28 Teams Later- The Milwaukee Bucks

We all know that this year’s finals are probably going to end up Lakers-Cavs, and in all honesty, those two teams would have to be the favorites for next year.  So let’s look at the rosters, flexibility, cap room etc. of the other 28 teams in the league.  Today’s and first up, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Roster:

Milwaukee has the classic Clippers-esque mix of questionable to bad contracts, and moderate young talent.  This may very well be the worst place to be stuck in the NBA.  First, they owe oft-injured and terminally uninterested Michael Redd 35 million over the next two years (Redd ain’t turning down an 18 million dollar player option).  Yikes.  Just hearing that hurts Herb Kohl’s heart.  They follow that up by owing uninterested and unhappy Richard Jefferson another 29 million.  Then they offered a 5 year, 70something million dollar contract to Andrew Bogut, which is at least 10 million, and maybe more than any other team would have offered him. 

You know, the Bucks traded for Jefferson to make something happy, and figured they had their franchise in Michael Redd, so I can almost excuse those two.  But not the Bogut deal.  Sorry.  Why not let market value dictate how much you pay the guy, like ATL did with Josh Smith from the same draft class?  Its not like teams were falling all over each other to lock up a center with career averages of 8.7 rebounds and 11.9 points a game, were they?  Plus he looks exactly like Darko when he shaves his head.

The rest of their roster is at least a little more fluid.  Charlie “Twitter” Villanueva is an RFA, and Ramon “12 assists or 2 assists, no in between” Sessions is unrestricted, as is the surprisingly competent and awesomely names Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.  They’re also still stuck with Charlie Bell, Dan Gadruzic, and Luke Ridnour.

Overall, the Bucks roster has talent, but its not the kind of roster I would want my team to have.  They’re pretty much stuck unless they can get rid of Jefferson and Redd, and the team that they have now will have trouble making it to the sacrificial 8 seed for the Lebrons. 

Roster Grade: D+

Coaching:

I really like last year’s hiring of Scott Skiles, if not for anything else, that nothing else was working.  He might be able to focus on defense to the point where they can compete in a weak Eastern Conference, and take advantage of other bad teams.

Grade: C+

Offseason and Outlook:

If I’m the Bucks, I do everything I can to move Redd or Jefferson this offseason for cheaper, younger talent.  Redd to the Cavs was rumored all last summer, but never materialized, and the Cavs just took Mo Williams instead.  The Bucks will have another lottery pick, and hopefully will use it on someone quality in the backcourt, depending on where they land.  I’d feel a lot better about this team if they could commit to a rebuild this offseason. Good luck with this economy though.

You also hope that Bogut stays healthy and productive, resign Sessions if money allows (he may be too expensive now) and hope that Joe Alexander becomes worth a crap in the offseason.

Good luck Bucks, you’ll need it.