You can almost hear the national pundits laughing at those poor, misguided Milwaukee Bucks.
Corey Maggette? Someone tell John Hammond he’s not playing fantasy basketball.
And the Bucks gave Drew Gooden how much? What, Michael Olowokandi wasn’t available?
And that John Salmons contract is how long? Did they sweeten the pot with his Social Security checks?
Yeah, those pundits are having a grand old time at the expense of the Bucks.
Just like they did last year.
When they pegged the Bucks as the worst team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference.
Look, I’ve heard both local and national radio guys taking shots at Gooden’s deal and read predictions of doom and ugly gloom for Salmons. But there’s a reason pundits are pundits and Hammond is the reigning NBA executive of the year.
The Bucks needed a power forward to put alongside Andrew Bogut, and Hammond got them a quality power forward. The Bucks needed a shooting guard to share the backcourt with Brandon Jennings, and Hammond kept their quality shooting guard. The Bucks needed to get to the free-throw line more often, and Maggette’s a specialist at doing just that. So show me the fault with Hammond’s logic.
Contract dollars or contract length? Honestly, no problem at all. None of these new deals are salary-cap killers, and come the end of their terms, even if the players have slipped, they’ll still have value by virtue of every NBA general manager’s two favorite words: expiring contract.
No, with his offseason moves, Hammond is doing the same thing he’s done since arriving in Milwaukee.
He’s building a winner.
For those who can keep one eye on the present and one on the recent past, it’s pretty clear what Hammond’s strategy is. He’s re-creating the Detroit Pistons, where he and Joe Dumars built a championship club with no superstars, but above-average talent across the board. And when you can’t sell Celtic Magic or Broadway or South Beach or Showtime to NBA free agents, it’s about the only legitimate path to NBA success.
What Hammond has done in two short years is nothing shy of amazing. When he inherited this roster, it was as dysfunctional as a Lohan family reunion. You had locker room rivalries and glaring positional holes. The head coach’s office was fitted with a revolving door, and it spun faster than a Tilt-a-Whirl. And Milwaukee’s salary cap was more like a salary straitjacket.
Now look at the Bucks. Hammond has made so many bad contracts disappear, you’d think he’s David Copperfield. And for his next trick, he actually turned those bad contracts into good talent.
Bobby Simmons and Yi Jianlian became Richard Jefferson. Joe Alexander and Hakim Warrick morphed into Salmons. Dan Gadzuric and the ever-likeable (if underproductive) Charlie Bell were transformed into Maggette. Talk about Six Degrees of Celebration.
Suddenly, and oh-so improbably, you can say something about the Bucks and not be charged with narcotics possession: This team has a roster with no apparent weaknesses.
Trust me, I can hardly believe I’ve typed the words, but it’s true. Bogut has blossomed into one of the league’s best centers. Most GMs would trade multiple first-round draft picks, not to mention a lung, for a point guard like Jennings.
Shooting guard? You saw what Salmons did in the Bucks’ system last season. Now you add another 20 points per game at small forward with Maggette and a walking double-double at PF in Gooden, who can also back up Bogut at center.
And oh, by the way, meet what’s become one of the league’s deepest benches – sparkplugs in Carlos Delfino and Ersan Ilyasova, a defensive stopper in Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, a young gunner in newly acquired Chris Douglas-Roberts and some young muscle with first-round pick Larry Sanders.
If these guys stay healthy, folks, this isn’t a playoff team. It’s a potential conference finalist. Maybe even more.
Laugh along with the national pundits if you’d like, but it’s really not a joke. This was a good team last season and it’s a better team now.
And here’s the real clincher. Hammond has some gunpowder that’s still dry.
When next season’s trade deadline rolls around, Michael Redd’s expiring contract will be one of the most sought-after prizes in the league. If the Bucks find themselves needing another piece, Hammond should be able to wave that magic wand again. Poof – more talent.
It really is quite the show. While everyone else in the league trips over each other to dump talent in the name of offering as many max contracts as possible, Hammond and the Bucks are doing just the opposite. They’re acquiring talent at or near its value and building a team that’s more than the sum of its parts. They’re zigging when everyone else is zagging.
And while the headlines go to the Summer of LeBron or guys like Amar’e Stoudemire and Joe Johnson (who may both be a lot of things, but $100 million values is not one of them), the Bucks happily fly under the radar.
In 2001, the Pistons finished with a 32-50 record and were generally considered a terrible team. In 2002, they were a 50-win playoff team. The next season they made the conference finals, and in 2004, they won a championship. Hammond had a front-row seat for the whole show.
Now, Bucks fans are getting to watch the encore performance.
Maybe Milwaukee has a bit of Broadway to sell after all.
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