Official Milwaukee Bucks Thread

[Ty-Land]

I honestly believe it will be out of Jeff Green, Conley, Brewer and Brandon Wright. Out of those 3 I would pick in this order: Conley, Green, Brewer, Wright.

Wright worked out for the Bucks and so did Conley and both were very impressive according to Dave Babcock (Head Scout). Horford and Brewer are in the next couple of days.

There's a rumour going as well that the Bucks are going to offer Billups a $13million per year contract for 5 years. As much as I would like to have Billups, that would kill our cap, probably cost us Mo Williams and fail to sure up our frontcourt depth. I guess we will see...

[-Young Buck-]

Hmmm ESPN Mock draft 4.0 has this...

1. Oden
2. Durant
3. Horford
4. Conley Jr
5. Brewer

I dont have insider so i cant see who they have at 6 for the bucks. But that leaves Brandon Wright for the taking. Or we could go with Jeff Green, or perhaps take a gamble with Yi Jianlian. Anyone with insider want to let us know who they have the bucks picking?

[---]

I can't see how Brandan Wright slips to 6 even. If he does get past Atlanta (Horford is the safest pick at 3) and Memphis (Hakim Warrick is quite similar and they need a point guard), that's fair enough. However, if they can pair promising Al Jefferson with the guy with as much potential as Durant and Oden, they are a force to be reckoned with in the future - especially when you add the fact they have some promising backcourt players in Green and Rondo.

I've always thought Brandan Wright had the biggest bust potential though, so it's not a gaurantee that he will be great. However, at 5 I take the chance. The best your gonna get other than Brandan are Corey Brewer, Yi Jianlian and Julian Wright. Brandan is better than all three of those guys, has the most potential of those guys and Julian and Yi are both risky picks. If Boston passes on Brandan, I'm gonna feel sorry for Celtics fans.

[Ty-Land]

Boykins has opted out of his last year!

Hello more cap space. Now to resign Mo at $38million/5 years, resign Bell and Ilyasova. Then try and pick up Mo Pete and Amir Johnston as free agents.

That would be a great off season.

[maes]

There's a rumour going as well that the Bucks are going to offer Billups a $13million per year contract for 5 years.

Billups might look nice now but i think you'll be cursing that contract in 2011. I don't think he's worth $13M today, much less in 3-5 years.

Draftexpress does have the Bucks picking up Brandan Wright at 6. I was never sure why he was slotted at #3 all year, the guy has zero perimeter skills and at 210 lbs absolutely cannot play the PF position...Luol Deng will push him out.

Those guys who play well as PF in college run into a brick wall in the NBA when they have to become SFs and don't have the necessary ballhandling & shooting.

I guess the hope is he'll become a Chris Bosh type of player...rare but obviously a big payoff.

[-Young Buck-]

Boykins has opted out of his last year!

Hello more cap space. Now to resign Mo at $38million/5 years, resign Bell and Ilyasova. Then try and pick up Mo Pete and Amir Johnston as free agents.

That would be a great off season.

Hmmm, i kind of liked Boykins. Ohh well. I agree with resigning Bell and Ilyasova. I was hoping the Bucks could land Gerald Wallace. But Mo Pete is another player i wouldnt mind having.

[Matt]

Then try and pick up Mo Pete and Amir Johnston as free agents.

Amir Johnson is a RFA......even if he wasnt he would be going anywhere. Right now, the guy is untouchable.

[-Young Buck-]

Good news from bucks camp. hehe Hopefully we will be able to keep Bell and Ilyasova from leaving Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Bucks picked up the final option years on the contracts of center Andrew Bogut and forward Charlie Villanueva on Thursday. Bogut, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft, and Villanueva, the seventh pick that year, are now signed through the 2008-09 season. Larry Harris also said that qualifying offers were made to restricted free-agent guard Charlie Bell and forward Ersan Ilyasova. That gives the Bucks the right to match any offers by other teams.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2912188

[NovU]

Good news from bucks camp. hehe Hopefully we will be able to keep Bell and Ilyasova from leaving Milwaukee.

still... bucks seems to be nowhere close to be a playoff team with current roster, and seems like a team that will stay in the deep bottom of standings for many years to come unless they hit a jackpot in draft. or they could go try drafting jianlian, will be good biz bringin worldwide attention to bucks which means $$$ for management. so i see bucks might really surprise us and pick up china's jinalina

[-Young Buck-]

Yeah i kinda hope they take Yi, he looks like a dirk type of player, which would be good to play PF and second fiddle to Redd.

