Monday Notes: Villanueva not returning, more on Jennings
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Gardner: No qualifying offer for Villanueva. As we've assumed for a while, Charles Gardner writes that the Bucks are officially moving on without Charlie Villanueva. John Hammond confirmed today that the Bucks would not make a qualifying offer of $4.6 million to Villanueva, meaning he will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday. I think I speak for most Bucks fans when I wish Charlie the best, though it will certainly be harder to root for him if he ends up in Cleveland. The Bucks have already make QOs to Ramon Sessions and Ersan Ilyasova, but that's understandable since their QOs are only around $1 million each. The problem with CV's offer is that it wasn't completely unrealistic for him to accept the QO if he couldn't find an attractive offer in free agency (probably not likely, but not impossible). In that scenario he could have played another year in Milwaukee and then been an UFA next summer.
However, with at most $8 million of room under the luxury tax this summer, the Bucks would have had a hard time matching an offer for Sessions if CV took the QO--and I'd guess they might prefer a cheaper deal for the more defensively capable Ilyasova anyway. Not extending a QO to Villanueva could also help the Bucks' efforts in re-signing Sessions--we've talked a bit about the importance of scaring off potential suitors for Sessions, and the Bucks suddenly look a lot more serious about bringing back Sessions now that they've officially cut bait on CV. What we haven't heard is a forceful statement by the Bucks that they will match offers for Sessions. One positive is that a bunch of teams that might have been interested in Sessions just drafted young PGs--notably Minnesota, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. That still leaves the Knicks and Portland as potential threats, though the availability of unrestricted free agents like Jason Kidd, Mike Bibby, and Andre Miller might be more immediate targets. The Knicks might also still be in the hunt for Ricky Rubio. -
Enlund: Busy weeks brings options. With RJ gone and Villanueva now set to follow, the Bucks will be losing a fair bit of scoring punch. Then again, Scott Skiles didn't sound too concerned last week...after all, it's early:
"I'm not (concerned right now) because we're in June. I don't think you can ride that wave of looking four months in advance. You always have to have a concern what your roster is looking like. But we'll see as we keep moving on this summer and what opportunities we have."
Sure, it's possible the Bucks use their expiring deals to add a scorer between now and the start of the season, but the best we can probably hope for from free agency is re-signing Sessions and bringing back Ilyasova. Ersan has developed into a good spot-up shooter from the shorter international three point line, and if he does return he'll be expected to offer similar defense-stretching skills next season. Right now the Bucks are desperately short in that department, as Joe Alexander is their only forward capable of hitting threes with any regularity. However, Ilyasova isn't going to create his own shot, a skill decidedly lacking among the Bucks' wing players right now (with the exception of Michael Redd). That means more of the offensive load will fall upon Andrew Bogut's shoulders, and Sessions' ability to get to the rim would also be a major bonus should he return. Still, I'm a bit worried about their lack of perimeter shooting, which would only encourage teams to sag down on Bogut and beg Sessions to beat them from the outside. -
Bucks.com: Jennings Press Conference. Jim Paschke brings you video from Brandon Jennings' introduction to the Milwaukee media. I can only assume he's sick of explaining the virtues of his year abroad in Rome, which is starting to remind me of Joe Alexander's constant rehashing of Bob Huggins' importance after last year's draft. Needless to say, I don't envy players having to answer the same question 800 times. By the way, I love the fact that John Hammond says that as much as Jennings was a risky pick, they were also "scared to death" of not taking him. That was my reaction as well, though I'm also plenty nervous about whether he actually lives up to his sizable potential. Then again, I haven't spent inordinate amounts of time scouting the guy.
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Gardner: Johnson's fresh start. Gardner has a bit more on Amir Johnson, the guy who at the moment is slated to get a big chunk of the minutes at PF.
Bucks coach Scott Skiles said the plan was for Johnson to practice with the Bucks' rookie league squad in its minicamp next week, although the four-year veteran is not eligible to play with the team in Las Vegas.
"He has the length to guard the big guys," Hammond said, "but he doesn't have the strength yet. He is getting stronger; he's got a good body. But you give him a chance to play that power forward position and you put a legitimate center next to him like Andrew Bogut, I think it will give him a chance to really excel and show his true strengths."
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Givony: Jennings' Euro Trip. One of the best reads on Jennings' experiences in Rome comes courtesy of DX's Jonathan Givony, who had the chance to watch Jennings play and practice in Europe in May. The whole thing is worth a read, but I'll cherry pick one of the more promising parts to start:
What separates him from the Aaron Brooks’ and Monta Ellis’ of the world, though are his playmaking instincts. His talent and creativity with the ball were always evident in the games, scrimmages and practices we saw, as he sees the floor and is capable of making incredibly difficult passes look easy, in a way that no point guard in this draft not named Ricky Rubio can. Over the course of our three days in Rome, we saw Jennings make a handful of mind-blowing plays that hint of an incredible future that is in store, particularly in transition or running the pick and roll.
It's interesting how Jennings is widely lauded by scouts for his playmaking, despite the fact that he was often forced to play off the ball in Rome and was more of a scorer in his last year at Oak Hill. One concern I've had is that Jennings at his best might fancy himself too much of a scorer, which based on his shaky outside shot doesn't seem like a very good thing. -
Sporting News: Jennings unplugged...unfortunately. Well, it didn't take long for Jennings' brashness to cause a bit of controversy. Chris Littmann has more on Jennings' friend/rapper Joe Budden recording of Jennings' occasionally off-color comments, which it didn't sound like Jennings was aware of.
