- Tom Enlund writes the Bucks plan to have players in for workouts next week, but no mention of who might be coming in (probably plenty of possible second rounders).
- Yet another article about the Bucks' culture.
- My friend (and real sports journalist!) Jonah Keri interviewed Rockets GM Daryl Morey last week about pretty much everything and it's well worth a read. I really found it interesting that as much as Morey is characterized as a stats nerd, he views catch-all-stats like PER and winscore as good for public audiences, but "almost useless" from a decision-making standpoint. I specifically asked Jonah to see if Morey would give some luxury tax prognostications, but unfortunately he didn't go into specifics:
Every team has an internal budget targeting that number. I don't want to say what ours is. Most teams are forecasting flat to down, for sure. In a macro sense, for the league, it's not a big difference. But for individual teams, it matters more. For us, we're close to the number now. It's a good year to take advantage of the situation if you can. We won't be able to do that as much. Now I'm not complaining. I wouldn't trade spots with most teams, we're still playing in the playoffs. But teams that are more in rebuilding mode, with smaller payrolls, they can acquire assets by helping other teams get under the luxury-tax limit.
- Speaking of winscore, Dave Berri blogs that the 08/09 Bucks' MVP was...Ramon Sessions. The bad news for the Bucks is that Sessions' wins (9.2) produced were the fourth-lowest of any team-leader, though Bogut would have been higher had he played a full season.
- Ty considers the Ersan Ilyasova question. I think in general Ty makes a very good point about the pitfalls of perimeter PFs, but in this case it's more about finding a budget-friendly option for the power forward position than thinking Ilyasova is the long-term solution. Aside from that, the Bucks can probably get away with a complementary player at the 4 if they've got Bogut, Redd, and Jefferson around to do the scoring. As for Ilyasova, he had 17 points and nine boards in Barcelona's 88-65 win on Saturday.
- Current favorites to go tenth in the lottery: Ty Lawson (DX), Jrue Holiday (ESPN Lottery Mock), Gerald Henderson (NBADraft.net), and Jonny Flynn (RU).
- Bucks Survivor continues over at The Bucky Channel.
- Joe Alexander had his jersey retired by his old school in China last October, and this week his old high school in Maryland did the same. (h/t The Bucky Channel).
- You know him as an all-star twittererererer, but before that Charlie Villanueva was one of the league's best bloggers. His latest talks about Twitter, the 08/09 season, and the summer to come. Not surprisingly, there's nothing new on his plans for next year, though he seems very cognizant of the Bucks' financial limits:
As for me, as you may already know, I’m a restricted free agent this summer. I would like to remain in a Milwaukee Bucks uniform. I’ve said this publicly in the past a few times now. But I know at the end of the day this league is not a game, it’s a business. The team has to do what’s best for the team in all aspects. I understand and respect that. I understood that right away in my rookie year the hard way with Toronto. We’ll see what happens this summer. The free agent signing period beings early in July, shortly after the NBA draft, which takes place on June 25. For now, it’s in God’s hands and I pray for the best for me and my family. I’ll make sure to keep you guys posted.
Filed under:
Wednesday Notes: Culture club, draft banter, Morey interview, CV blogs
By
Frank Madden
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