[Sauru]

people keep comparing him to dirk, i personally would only draft him at the 4 spot if he was gonna be better than dirk. last thing you want is someone who is to damn timid to tell the entire team tog et on his back and enjoy the ride

[-Young Buck-]

Im going to be happy if we draft Brewer, Yi, or maybe Brandon Wright. Wright and Yi could be superstars, but they also could be busts. Brewer looks like he will be a solid player at the least. But the Bucks need to take a gamble, because right now only Redd is really stepping up. One of these draft picks needs to become a star, or Bogut/Villa need to show us something next year. I hope we dont draft Conley, im not too sure about him. Plus if we resign Mo and Bell, im thinking we dont really need him. I hope i dont regret those words. hehe. I would like to see Bell get some starts next season. He plays good D and can hit the 3 if needed, really does everything well. Even Lynn Greer showed some skill when he got a chance to shine. So i dont think our pg situation is that big of a problem that we would need to draft conley. We just need that second go to guy.

[NovU]

villa always been off the track with his attitude to improve. he's a decent player w/ big potential but i seriously doubt he'll be a piece to build on a good team. so i always saw him as a trade purpose player than a player to keep. so yeah, i think another pf would be nice, even tho it might be a bust. so i agree wid u on drafting yi or wright. and also agreed on guards situation. mo & bell are fine guards. so conley seems to be off the radar for the bucks now. otherwise, needs 2 upgrade thru trades.

[-Young Buck-]

Well ive changed my mind on Brandon Wright. I saw a video on ESPN.com that showed the celtics workouts. Wright declined to go up against anyone during the draft workout process. Does he have something to hide? I also think its better for a player to work out as if its a job interview. He seems like he just wants to walk in and get the job without showing off anything. So im really hoping that the bucks draft Brewer or Yi Jianlian.

I read that Joakim Noah and Yi Jianlian both declined workouts for the bucks. I guess they arent really willing to play for them. I dont know why players do this. I would hate to draft one of these guys to have them sit out or demand a trade. Looks like Brewer is the player very likely to land in milwaukee, if he is still left. That would be funny since Milwaukee's baseball team is called the brewers.

[Sauru]

i hate players who pull crap like that, refuse to play for a team. its the reason why i have hated steve francis for his entire career. imo that guy is the worst player in the nba.

[Ty-Land]

For all the potential that Yi has, he seems like CV 2.0. No defense or shot blocking, but an athletic, finesse 4 that likes the outside shot. No thanks.

At this stage it looks like Horford will be gone by the time the Bucks pick. Damm.

There's a rumbling that Memphis is going to offer Mo Williams a big deal, for about $9 Million per year. They have the cap space and Mo is from that area, so this is a big concern if we are to keep him.

Mo is apparently after a $9-10million per year deal, which is a lot for a guy who doesn't play a lick of D and can be a little shot happy. If this is the type of money he is after, I hope to God that Conley falls to us at 6. We let Mo go or S & T (Mo for Swift and Warrick???). Then we try and land Darko or G. Wallace (or if not have a shot at Varejao and Mo Pete). If we get Conley and Mo walks our depth before free agency really begins will be:

PG: Conley, Bell, Greer
SG: Redd, Bell, Noel
SF: Simmons, Ilyasova, Noel
PF: CV, Ilyasova, Markota
C: Bogut, Gadzuric, Markota


On a bit of a tangent, Ersan has apparently been working real hard and has gained 25lbs of muscle so far this offseason. He is only 20 years old, did put up good numbers when he got PT, and is reigning U20 European tournament MVP. He's got a bright future ahead of him. Also, CV is training but still can't shoot with his right arm, so his working hard at developing his skills with his left. Simmons is shooting, but can't run at his ankle still. Hopefully, the rehab process continues to go smoothly for these guys.

