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Jared Dudley trade grades, Giannis opens FIBA World Cup, Larry Drew talks, Rockets trade for Sessions unlikely, Damien Inglis scouting report

By Frank Madden

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The Jared Dudley Deal
OK, so maybe we should refer to it as the "Future 1st round pick deal," but whatever you want to call it, everyone seems to like it from a Bucks perspective. An upgraded draft pick, a leaner roster and little if any negative cap ramifications? Well played, Bucks.

A rundown of reaction and notes:

As for Dudley himself, he's saying the right things about his new team--even if he was not quite so enthusiastic about the idea of Milwaukee a year ago.

Fun fact: Milwaukee hasn't had two first round picks in a single draft since 1998 (when they *technically* selected Dirk Nowitzki and Pat Garrity as part of the Robert Traylor trade), and they haven't drafted and kept two first rounders since waaaaaay back in 1994 (when they snagged Glenn Robinson 1st and Eric Mobley 18th).

2014 FIBA World Cup kicks off Saturday
After briefly landing in the hospital with gastroenteritis last weekend, Giannis Antetokounmpo is back with his Greek teammates and has arrived in Spain for the start of the 2014 FIBA World Cup this weekend.

Greece opens play on Saturday against Senegal at 8 pm local time / 1 pm Central, with all games available online at LiveBasketball.tv and WatchESPN.com. Complete schedule:

Aug 30, 1:00 pm: Senegal

Aug 31, 1:00 pm: Philippines

Sep 1, 1:00 pm: Puerto Rico

Sep 3, 1:00 pm: Croatia

Sep 4, 3:00 pm: Argentina

JS: Larry Drew "blindsided" by the way he was fired
Larry Drew's interview with Charles Gardner this week marks the first time that he's commented at length on his messy departure from Milwaukee, and not surprisingly it's full of both excuses (because no one likes to admit they did a bad job) and high-mindedness (because Drew's generally a good dude who prefers the high road to holding a public grudge). Overall you'd conclude his comments are fairly boilerplate--feigned shock at his firing, but nothing really bad to say about anyone. Still, there was one quote which just about knocked me out of my chair (emphasis mine).

Larry Sanders and O.J. Mayo were absent for long stretches of the season, two players the Bucks had counted on to be key figures. Both were major disappointments.

Power forward Ersan Ilyasova was bothered all season by an ankle injury, limiting his effectiveness, and veteran Carlos Delfino never played at all due to a right foot surgery.

"We never would have guessed we wouldn't have Carlos Delfino," Drew said. "We had him factored in as the starting 3 (small forward)."

So the Bucks had one of the worst seasons in NBA history in part because...Carlos Delfino's broken foot didn't heal!

Look, there are plenty of legitimate reasons to cite for the Bucks' struggles last year, but when you play the "we thought Carlos Delfino would start for us" card you really know you're trying too hard. Nevermind that Delfino is a 31-year-old role player who had a broken foot when the Bucks signed him. Or that the Bucks blew $8 million in cap space on Caron Butler once it became apparent Delfino was going to be out. Or that they also acquired Khris Middleton weeks after signing Delfino, and Middleton turned out to be better than whatever Delfino probably would have been. And you know, Giannis. I'm being cynical, but sometimes...well, come on.

Despite his firing, Drew's also doing just fine at this point--he has two years left on his multi-million dollar Bucks deal and just landed an assistant's gig with new coach David Blatt in Cleveland. And while the Bucks deserved criticism for mishandling his firing, the irony is that it helped distract from just how terribly Drew fared in his one season in Milwaukee. There's a reason new owners Marc Lasry and Wes Edens had refused to commit to Drew past the draft, though they could have saved themselves plenty of heartache if they had just cut the cord then rather than trot Drew out as part of Jabari Parker's opening press conference. But so it goes. Drew is gone, Kidd is here, and thankfully life goes on--for everyone.

Rockets interested in Sessions, but no sign-and-trade imminent
The Houston Rockets are still in desperate need of guard depth after giving away Jeremy Lin for cap relief in July, and Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reported last week that they might have found a potential match in former Buck Ramon Sessions. One problem: to land with the capped-out Rockets, Sessions would need to either take a pay cut or the Rockets and Bucks would have to agree to a sign-and-trade deal.

And that's kind of the problem; the Bucks could use some of their remaining cap space to sign and trade Sessions (note: given the kind of money we'd be talking, they wouldn't even need Sessions' Bird rights to do that). But is Houston giving up assets for the privilege? Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle doesn't seem to think so.

The Bucks don't need more bodies, so the only thing I could think of would be something like Alonzo Gee (whose $3 million salary would be waived) and a future 2nd rounder for a re-signed Sessions, though even that might not be of interest to the Rockets. Still, if the Bucks can get a future first rounder in a trade that ships out Delfino and Miroslav Raduljica...well, who knows.

CBS 58 (VIDEO): The Kidds come to town
Jessice Tighe talks to Jason Kidd's wife Porschla talks about her family's move to Milwaukee.

Upside & Motor: Damien Inglis scouting report
Speaking of Inglis: Rafael Uehara's latest scouting report at U&M offers some insight into what Inglis looked like in France a year ago--and what we might be able to expect from him going forward.

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