Milwaukee’s Off Season

[jibbajabba614]

First off, I realize this was a 3 time eastern Conference favorite championship contender with Divac and Gill as the main stars of the squad. Secondly, this squad never came through in critical moments when it count. Milwaukee had a long rebuild; Mookie, Gill and Steve Smith were the main contributors. After trading Charles Smith for Pippen, Bucks seemed lost. After losing Pippen into free agency, Pippen became a star. It seemed Milwaukee was doomed. But a man named Mookie Blaylock changed this franchise around. He was the first to go in the rebuild/retool because of cap woes. He was traded for Vitaly Potapenko and two draft picks what became Brevin Knight and Alain Digbeu. And immediately dealt to Raptors for Lo Wright and 99 1st. And then dealt again during the season to the Rockets for a package of Hank Gathers and Kenny Smith, along with Chris Webber going to the Rockets. There goes being a franchise caliber player. What the Bucks GM didn’t realize is when you bring in a fourth max contract player, it will be tough to pay all main guys and Mookie made too much money. Bucks brought in Dennis Scott for two first round picks which became Ed Gray and Jerome James, on paper looks like a great deal. But due to having to reorganize roster became a difficult challenge. Team moved from Gill scoring to Divac. Shawn Bradley couldn’t play offense to save his life. While playing in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Nets, Bucks GM congratulated Grizzlies GM on getting the number one pick. What became a simple greet turned into a deal for Divac and Peja. Originally Grizzlies wanted Divac and Gill, like always. But Suns gave a great offer for Gill the year before so Bucks GM moved both stars during playoff time. Nets got lucky and both stars let Nets into the DASL finals! Bucks lost and the tear down followed.

First move:
Grizzlies Send:
Peja Stojakovic
Lorenzen Wright
'99 Pacers 1st
'99 Wolves 1st

Bucks Send:
Vlade Divac

Reason: Peja is like most wings, they never pan out right away. I went with this in Gill and Steve Smith. Now both are 20ppg first option scorers. Worst case you get a shot in the dark with a couple of first rounders. Lo Wright is a talented big in a cesspool of good big men. So he was just a plus taken player.

Second move:
Bucks Send:
Kendall Gill

Suns Send:
Glenn Robinson
Matt Geiger
Marcus Mann
TOR '98 1st
PHX '00 1st
PHC ‘01 1st

Reason: Suns GM will probably hate me for saying this, but it was a good deal. Why not center your team around a former number one pick who could potentially be a top player in this league. He hasn’t proven his contract but is he worth it? Time will tell. But Big Dog never landed in Milwaukee cause he ended up being dealt to Denver.

Third move:

Bunch of backyard deals;

Hornets Send:
Lorenzo Williams

Bucks Send:
Lorenzen Wright
Vitaly Potapenko
Brevin Knight

Reason: A former ROTY and a two talented big men, should of surely cost a first rounder. Although, I had two other deals in mind for present and future. One was taking a bad contract on and the other was for a future pick. Future picks are always assets when dealing for players. If you feel you can get a better player than the pick, you deal it. This deal was more centered in saving the 8 million for next year’s draft picks.

Grizzlies Send:
2000 Clippers 1st

Bucks Send:
20 pick

Reason: Lookie here, another Grizzlies deal. Yeah he offers to everyone. But I looked at it like 3 futures for Gill.

Nuggets Send:
Sasha Danilovic
1999 Bucks 1st

Bucks Send:
Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson

Reason: Honestly, I tried getting a great point guard but after Penny, KA, Kidd and Nash; it’s not much there between the youngsters. Allen Iverson is probably fifth due to his scoring but the turnovers remind you of Mookie Blaylock on a fast pace offense. And Kenny Smith is busy trying to win a ring.

Fourth move:

Kings Send:
Alan Henderson
Kings 99 1st (unprotected)

Bucks Send:
Alain Digbeu

Reason: Honestly, I did not think I’d deal him. Me and Kings talked, he offered his 99 1st. My thought was hell yes, he’s a young team. His though was hell yes, I’d get Digbeu over a player I pick in the teens. Overall, Digbeu got better in two training camps, both Bucks and Kings are hoping for a monster.

Fifth and Sixth move:
Wizards Send:
Sean Higgins

Bucks Send:
Dennis Scott

Reason: He would of cost me with more wins than Higgins. As it stands, Dennis Scott lead the league in scoring during preseason, so his future looks nice in D.C.

Raptors Send:
Mark Alarie
TOR ‘00 1st

Bucks Send:
Sharone Wright

Reason: Sharone looks the part of a franchise player, I just needed a restart. Moving outside, Sharone is more inside. As Mavs have shown, having a well balanced team is everything. With Bradley, Sharone had to go.

In the end:
I got more picks than my last rebuild. In DASL 1.0; I rarely made lots of moves but stayed winning in the regular season and losing in the playoffs. In DASL 2.0; I’m making more moves and losing more in regular season and winning more in playoffs.

[offtheheezy]

It's easy to deal with the Bucks b/c they negotiate and are always generally open or will tell you from the beginning if a deal's not happening

[jibbajabba614]

Peja
Steals
Jumping
Quickness

[Oregon Ownage]

More votes

[Oregon Ownage]

This slipped through and you never got points, post your preferences below

[jibbajabba614]

Penny
Handles
Defense rebounds

[jibbajabba614]

That was also a great rebuild. Better than my first one in 2.0. I pulled trigger too soon on Penny though…

Could be fighting for Yao and LeBron here.

[Oregon Ownage]

Penny
Handles

Done