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Milwaukee Bucks (Last Year: 34-48)
Live 2009 NBA Draft Grades:
10. Brandon Jennings, PG, Italy
Jennings could be great or a bust. We’ll find out in a couple years I guess. The Bucks did need a point guard and could use some excitement on their roster. I didn’t love Jrue Holiday either so he or Jennings would have gotten a “meh”. (Pick Grade: Meh)
41. Jodie Meeks, SG, Kentucky
Having dealt Richard Jefferson, the Bucks needed to add some depth on the wing. Meeks is known as a big scorer and could be a steal. (Pick Grade: Makes Sense)
2009 NBA Offseason Transactions:
2008-09 Season Summary:
Despite finishing fourteen games below .500 and missing the playoffs for a third straight season, 2008-2009 was not a complete disappointment in Milwaukee. Consider that Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut combined to play in just 69 games, and the Bucks still managed to improve by eight games. First year head coach Scott Skiles had a lot to do with that, bringing over his hard-nosed basketball philosophy and actually getting the Bucks to play some defense.
2009-10 Projected Depth Chart:
C: Andrew Bogut/Dan Gadzuric
PF: Hakim Warrick/Ersan Ilyasova/Luc Richard Mbah a Moute/Kurt Thomas/Walter Sharpe
SF: Joe Alexander/Carlos Delfino
SG: Michael Redd/Charlie Bell/Jodie Meeks
PG: Brandon Jennings/Ramon Sessions*/Luke Ridnour/Roko Ukic
NBA Free Agents:
PF Charlie Villaneuva (UFA)
PG Damon Jones (UFA)
C Francisco Elson (PO)
2009-10 Team Salary: Approximately $60.7 million
2009-10 Expected League Salary Cap: $57.3 million
NBA Offseason Needs:
1. Point Guard – Luke Ridnour is the final year of his contract and is not the long-term answer while Ramon Sessions is eligible for free agency this off-season. A point guard is likely the direction the Bucks will go with their lottery pick seeing as young talent like Brandon Jennings, Jonny Flynn, and Ty Lawson could be on the board.
2. Defensive-minded big man – Milwaukee has been lacking a true shot blocking presence for a few years now. Andrew Bogut is smoother around the basket than he is a banger and Dan Gadzuric has one of the worst contracts in the NBA (two years left worth $13 million.) Mbah a Moute is not a true power forward and Charlie Villanueva is more of a perimeter player than an inside threat. Even if Francisco Elson or Malik Allen exercise their player options, the Bucks should still look at acquiring another big man.
3a. More depth on the wing – It was evident how thin the Bucks were on the wing when Michael Redd tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee and was lost for the season. Charlie Bell is a serviceable back-up shooting guard, but nothing more than that and there is the possibility that Redd may not fully recover in time for the start of next season.
3b. Assert the following rule: No cell phones allowed in the locker room – This way, Charlie Villanueva does not update his Twitter status during half-time of a game thus staying out of Scott Skiles’ doghouse.
Written by Paul Banks of NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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