Bucks' Bogut's Blocks Beset By Big Buzzer Beater

Some details still being hammered out in Salmons contract. But he has $5 million in bonuses could make 5-year value $44 mil sted $39 mil.

Also there's a buyout in Salmons' fifth year. So that's not fully guaranteed.

Kendrick Perkins did tell me he thinks [Andrew] Bogut is the best offensive center in the NBA.

Milwaukee has good shooters, talented players and the kind of attitude that will make them a playoff challenge -- especially if their young legs go against the elder citizens of the NBA in Boston (which right now would be the matchup).

Milwaukee #Bucks just said that Carlos Delfino's X-rays on head and neck were negative and he was released from the hospital last night.

The Milwaukee Bucks are close to signing forward Jerry Stackhouse for the rest of the season.

Stackhouse is expected to sign sometime in the coming days, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract hasn’t been finalized pending a physical.

The deal was earlier reported by ESPN.com and the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

The Bucks are in need of a scoring threat after guard Michael Redd(notes) tore ligaments in his left knee last Sunday and will miss the rest of the year.

Stackhouse, a 14-year veteran, was part of a four-team, eight-player trade in the offseason and became an unrestricted free agent this summer, when the Memphis Grizzlies bought out his contract for $2 million.

@mbahamoute is Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, so please add him to your listed of verified players.

I love beating the bucks... It just feels good. Roll Tide!!!!

* Hammond says he talked Milwaukee owner Herb Kohl into approving the Jefferson trade.

"Yes, I did," said Hammond, in his second year overseeing the Bucks. "It was a very difficult decision that we felt like we had to make.

"Let me say this about Richard: He came to Milwaukee and was great for us, he played 82 games, he was the exact kind of person we needed and he represented our organization in the very best way. We didn't trade Richard for what he did not do. We traded him for what we felt were the right reasons for us as an organization. And Sen. Kohl -- I can tell you this -- Sen. Kohl was like, 'I don't even want to consider this if it's going to hurt us in a win-loss standpoint.' Richard had $29.2 million (due him) over the next two years, and [Kohl] still was saying, 'If it's going to help us win then we'll keep the player.'

"It's very bothersome to me that people are talking about what we've done over the last few months in saying that it's a small-market team, it's an owner who has given me a mandate to cut salaries and save money. That is the furthest thing from the truth. If you look at our salaries and what he's done over the years in paying players and coaches, it's pretty evident he wants to win."

The gap between Evans and fellow rookie Jennings is wider on charisma than on performance. With his whippet-thin frame flicking treys and gliding across the court with an ambidextrous dribble, Jennings is like a bead of mercury rolling on silk. By contrast, the muscular Evans has the panache and savoir faire of a John Deere uprooting tree stumps. Grace trumps grit at the box office, though, and that has made Jennings the early Rookie of the Year favorite.

A closer look at the numbers, however, illustrates how similar the two have been this season. Evans averages 4.7 assists and 3.2 turnovers compared with 5.7 and 3.3 for Jennings. And while Jennings is scoring three points more per game (21.8 versus Evans' 18.8), it is largely because he has attempted 66 more shots. No matter the numbers, it's no coincidence that the league's two best rookies are playing for the NBA's two most surprising overachievers.