The last week has been a wild one for John Hammond, Scott Skiles and the Milwaukee Bucks. There was the trade of Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs. The NBA Draft followed two days later with the selection of point guard Brandon Jennings with the tenth overall pick.
These two moves represent change, which some people in Bucks Nation seem to have a problem with. There is a portion of Bucks fans, and the media that cover this team as well, that fell Hammond and company have 'raised the white flag' and conceded the season. These fans (and media personalities) are about winning now. Don't get me wrong - winning now would be nice, especially for a franchise that hasn't won in a long time. But there is also something to be said for building a team that can win year after year.
Under Larry Harris, the Bucks were a team that tried to put Band-Aids on their problems. They were a team that wanted to get into the playoffs - even if it was only as the eighth seed in the eastern Conference. Harris was more about winning now. There wasn't a whole lot of thought put into winning on a year in, year out basis.
To be totally fair, Hammond thought he could turn the team into a playoff contender right away as well. You don't make the Jefferson trade with the Nets if you aren't trying to win now, especially if you keep Michael Redd around the way the organization did a year ago.
The problem was that Hammond's best laid plans didn't exactly work out. No one saw all of the injuries coming. The injuries turned the Bucks from a playoff contender into a team that was on the outside looking in. But it also gave Hammond and Skiles the chance to see what the future might look like.
The injuries (and the MASH unit included Luke Ridnour at times) gave a player Ramon Sessions a chance to show what he could do with consistent playing time - something he hadn't had during his first two years with the Bucks. All Sessions did in sharing the point with Luke Ridnour was put up better numbers - both points and assists, than the veteran from Oregon. Not bad for a second round pick out of Nevada that had more than his share of doubters.
The bottom line was that Hammond saw a young player who was starting to emerge in this league. Sure the club fizzled down the stretch and finished five games out of the playoffs. But, for the first time since maybe the 2001 season, Bucks fans saw something unfamiliar - light at the end of the tunnel.
Don't think that Hammond and Skiles didn't see it either. It's one of the reasons they decided to clear cap space and make a run at re-signing Sessions, who is just 23 years old.
The plan last year was to try and turn the Bucks around as quickly as possible. Plan A didn't work. But, in the process, Hammond came up with Plan B, and it's a plan that will probably pay off on a much larger scale in the long run.
It's a simple plan, really. Build a consistent winner. Build a team that doesn't just go to the playoffs one year and then takes a step back to Lotteryland for the next four years. Build a team that can not only get to the playoffs, but make a run in the playoffs. You know, the way the Bucks of the 1980's used to be.
In order to do that, some tough decisions have to be made. The first decision that was made was to commit to the young players like Sessions. They did that by dealing Jefferson to the Spurs and making him a qualifying offer. They will be able to match anything Sessions can find on the open market.That's more than they could have said a few months ago.
Yes, it hurts to lose Jefferson, but what were you winning with Jefferson? Were you going to the playoffs? There was no guarantee of that, none at all. And, considering the moves that Cleveland (Shaquille O'Neal) and Orlando (Vince Carter) made last week, was Jefferson really the difference between being a lottery team and a team that could not only make the playoffs, but maybe win a series as well? Probably not.
Trading Jefferson is a gamble, no doubt about it. Letting Villanueva go might be a gamble as well. And the pick of Jennings isn't something that's going to pay off right away either. It will likely take a year or two before Jennings can emerge as a real player in the league.
But, for the first time in a long time, the Bucks have a plan. The plan is to go young and build around center Andrew Bogut. Don't be shocked if Hammond isn't done making moves. That's not to say that Michael Redd will be traded during the off-season. He's coming off that knee injury, so he will be difficult to move. But, if he comes back healthy and proves that his knee is sound, don't be surprised if he is an ex-Buck come February.
It seems to me that the Bucks want to go young. If Sessions returns (and you have to assume he will), he could make for a nice tutor for Jennings. He knows Skiles' system and might be just as good of a tutor for Jennings as Ridnour would be.
The Bucks also seem to know what they want to do without CV. It's not like they don't have options. They love Amir Johnson's game, and don't forget that Hammond was in Detroit when the Pistons got him. If anyone knows what he can and cannot do, it's Hammond. Luke Richard Mbah a Moute showed everyone a few things last season. You have to hope that Joe Alexander will improve upon what was a lost rookie season. And, it looks like Ersan Ilyasova might be a real option after refining his game overseas the last couple of years.
There can be no doubt that the Bucks are in a rebuilding mode. Sometimes, when you rebuild, you have to take a step or two back before you take a step forward (the Brewers are a good example of this). And my level of trust in Hammond is higher than it ever was in Harris.
They aren't raising the white flag on the upcoming season. They're trying to build a consistent winner. A team that become a contender in the NBA. A team this city can be proud of.
What's wrong with that?
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