Let’s face it. This is a tough time to be a Milwaukee Bucks fan.
While others in the NBA throw their playoff parties, Bucks fans throw pity parties. Others watch playoff games, and Bucks fans play games of what-if. As in, “What if Player X didn’t suffer Injury Y to Body Part Z?”
But after Memphis shocked San Antonio over the weekend, another what-if crept into my mind. Because Zack Randolph has been an absolute beast for the Grizzlies. So what if he’d been equally beastly for the Bucks?
Lest we forget, it was a very real possibility.
This was back in 2008, when former GM Larry Harris was still running Milwaukee’s show, and the clock on his tenure was ticking louder than Gilbert Gottfried. Harris was desperate to change the fortunes of the Bucks, who were hamstrung by bad contracts and slogging through another disappointing season. By coincidence, there was another desperate team out there – the New York Knicks – and the two desperate teams struck a tentative midseason deal.
The Bucks would trade away the enigmatic Charlie Villanueva and the underperforming deals of Dan Gadzuric and Bobby Simmons. In return, the Bucks would get promising young forward Renaldo Balkman and the talented but oft-troubled Zach Randolph.
It seemed like a steal for the Bucks. They’d get the best player in the deal (Randolph). They’d move big contracts that were performing poorly for a huge contract that might perform great (still Randolph). And they’d get a young kid in Balkman who’d been attached to that always-alluring term – upside.
But just as there’s a reason day-old bread is discounted, there’s a reason Randolph was discounted. He wasn’t exactly a man with a spotless past, having run-ins with the law over theft and violence. And he was having more problems getting along with people in the Knicks organization, particularly coach Isiah Thomas. And all of that came with a not-so-bargain price tag of $60 million.
Ostensibly scared off by those questionable character issues, Bucks owner Herb Kohl ultimately nixed Harris’ deal. Milwaukee went on to finish the season at 26-56, and Harris was summarily fired.
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| Would John Hammond have ever become Bucks GM had his predecesor traded for Zach Randolph? |
The John Hammond regime started soon after, complete with its highs (Fear The Deer) and lows (Fear Last Year). He eventually traded away Simmons and Gadzuric in separate deals and let Villanueva walk away in free agency. Meanwhile, Balkman has pretty much flamed out as a prospect.
And all Randolph did was help revitalize a franchise.
But not at first. The Knicks eventually dumped Randolph to the Los Angeles Clippers. While wearing that uniform in 2009, shortly after finding out his father was ill, he punched Phoenix Suns player Louis Amundson. He was also arrested for suspicion of DUI, a charge that was later reduced to reckless driving. A few months later, Randolph was dealt to Memphis.
Maybe he needed the ghost of Elvis, because once Randolph was walking in Memphis, he finally righted his ship and became an All-Star. Randolph not only stayed out of trouble, but performed well enough to lead Grizzlies to their first-ever playoff win and secured a $71 million contract extension.
This is the part where Bucks fans wonder whether the team blew another golden opportunity. Randolph was in their hands, as were his 20 points and 10 rebounds per game, and the Bucks let him slip away. In hindsight, that’s the easy answer.
Still, it’s hard to blame Kohl for not signing off on Larry Harris’ Hail Mary pass. Committing $60 million to a man with legitimate questions about his character is the type of thing that makes Al Davis a punch line.
But let’s pretend Kohl channeled his inner Raider and went ahead with the Randolph risk. How different would the Bucks look now?
Maybe Randolph becomes the power forward that Milwaukee had long sought to pair with Andrew Bogut. Maybe being paired with his old Michigan State teammate Charlie Bell is exactly the type of thing that helps Randolph settle down. Maybe he even saves Harris’ job and Milwaukee’s resurgence starts a few years earlier. In which case, Bucks fans might still be hoping Yi Jianlian figures it out while watching ESPN highlights of some young New Jersey Nets point guard named Brandon Jennings. Because if Harris is here, Hammond is not.
Or maybe being stuck in Milwaukee would simply frustrate Randolph and he’d continue to make trouble for himself and his new team. Maybe his contract becomes yet another anchor weighing down the Bucks. And since the Bucks are stuck paying big bucks to both Randolph and Michael Redd, they’re not comfortable giving Bogut his big contract extension. He walks as a free agent, ending up in New Jersey with some hot young point guard named Brandon Jennings. And Bucks fans wonder if they’ll ever make the playoffs again.
What would’ve happened if the Bucks traded for Zach Randolph? Truth is, there are a thousand different answers, because there are a thousand different ramifications.
But that’s what makes what-if games fun to play.
Just not quite as much fun as playoff games.
NUTSHELLS
– As hot as the Milwaukee Brewers were, I’m guessing a whole lot of fans expected a sweep when the club showed up in Washington, D.C. They just didn’t expect the Nationals to do the sweeping.
But don’t be too hard on the Brewers, folks. America has known for decades that it’s hard to get anything done in Washington.
-New UW-Milwaukee athletic director Rick Costello opened some eyes earlier this month in an interview with WUWM-FM radio. Not only did Costello say he was gung-ho about building an on-campus basketball arena, but he’d also love to bring football back to Panther land, where it hasn’t existed since 1974.
“I really think football is special and it’s something that we certainly need to look at,” Costello said. “Football is something that we’ll seriously consider going forward, but it will be a part of a strategic planning process.”
Of the two UWM dreams, the basketball arena strikes me as far more realistic. The plans for it are pretty far along, and it’s a heckuva lot easier to just build a building when you don’t have to build a team to go with it.
Dreaming of college football in Milwaukee is the fun part. But until somebody’s willing to pay for that fun, dreams will probably have to suffice.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, where I tweet as howiemag. And tune in every Tuesday morning at 6:30 when I join Doug Russell and Mike Wickett on SportsRadio 1250 AM for Tuesdays with Howie.
