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Saturday Notes: Hammond talks, Hill visits, the guards are coming, Barcelona win

By Frank Madden

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  • WSSP: Hammond press conference.  This is the full version of the press conference on Bucks.com, which basically finds John Hammond saying a lot of sensible things that don't reveal all that much.  But hey, that's how Hammond rolls and in the grand scheme of things a GM who telegraphs his moves isn't doing his job.  So to summarize: the Bucks would like to address needs at PG/PF, but will take BPA even if it's a wing.  Read: we've only been focusing on need guys, but don't accuse us of not picking the best player.  They're not going to dump salary just to dump salary, but the Bucks aren't good enough to be spending luxury tax dollars on right now.  Read: we're not paying the tax.
  • Gardner: Hill visits.  There's been some talk that Jordan Hill could drop to the Bucks at 10, but they probably shouldn't hold their breath considering Washington, Golden State and New York could all be interested.  What do you think, Dave Babcock?
    "You never know," Babcock said. "As talented as he is, some teams may not take him because they don't know where he's going to fit on their team.

    "If we took Jordan Hill, that would be a no-brainer (his game complementing Bogut). It gives you another big that's athletic, a player that could pass. You could play him high post; you could play him low post. I don't think anybody would question that."

    B.J. Mullens was part of a six-guy workout earlier in the day, but Gery Woelfel reports that the Bucks aren't likely to be interested at #10.  Makes sense.

  • Woelfel: Lawson coming, Blair back for a second workout?  Woelfel is not a DeJuan Blair fan, so it's probably with gritted teeth that he reports this:

    The Bucks seem to be one of the few teams who don't have serious reservations about Blair. They worked him out last week and are considering bringing him back for another visit before the draft, a clear indicator of their interest in him.
    Woelfel also writes the Bucks are not going to be taking Jeff Teague with the 10th pick, despite that NBADraft.net blurb last week about them being very interested. At the time I suggested it was another smokescreen--Teague's style just doesn't seem to fit what we know about Skiles/Hammond--so I feel a little vindicated right now. And yes, I'll feel stupid on draft night if he ends up somehow being the pick.  More Woelfel:
    I know Bucks officials like UCLA guard Jrue Holiday, but does owner Herb Kohl and his cronies really want to deal with his agent, Dan Fegan -- especially after the latter pulled all those shenanigans on them before the draft two years ago while representing Yi Jianlian?

    Fegan, by the way, also represents Louisville forward Earl Clark, who has also drawn interest from the Bucks.

    Just to be clear, this should be a non-issue. There's essentially no negotiation involved in a first round contract and I feel pretty comfortable that neither Holiday nor Clark are going to threaten to play for the Guangdong Tigers next year. In other words, Herb should not give a rip who those guys are repped by.

  • Gardner: Flynn, Lawson, maybe Jennings expected to work out.  Should be a good workout on Monday, as Jonny Flynn, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, and Brandon Jennings will be there.  Check out this TrueHoop post with an account of those guys battling in Minnesota.

  • FCB.com: Barca win Spanish title.  Ersan Ilyasova didn't put up big numbers like he did in game three (0/1 fg, six boards in 24 minutes), but Barcelona still took down TAU Ceramica 90-77 to claim the ACB title.
  • ESPN: Thorpe talks Blair, Holiday, Clark.  We're used to David Thorpe's snarky player analysis at ESPN.com, but his bread and butter is training players in the offseason.  So it's interesting to hear him pimping his own guys (it's about 3/4 into the show)--notably Blair and Clark.  Funny to hear Thorpe talk about Blair "changing the culture" of whatever team that drafts him...gee, I wonder if the Bucks would like that.  Thorpe also talks about Clark, who has been curiously absent from the Bucks' draft discussions.
  • Bucks.com: More season tix offers.  The economy sucks.  The Bucks have disappointed for years.  But the good news is that it all means you can still find great deals on season tickets.

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