It’s been awhile for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Not since the 2000-2001 season when the Bucks reached the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to the likes of Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassel has Milwaukee made any legitimate noise. An exciting seven game series two seasons ago against the Atlanta Hawks provided new found hope, even with a disappointing exit after squandering a three games-to-two lead. There are a few glaring issues that helped bring the Bucks down to Earth and a 35-47 record last season; among these issues is injury, which has paid visit to Milwaukee far more times than any other NBA franchise in recent years. During the 2010-2011 season alone, a total of 275 games missed from injury culminated with notable players like Andrew Bogut, Brandon Jennings, Carlos Delfino and Drew Gooden missing significant time. Bogut’s absence from the lineup has almost become routine, but players like Jennings and Delfino are not familiar with stints on the injury list. No matter which way you cut it, the Bucks couldn’t duplicate the effort of the Green Bay Packers when it came to replacing injured players. Therefore, there was trouble getting any kind of rhythm going during the entire course of the season.
But the past is the past, the NBA Finals have wrapped up and now it’s time to see how the Bucks can improve moving into the next season. Whether or not the 2011-2012 season will take place or not because of a potentially devastating lockout is for a different discussion. The June 23rd NBA draft is where the quest for improvement begins. To figure out which direction the Bucks should look in the draft, the current roster must first be evaluated. Here are the players expected to be back in a Bucks uniform next season as well as those who won’t return based on current contracts and team relations.
Returning (11):
Guards: PG - Brandon Jennings, PG - Keyon Dooling, SG - John Salmons
Forwards: SG/SF - Corey Maggette, SF - Carlos Delfino, SF/PF - Luc Richard Mbah a Moute*, SF/PF - Ersan Ilyasova, PF/C - Larry Sanders, PF - Jon Brockman
Center: C - Andrew Bogut, PF/C - Drew Gooden
Leaving (3):
Guards: PG - Earl Boykins, SG - Michael Redd
Forwards: SF - Chris Douglas-Roberts
Centers: None
Mbah a Moute has received a qualifying offer from the Bucks and I believe he will stay with the team as he is a defensive specialist that coach Scott Skiles likes to utilize against the opponent’s best player more often than not. Douglas-Roberts was due to receive a qualifying offer, but was benched for the entire later part of last season and is expected to enter free agency. Redd, the face of the franchise for a large portion of the last decade, has been a dead man walking for the past two seasons because of his knee problems and his hefty contract – having him off the books will help Milwaukee in free agency. As far as some other players on the roster, I would expect a few to not return to the Bucks. A contract like Jon Brockman’s could be moved because of his lack of contribution last season and Corey Maggette was viewed to be a cancer because of his selfishness on the offensive side of the court and his susceptibility to losing. This is total speculation, but it would then leave the Bucks with three empty roster spots to be filled with draft picks, free agents or players received via trade. Judging from above, Milwaukee needs to look at improving the guard position and acquiring a big man. A 10th overall draft pick should help fill one of these needs. Here is a look at some of the players the Bucks could potentially select in the 2011 draft based on rumors and player tryouts:
(In order from best to worst for Bucks’ needs)
SG - 6’7” Klay Thompson (Washington St)
PG/SG - 6’6” Alec Burks (Colorado)
SG/SF - 6’8” Jordan Hamilton (Texas)
PF - 6’9” Tristan Thompson (Texas)
PF - 6’9” Bismack Biyombo (Congo)
These are the top five players that I think could be realistically available to Milwaukee by the time they select and as you can see, I think the Bucks should look to add more depth at the guard position. From what I’ve heard, Milwaukee is very high on Klay Thompson because of his shooting ability and length, although Thompson lacks athleticism. With Burks, a player that many mock drafts have Milwaukee selecting, you will get more athleticism but less efficient shooting. With the direction the Bucks went last season in taking power forward Larry Sanders, I don’t think they should look to take Tristan Thompson or Biyombo, especially because of their similarities to Sanders, who is still developing. It all depends on who is available and whether the Bucks decide to go with a good slasher or a good jump shooter. Either player should help a team that finished dead last in scoring last season. The Bucks also have a second round pick (40th overall), so they can look at the power forward/center position at that point of the draft should they go with Burks or Klay, but I won’t speculate as to who that could be because of how unpredictable the second round can be. This draft isn’t deep by any means, so only so much can be expected from whomever the Bucks end up with.
The next step for the Bucks would be free agency. Milwaukee should have around $50 million in player contracts entering the free agent signing period thanks to the departure of Redd, leaving them with roughly $9 or $10 million to spend should they look to stay close to the salary limit. Once again, the Bucks should look to improve at the guard or big man positions. Being such a small market, it could be difficult to draw someone who would really step in and make a big difference. But at this point it’s difficult to hypothesize who the Bucks could sign. This, like the potential NBA lockout, can be saved for another day. What is really important for Milwaukee is to figure out who they really are and to get their main contributors healthy. The main pieces from the 2010 playoff team are still here and it’s just a matter of ironing out the chemistry with recent newcomers. Jennings has mentioned his tiffs with a few moves the Bucks made prior to this past season, bringing up some trade murmurs, and Bogut has concerns about his elbow moving into next season. Certainly, these are things that Bucks fans don’t want to hear as Bogut’s health is the biggest key to Milwaukee’s success while Jennings is an exciting young talent who was hindered by a broken foot last season.
Thanks to the loyal ownership Milwaukee has had, they have been able to cling onto an NBA franchise, but without some consistent winning – with aging owner Herb Kohl – with shoddy attendance – with an outdated arena – the time frame is getting smaller and smaller. Hopefully the winning ways will return.