GM John Hammond in talks for contract extension with Bucks

Essentially hours after agreeing to end Scott Skiles' tenure as head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, General Manager John Hammond confirmed at his press conference announcing Skiles' departure that he had been in discussions with owner Herb Kohl on his own contract extension:

The Senator and I are in the process of discussing a contract extension - GM John Hammond on his status with the #Bucks

— Nick Monroe (@nmonroe) January 8, 2013

Like Skiles, Hammond entered this season in the final year of his contract with little to no discussion of an extension. But while Skiles' fate has felt almost inevitable since last summer, Hammond's future was tougher to pin down. Now it appears the Bucks want to keep their GM, which would be the first indication of Kohl committing to much of anything beyond the end of the season. Hammond took over for Larry Harris near the end of the 2007-2008 season and hired Skiles shortly thereafter.

It's worth noting that Hammond was also rumored to be eyeing a change in scenery last summer. The Portland Trail Blazers were reportedly interested in interviewing him for their GM position (and an accompanying bump in salary), but the Bucks did not grant Portland permission to interview Hammond.

Hammond also clarified that Skiles' assistant Jim Boylan will not be an "interim" coach, but rather head coach until the season ends. That's largely a semantic difference, though it would seem to imply that the Bucks will not look to hire a new coach until the summer. That was always a good bet given the accompanying uncertainty around Hammond and the rest of the front office, not to mention that a new coach would likely want to hire his own staff as well.