- Who should the Bucks draft? You tell us.
- Gery Woelfel has plenty of talking points in his latest article. Woelfel still expects either Michael Redd or Mo Williams to be moved this summer, and pegs both the Knicks (really?) and Clippers (makes more sense) as teams that could make a move for Redd. Woelfel claims Williams could be worth a mid- to late-first round pick, but given the Bucks would need to take a decent-sized contract back (which could represent varying levels of badness), that doesn't tell me all that much. He also speculates that the Bucks could move their pick:
There has been ample talk the Bucks would like to package their No. 1 pick and a player — perhaps Charlie Villanueva – for an established player – or to move up in the draft — possibly with Minnesota at No. 3 — to possibly select Southern California guard O.J. Mayo.
I don't see any way the Wolves move down five spots just for Villanueva--especially considering they're trying to move Al Jefferson to PF. The Warriors would probably be a pretty good fit for Villanueva, especially if they're looking to get a cheaper version of Al Harrington. Of course, if Harrington couldn't win over Don Nelson then should we really expect Villanueva to do any better? They're better of giving Brandan Wright some burn.
It’s no secret the Timberwolves are receptive to moving back and acquiring another player, especially considering they have so many holes to plug.
There are also whispers both Washington — which has the 18th pick — and Golden State — which has the 14h pick — are more than willing to unload their picks.
Golden State has shown interest in Villanueva and Bucks power forward Yi Jianlian in the past. The Wizards apparently are looking for a player who can immediately fit into their rotation.
- Yi Jianlian was much improved in his second game back with the Chinese national team, racking up 18 points and 13 boards in China's 76-66 win over Croatia yesterday. You can stream a Chinese recording of the whole game here: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. Croatia didn't send their best players, but it's a start. Yi started the game with an 18-foot jumper and then leaked out on the break for a dunk ahead of the pack. In the third quarter he had a tip-in off a missed transition layup and a nice and-one where he started at the top of the key, drove left and finished with his right while absorbing contact. He again didn't look convincing finishing down low, but took a ton of abuse managed to get to the line a whopping 15 times. China plays Croatia for a third and final time tomorrow.
- Former Jackson State star Trey Johnson will play with the Bucks' summer league team in Vegas.
Johnson plans to travel to Milwaukee next week and start working with the organization. He'll stay with Jackson native and Bucks starting point guard Mo Williams.
A 6'5" swingman, Johnson averaged 12.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg and 4.1 apg for the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League last year. The 23-year old was a volume scorer in college, averaging 27.1 ppg leading Jackson State to the NCAA tourney, where they lost to Florida in the first round. I've never seen Trey play, but I do love the fact that he's a blogger.
"They're doing workouts and stuff right now, so I'm going early," said Johnson, who played with Miami's summer league team last year. He was cut from the New Orleans Hornets shortly before the 2007-08 season began. "Just trying to get in and get as much time around them as possible so they can get a real good look at who I am, not just as a basketball player, but as a person."
- Our man Tom Ziller over at FanHouse doesn't value Andrew Bogut quite as highly as the Australian media seems to. I like Bogut as much as the next Bucks fan, but I'm with TZ on this one.
- As noted on Paschketball, Todd Finkelmayer of the Capital Times has a profile on Matt Beyer, the UW senior who spent this past season as Yi Jianlian's interpreter. I met Matt briefly when the Bucks were in Boston and he seemed like a really good guy. On a related note, don't you just love the hard-hitting insider info we deliver here on BH? I thought you did.
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