And really, none of the comments should come as a shock, because if you don't know Jennings for his swagger at this point, what do you know him for?
I was actually expecting something much worse when I first heard about this, and went back and forth about posting it in the first place. Still, it is interesting that Jennings alludes to the Bucks using their remaining dollars to re-sign Charlie Villanueva rather than Ramon Sessions--when the opposite seems to be true. -
FanPosts: How the Bucks Drafted for Need Mitchell makes some good points over in the fanposts.
Also check out his initial response to draft night.
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10 comments
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Comments
But I thought that money was going to Charlie!
Jennings said so!
It’s going to be interesting to see who mans the PF spot now. Kurt Thomas? Luc Richard Mbah a Moute? Amir Johnson? Ersan Ilyasova?
Just keep saying “next year…next year” because this upcoming season is going to be rough.
"I'm so clean, cats think I sip Ajax."
by Mitchell_M on Jun 29, 2009 9:23 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Define "rough"
34 wins isn’t something to write home about, but compared to that team the 09/10 Bucks will be:
- Infinitely better at center if Bogut can play 70 games.
- Much better at SG if Redd can play 70 games (even if he’s 80-90%).
- Better at PG if Sessions is re-signed and gets to play from day one. I wouldn’t assume Jennings does much as a rookie, but Ridnour played an awful lot of minutes last year and didn’t contribute much.
- Slightly worse at SF, though Luc is a better defender than RJ and Joe will presumably be improved over a forgettable first year
- A wash to slightly better at PF. When you factor in defense, I think adding plus defenders like Johnson and Thomas can make up for most of the scoring punch you lose with CV being gone. I think Charlie is capable of impressive stuff and fully expect his numbers to be better than any PF the Bucks have, but you always have to discount that a fair bit because of his defensive issues. And I like the idea of bringing Ersan back because he can provide some of the perimeter shooting I’m hankering for.
Overall, I’d expect this to be about a 40-win team if they can bring back Sessions/Ersan and keep key guys healthy. Not great, but I don’t think keeping RJ and ditching Ramon/CV makes you any better.
by Frank Madden on Jun 29, 2009 11:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with your last sentence,
It sums up what I wanted to say but didn’t do a good enough job putting into words. I like all the moves they made up to this point; I’m sorry to see CV go, but it probably had to happen.
I just think that because a) Bogut hasn’t been counted on to provide points, b) Joe, Luc, Jodie, and Brandon are all still young, and c) there’s no other real shooters on the team besides Redd, scoring is going to be a real issue. If they’re going to come out on the right end of a 78-74 win, I’m all for it. But there’s just not enough established scorers on the team right now.
Because of that, I think that 40 games is too optimistic. I am excited for this team to grow, don’t get me wrong. But I highly doubt that competing for a playoff spot is realistic.
Hey, if I’m wrong, that’s a good thing, right?
"I'm so clean, cats think I sip Ajax."
by Mitchell_M on Jun 30, 2009 8:34 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Out of curiosity
If reasonably healthy, how many games do you think they would have won last year? I’d guess 40-44, and given the age of Redd/RJ that’s probably about that team’s ceiling.
by Frank Madden on Jun 30, 2009 8:53 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
If reasonably healthy,
then 40-44 is certainly a good estimate. If everyone was healthy, meaning we had Redd and Bogut for the whole year, I wouldn’t be surprised with a win total between 45-48.
Although, this would mean that we’d have probably seen less of Luc and even less of Joe, maybe more of Ridnour, and who knows how much of Charlie V.
"I'm so clean, cats think I sip Ajax."
by Mitchell_M on Jun 30, 2009 12:12 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
One thing I’ve noticed about Jennings, he seems to be aware of the game on another level. He’ll react while others are processing. He used moves in high school that not uncommonly featured absurd tricks like bouncing the ball off the defenders chest, dribbling through defenders legs to himself for a lay in, or off the backboard ally oops. His teammates seemed to come to expect the impossible. He has an enormous I.Q. when it comes to knowing the moment, where his teammates are on the floor and what he’ll do next. If he doesn’t become a running joke off court, he just might become a star on it.
by MadTown Hoops on Jun 29, 2009 11:42 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
I liked your last sentence…his personality will probably toe the line of charisma/distraction, but so far he doesn’t seem like the kind of kid who gets into real trouble (knock on wood). And that’s the most important thing IMO…stay out of trouble off the court and accept coaching on it. I think/hope those are two things he seems like he’ll be able to do./
Part of me also wondered whether the Bucks gave at least a little weight to the entertainment value he brings. I know first and foremost Hammond and Skiles want talent, but Hammond especially still wants to sell tickets, too. At the very least Jennings will create a little bit of buzz and bring some more interest from the “And 1” type of hoops fans.
by Frank Madden on Jun 30, 2009 12:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
Jennings to NY for David Lee.
PF problem solved, along with the impending And 1 attitude problem Jennings will be.
by In Needo of Tito on Jun 30, 2009 12:37 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
2 problems
1. Lee will likely leave in free agency when he gets a chance.
2. Lee will cost WAY more than Jennings will for the next 2-3 years.
"I'm so clean, cats think I sip Ajax."
by Mitchell_M on Jun 30, 2009 2:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs
1. That’s a problem with all expiring contracts. Build a winning team, and players interested in winnng will stay.
2. Lee has had a better NBA career and deserves the money. And is in high demand from a number of teams so it can be a steppingstone to get to where we need to be. The cost of Jennings won’t be measured in just financial terms. His mouth is writing checks he has yet to prove he can cash.
by In Needo of Tito on Jun 30, 2009 3:07 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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