summer, but the more we saw the less we could mock them. These deals could still end up looking ugly if a lockout brings the cap way down, but it does seem like the market reference point has moved. There were still some seriously idiotic deals--Joe Johnson, Rudy Gay, and Travis Outlaw get my top votes--but teams looking to improve found few bargains to be had. Jon Brockman is the only new Buck who might look like a bargain a year from now, but the Bucks were never going to find cheap solutions by adding veteran talent. That's not a criticism, just the way the game works. More on the Bucks spending habits after the jump...
Brockman in town, dealing with Redd and Tiny, Jennings in China
by Frank Madden on Jul 25, 2010 12:31 PM CDT
in Daily Notes
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Bucks.com: Brockman press conference
One highlight from John Hammond, regarding why Brockman fits in with the Bucks' philosophy:
"Let's also have the toughest, most highly energetic people we can possibly find. Because toughness and energy will also win for you. And I think by NBA standards, Jon is going to be right at the top when you talk about someone that plays with those two aspects in his game. In that regard he's going to be a great fit. You can never have too many guys like that--we won with guys like that last year. Adding another person like that is only going to help us."
And he digs Big Crazy Dave's artwork, too. Despite Brockman's lack of length, Hammond also said the Bucks viewed him as capable of playing both the power forward and center positions. A good thing given the Bucks' lack of experience behind Andrew Bogut. And yes, I'm sad that Kurt Thomas is heading to Chicago. I assumed he was gone, but the Bulls? Damn, Kurt.
Brockman gets chatty, latest Bucks cap figures
by Frank Madden on Jul 21, 2010 10:52 PM CDT
in Daily Notes
162 comments
Creative Genius: Speedingtime
Seattle Times: Jon Brockman chat
The Times reports Brockman will earn a modest $3 million over his three year contract, chump change compared to the dollars we've gotten used to seeing this summer. Granted, Brockman's also not a major upside guy--he's a gritty, lovable role player at best. But wouldn't you rather have Brockman at the end of your bench than 'Cisco Elson?
"I'll fill whatever role they need," he said. "Energy, rebounding, defense, whatever it is. Shoot, if I'm just a practice player, I'll do it. Whatever the team needs to win."
It'll be very interesting to see how the frontcourt minutes shake out. Right now the Bucks have a half dozen rotation-worthy PFs and no one other than Andrew Bogut who's a natural center, so presumably Larry Sanders and Drew Gooden will see a fair bit of time in the middle. And let's not forget that Brockman also dabbled at the 5 for the Kings (making him the shortest center this side of Chuck Hayes). That might give the Bucks some issues against Dwight Howard, but if size becomes a major issue they will have the flexibility to trade up one of their PFs for a bigger body. But for now...meh, I'm just interested in seeing the current team on the court.
Skiles reviews his rookies, Sanders named to All-Vegas team, and one too many PFs?
by Frank Madden on Jul 20, 2010 10:44 PM CDT
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JS: Skiles reviews his rookies
Naturally, Scott Skiles isn't being overly generous with his rookies--but would we have it any other way? Let's start with the Bucks' best player of the week, Larry Sanders:
"I thought he was good offensively," Skiles said. "He showed a nice feel offensively for what we're trying to do. He has a nice touch. He moves around the floor well. But he's got to defend better, and he's got to be a better defensive rebounder. . . nothing that he's not capable of doing."
The rebounding was something we talked about on Sunday, and overall I'm not sure if he'll be more than an average rebounder immediately, simply because of his lack of strength down low. Hard to say--he's so active that it might be something he can overcome. Defensively, I don't think he was tested enough in man-to-man situations to get a good sense of his abilities in that area, but it's hard to question his work as a help defender. Understandably less rosy was Skiles' assessment of Tiny Gallon.
"He's got an awful lot to learn," Skiles said. "An awful lot to work on. He's a really good kid and is a fun guy to be around, but he's got an awful lot to work on."We're taking strides to help him get better. He's going to need to be a lot better to make our team and do anything. Right now, he's got a long way to go. We're going to have some patience when working with him, but on the other hand we're going to be firm because we think he has a nice skill set. But there's a lot to learn."
Is Gallon really in danger of not making the regular season roster? I'm not sure I'd take Skiles' words at face value. It sounds like he's trying to send a message, and being "patient" with a 19-year-old doesn't mean throwing in the towel after only a couple months. Still, the Bucks will undoubtedly keep a close eye on him throughout the summer. You can bet they expected him to be in better shape going into last week's training sessions, and if he can't get into better condition by training camp all bets could be off.
SBN Wisconsin Hall of Fame: Bucks Nominees
by Frank Madden on Jul 19, 2010 9:44 PM CDT
in Polls
52 comments
A couple months ago Kyle from Brew Crew Ball came up with a cool idea: a Wisconsin sports hall of fame, as voted by the readers of SBN's Wisconsin-repping blogs. Here's how it works: This week we'll nominate ten people to represent Bucks basketball. Those ten will then be placed on the final ballot alongside ten figures selected by each of these communities:
- Acme Packing Company (Packers)
- Anonymous Eagle (Warriors/Eagles/Gold)
- Brew Crew Ball (Brewers)
- Bucky's 5th Quarter (Badgers)
We'll unveil our final nominees as the month goes along, with the expected final vote for first round of inductions to happen in August.