My draft board for the Bucks at this stage is:

Oden/Durant (No chance in hell...)
Horford
Conley
Green
B. Wright
J. Wright
Yi
Noah

I think we have a reasonable chance of landing Conley. It doesn't seem if the Hawks want him (over Horford at least), so the big question mark is Memphis. If they are going after Mo I assume they don't want Conley. Boston looks set to take either Yi or Green or Noah from what I have read, which is good news. If Conley is on the Board when we pick I think he is a must. He has Tony Parker like potential and is a solid perimetre defender. Also helps that he's friends with Redd (Ohio State alumni), Larry K loves him and Mo is up for big $.

Dream offseason as of today would end up like this:

PG: Conley, Bell, Greer
SG: Redd, Mo-Pete, Bell, Noel
SF: Simmons, Mo-Pete, Ilyasova, Noel
PF: CV, Darko, Ilyasova, Markota
C: Bogut, Darko, Gadzuric

That's 13 players, add a second round pick like Landry or Newley and bring in a veteran who's a good locker room presence (keep Skinner for vet min, Darrell Armstrong would be great) and I think that is a 45 win team. Fingers crossed at least...

[-Young Buck-]

no way would i want Varejao on our team. No way! As far as conley goes, i guess it wouldnt be bad, as long as we let mo go, or sign and trade him. Brewer might not be a good pick if we can sign someone like Gerald Wallace or Mo Pete. Yi and Brandon Wright are red flags at this stage for me. I hope we dont take any. Well i wouldnt mind Yi as long as he is willing to play here.

[Ty-Land]

Not a fan of Varejao? He's a very effective defensive player. When he is on the court the Cavs are a much better team. There were periods in the finals and confernce finals were his presence really helped them statistically. While he is not a good shotblocker, he is a solid man and help defender.

The thing is if we offer him a $6-7million dollar deal, it gives us a good player on the cheap or forces the Cavs into more cap trouble. Same if we offer Billups $12+ million deal, if they resign him for a similar contract we can go after McDyess or Amir Johnston, or at least cripple another division foes cap.

I really don't think we can land Wallace, as much I would love to have him on the team. Plus it would be a lot of money wrapped up in the 3 spot.

Brewer's stock has dropped a lot for me, especially as he seems to be more of a 2 guard. I don't think it can be justified drafting Redd's backup at no. 6 in a deep draft.

[-Young Buck-]

Even if Brewer is more of a 2 guard, Redd played SF with two point guards on the floor before. Of course that wouldnt work every night, but it has happened.

I dont really like Varejao because he doesnt seem to think much. He just runs around and does things on instinct. I saw a workout video with Jaokim Noah and it reminded me of Varejao. LOL.

I dont really know who we should take, im normally bad at picking good players. But i have faith in our GM. He has done a good job IMO. The only thing i didnt like was signing bobby simmons, but that can still work out next season. Him drafting Ilyasova, signing Bell, Greer, i think he has a good eye for undiscovered talent. Hopefully we can nab a decent player in round two also.

[Dean]

The Modfather

Nice.

Just wondering, how do you Bucks fans feel about Redd? Is he the guy you want to lead your team etc? Just curious..

[-Young Buck-]

The Modfather

Nice.

Just wondering, how do you Bucks fans feel about Redd? Is he the guy you want to lead your team etc? Just curious..

I like Redd, he is a proven scorer, and can hit game winning shots. I just think he needs that 2nd player that can score 15-20ppg. I think he is fine being the man, and can do it.

[maes]

Well ive changed my mind on Brandon Wright. I saw a video on ESPN.com that showed the celtics workouts. Wright declined to go up against anyone during the draft workout process. Does he have something to hide? I also think its better for a player to work out as if its a job interview. He seems like he just wants to walk in and get the job without showing off anything. So im really hoping that the bucks draft Brewer or Yi Jianlian.

