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Sunday Notes: Ilyasova update, Jennings in context, Bogut's summer continued

By Frank Madden

  • SPORT.es: Ilyasova signing this week?
    As oshmeehan mentioned in the comments yesterday, the Spanish media is reporting that Ersan Ilyasova will sign with the Bucks this week. Of course, I'm relying on Yahoo's translating services, so any of you Spanish speakers out there are welcome to confirm/deny. Not that this would be surprising--after all, John Hammond has been mentioning Ilyasova for the past couple weeks and the Bucks' recent moves have certainly made his return more likely. Richard Jefferson's departure cleared the salary needed to go after Ilyasova, and Villanueva's move to Motown created the practical need for him in the rotation.

    Keep in mind that while the story mentions a possible announcement on Tuesday, deals cannot officially be signed until Wednesday. On that day we'll also know the level of the cap, tax, and MLE. While the Bucks will easily be over the cap, the MLE will provide an upper-bound for offers that Ramon Sessions can get, while the tax will determine exactly how much breathing room the Buck have to sign Sessions, Ilyasova or any other free agents. For instance, if the tax were at $71 million and the MLE at $5.8 million, then the Bucks could sign Sessions for the MLE and Ersan to a deal starting at under $2 million and remain under the tax (assuming Bruce Bowen is cut before his deal becomes guaranteed on August 1).  See the caponomics page for some more details on that.

    Even if the Bucks give Ilyasova more than that and Sessions gets an MLE deal, the Bucks would have plenty of time to shave off a million or so over the course of the season since the tax isn't assessed until the end of the season. Even so, the Bucks may be unwilling to go that high for Sessions, especially on a four- or five-year deal.

  • Bogut: Month in review
    I'm a couple days late on this, but Andrew Bogut provided a update on his summer last week:

    My time in Milwaukee flew by quickly. I was working out every morning. I kept doing more and more day by day and eventually got to the point of doing every exercise in the weight room that I would have pre injury. I also had a chance to sit in with the coaches during some of the pre draft workouts. It seemed like there was a new group there every day working out.

    In that being said we have drafted Brandon Jennings. I think he can really help us. He seems young and has a chip on his shoulder which is always a good thing. He is very quick to say the least, and his work ethic al helps him to be the best player he can be. We also took UK guard Jodie Meeks in the 2nd round. A prolific scorer in college, and has a great SG in Michael Redd to take advice from. Other than that we have had a couple of guys in town. I happen to run into Michael Redd as he came into town for a day for his check up. Joe Alexander, Luc Mbah a Moute and Salim Stoudamire were in working out everyday along with me. RIdnour came to town for a couple of days too. Was a good atmosphere to have in the summer, hopefully we can get more and more of that in years to come.

  • TrueHoop: Jennings' Minnesota workout
    The Bucks were just one of the teams that saw Jennings work out against the draft's other top PGs (sans Rubio), and TrueHoop had an interesting account of what went down in Minnesota a couple weeks ago.  This was written by a T'Wolves season ticket subscriber who got to watch the workout first hand.  As you might expect it was a mixed bag, but here's one of the highights:

    Suddenly Jennings remembered who he was and started moving with the type of swagger that I'd read about. On the first possession of the scrimmage he cleanly picked off a pass and beat Flynn in a footrace for an emphatic two-hander. A few possessions later he took an outlet from Holiday and sprinted down the left side. After beating Lawson with a stutter step, he picked up the ball and put it behind his back to avoid Evans' help defense. Then he flicked a no-look over his shoulder to Jrue for the easy dunk.

    Onlookers collectively gasped.

  • Bucky Channel: The Jennings effect
    Over at SportsBubbler, the Bucky Channel chimes in on what Jennings could mean to the Bucks:

    Everything Jennings has done since the Bucks drafted him has been pure gold, and not because I'm hoping to watch some sort of massive trainwreck develop over the next couple of months. Yeah, he's going to have some 'splanin to do to whichever one of Ramon Sessions or Luke Ridnour is in Milwaukee next season, but those bridges can be rebuilt quickly enough. Let's lay off Jennings and his big mouth for a second and remember that, and this is the oh my goodness factor, someone is actually making the Milwaukee Bucks somewhat relevant.
    I don't think John Hammond or Scott Skiles were thinking of the Bucks' media relevance when they picked Jennings, but you know the guys in the marketing department (and us bloggers) had to be pretty jazzed about it. From a national perspective, Jennings' unconventional route to the NBA will no doubt keep attention focused on him through his rookie year. He's unlikely to be a major impact player as a rookie, but as far as storylines go few guys bring as much of a curiosity factor--success or failure. And among young fans, Jennings' youthful flair and showmanship could spark renewed interest in a Bucks team that hasn't had an exciting young point since T.J. Ford.

  • The Bratwurst: CV vs. AJ
    Brett is back with a post on the effective swap of PFs by the Bucks and Pistons.

    Johnson has a reputation as not really knowing what he is doing on defense but having the athletic ability to make up for it. Charlie V has the reputation of not trying all that hard on defense. There is a difference. Give me the guy who is younger, cheaper and (incrementally) more athletic. Lets face it, it’s not like we are rooting for the Lakers or Cavs here. The Bucks aren’t trying to win the championship next year.

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