First, though, we need you to help select our nominees. After the jump, you'll find a ballot including 20 players from the history of the Milwaukee Bucks. In keeping with what the other sites are doing, current Bucks are not eligible (sorry, Darnell Jackson Tiny Gallon!). I'd also ask that your votes be based on what the players accomplished as Bucks, and to that end I limited the ballot to players who had played at least three seasons for the Bucks (sorry, Moses Malone). Please select up to ten candidates to appear on the final ballot. Voting will remain open until Friday, with the top ten candidates announced in the weeks to come.
Please follow the jump to cast your vote.
JS: Bucks close to signing Keyon Dooling
by Frank Madden on Jul 19, 2010 6:12 PM CDT
in News
167 comments
Update: The Bucks have confirmed the signing.
The Journal-Sentinel is reporting that the Bucks are on the verge of signing former Nets combo guard Keyon Dooling to a two-year contract, thus filling the final major hole on the Bucks roster. I'd have to guess the deal would be for the full bi-annual exception ($2.08 million in 10/11, $2.25 million in 11/12), which is the most the Bucks could offer him outside of a sign-and-trade.
Dooling's neither young nor particularly good, but that's besides the point. Considering the Bucks' limited cap flexibility, the inflated free agent market, and the lack of quality backups still available, nabbing the 30-year-old Dooling on a cheap, short-term deal seems like something of a best case scenario for John Hammond and company. Granted, it's weird to type the words "Keyon Dooling" and "best case scenario" in the same sentence, but the Bucks weren't exactly in a good position when it came to adding backcourt depth. Seriously, take the list of backup PGs still on the market. Signing Dooling also seems to validate the Bucks' decision to let Luke Ridnour walk for the somewhat lengthy but not outrageous four year, $16 million deal he settled for with Minnesota.
Dooling is a bigger and better defender than Ridnour while bringing comparable accuracy from three point range, the combination of which makes him a clean fit for a revamped Bucks team that last year relied heavily on Ridnour's uncharacteristically excellent perimeter shooting. There's no doubt Ridnour was the more productive player a year ago, but I doubt he'll repeat that level of productivity this year--much less over a four year contract. I won't claim Dooling will be the better player, but for half the price and half the length, there's also less downside.
Yahoo: Bucks acquiring Jon Brockman from Sacramento
by Frank Madden on Jul 19, 2010 5:41 PM CDT
in News
76 comments
Update: Akis from Sactown Royalty has a terrific FanPost on why Brockman was such a favorite among Kings' fans.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Bucks and Kings have agreed to a sign-and-trade which will send second year power forward Jon Brockman to Milwaukee for the non-guaranteed contract of Darnell Jackson and future second round pick. We've assumed for some time that Jackson was a goner, but it remained unclear if the Bucks would try to add another big body to replace him or simply go with the significant collection of PFs already on the roster. No terms have been mentioned, but by acquiring him through a S&T the Bucks would not have to use their bi-annual exception to give him more than a minimum-level deal [update: A Royal Pain says he'll earn around $1.5 million per over an indeterminate number of seasons].
I won't pretend to know too much about Brockman's game, but he does seem much more useful than Jackson. Despite standing "just" 6'7", the 255-pound Brockman is a tremendous rebounder and hustle player, qualities which seem to have endeared him to the Sacramento faithful. Never a bad sign. He had the highest offensive rebound rate in the league among players who played more than 20 games last year, which helps explain his healthy 53.4% shooting from the field. The Kings likely didn't see much of a role for Brockman with young big men DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson and Hassan Whiteside all under contract, but then again you could make a similar case for the Bucks.
Bucks 80, Cavs 66: Sanders, Washington and Williams get it done
by Frank Madden on Jul 18, 2010 8:13 PM CDT
in Recaps
87 comments
Call me a good luck charm.
Flight delays prevented me from watching the Bucks' fourth straight defeat on Friday night, but I was able to be in the building for the sparsely-attended finale against the J.J. Hickson-less Cavaliers. And if you're into meaningless victories, then the good news is the Bucks finally got one.
The Bucks started well for the second straight game, with Larry Sanders (who else?) leading the way with a nice inside-out showing in the first quarter. After getting outworked by Miami on friday, the Bucks looked the more energetic bunch after a day off, and it showed immediately. Sanders, Tiny Gallon and Deron Washington all blocked shots in the first two minutes, setting the tone for a game the Bucks controlled from the outset.
Aside from the expected quality from Sanders, Sean Williams (16 and 10) and Deron Washington (17 pts) finished off solid weeks to help pace the Bucks to victory. The guards were also less of a liability, as they made up for a lack of scoring with better ball movement. Sun Yue and Dominic James each had five assists and only two turnovers combined. Hit the jump for more thoughts on Sanders, Gallon, and Williams.
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