I read that Joakim Noah and Yi Jianlian both declined workouts for the bucks. I guess they arent really willing to play for them. I dont know why players do this.

For high draft picks, not doing competitive workouts is common. Oden & Durant haven't done any either. I don't know how useful workouts are for top picks anyway, Kwame did well in his workouts, so did Bogut.

Noah may have a promise 3-5, Yi is definitely has "stay in China" potential if China thinks he'll be better publicity back home than in the US.

[Ty-Land]

The Modfather

Nice.

Just wondering, how do you Bucks fans feel about Redd? Is he the guy you want to lead your team etc? Just curious..

I like Redd, he is a proven scorer, and can hit game winning shots. I just think he needs that 2nd player that can score 15-20ppg. I think he is fine being the man, and can do it.

Without doubt Redd and Bogut are the foundations. Redd is the cornerstone on offense, and his game continues to expand on that end. Like Young Buck I agree the secondary scorer is needed to step up to help take the pressure off him so he can get open easier. Bogut and CV's continued development, plus the return of Bobby Simmons will help.

If this team had a solid distributor (Insert reference to Conley) rather than Mo at the point (no knock on Mo - great player, but poor on D and too shoot first for this teams needs) I think this team would be one of the best offensive units in the league. We were number 2 in the Eastern Conf. last year when healthy. Which means, if we can improve our D with little cost to our offense we are going to win a lot more games.

3 days to the draft this is how I feel:

Elated: Horford/Conley
Satisfied: Green
Will Come Around Eventually: Yi/Noah/Brewer/J. Wright
Pissed: B. Wright

It's been said on ESPN that Yi won't play for the Bucks if they draft him, that he will demand a trade straight away. That is a little concerning. Perhaps we can trade him on draft night, or perhaps he will warm to the idea. This scares me more then the bust potential he has at the moment, but I guess we shall see what happens.

[---]

Pissed: B. Wright

If I got Brandan Wright at 6 I would be incredibly happy.

People knock the kid for not having a jumpshot. I bet if he did have a jumpshot they would knock him for not being a back to the basket player and using his length. The guy is 19, he has plenty of time to develop a jumper and work on his freethrows.

If he played more minutes at UNC his freshman year people like Chad Ford wouldn't have him going all the way to Sacramento at 10 or Chicago at 9. If he played the same amount of minutes as Kevin Durant, he would be putting up monster numbers.

I seriously think he would of put up 20/9 plus 3+ blocks a game playing Durant's minutes.

He would still be the player he is right now, he just didn't get to show it. My only knock on him is his weight and free throw shooting. Gaining weight is something he should be able to do when he gets put on a program in the NBA. Freethrow shooting should come in time. Why does he even need a jumpshot? If he gets big, why use his 6-10 frame and 7-4 wingspan anywhere outside the paint?

He already has amazing skill and athletic ability for his age and seems to have a great basketball IQ.

If I were a Bucks fan I would be estactic if Atlanta, Memphis and Boston all passed on him. The only thing that would would make me hesitate is if one of those teams that passed on Wright also passed on Conley, and you had Conley and Brandan sitting there.

If he slips to Chicago I will return the blowjob to Indy when Acie Law goes ahead of Crittenton.

[-Young Buck-]

Ty-Land, just think if the Bucks were able to get someone like Billups. He knows how to run the floor, knows how to get teammates involved, and can score when needed. He would be perfect for us right now. I heard on PTI Michael Wilbon say he thinks there is a 70% chance Billups would leave detroit. Plus there were rumors of him signing with Milwaukee in the past, and him liking the idea of playing for a young up and coming team like the bucks. If we could add Billups to Redd, Simmons, Charlie, Bogut, Bell, and the number 6th pick, we would really look good on paper. Im not sure if we would have any money left, but maybe we could also sign another good piece along with Billups. The only bad thing is Billups age, most of our players are still young. But if billups can play at a high level for the next 3 years or so i wouldnt mind getting him.