[high floorParticipant]

John Hammond of the Milwaukee Bucks is one of the more interesting GM’s in the league today. He’s active at the trade deadline, makes bold draft decisions, and for the most part has avoided the tanking philosophy like most "middle of the road" NBA teams. I thought it’d be fun to grade 14 significant moves he’s made since taking over as GM in 2008.

1.) Hired Scott Skiles – Runner up coach of the year in 2010. Compiled 162 wins versus 182 losses in 5 years. Missed playoffs in 2009, 2011, 2012. Grade: C 

2.) Drafted Joe Alexander – 8th overall. One season with Bucks, out of the league after year two. Grade: F

3.) Traded Yi Jinlian & Bobby Simmons for Richard Jefferson – Achieved their best win/loss record of the Skiles era the year after this trade. Reached 2nd rd. of playoffs. Grade: B

4.) Drafted Brandon Jennings – Good rookie season. Starting pg for a 2nd rd. playoff team. Drafted ahead of Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague & Taj Gibson. Grade: B

5.) Traded Andrew Bogut & Steven Jackson for Monta Ellis & Ekpe Udoh – I like Monta Ellis, but am usually not a proponent of trading "Bigs" for guards. Plus Ellis left in FA the following season. Grade: C

6.) Drafted John Henson – History is still being written for this draft decision, but I liked it. Henson has the potential to be an elite rim protector with starter’s minutes. Grade: B

7.) Fired Scott Skiles – The team was stalling, and he didn’t get along with management or his players. Grade: B+

8.) Larry Sanders Extension – Wow. It didn’t seem like a bad move at the time. The "Larry Sanders" show was in full effect & he was looking like a defensive anchor for years to come. Character matters, and Hammond has to get a low grade due to his recent buyout. Grade: D

9.) Hired Larry Drew – Ugh. It didn’t seem like a terrible decision at the time either, and he was one of the better coaches on the market as he consistently led Atlanta to the postseason. But dang… they were terrible his 1st (and only) year. Grade: D

10.) Drated Giannis Antetokounmpo – Outstanding pick, especially being outside the lottery & for how little the rest of the field knew about him. Grade: A

11.) Traded Brandon Jennings to Detroit for B. Knight & K. Middleton – I thought this was a pretty good trade Knight & Middleton were good prospects. Middleton is definitely a part of their long-term goals. Grade: B+

12.) Drafted Jabari Parker – Another great pick. Jabari was looking great until he went down with the ACL injury & the Bucks were winning. Grade: A 

13.) Hired Jason Kidd – This is looking like a great move. Kidd can coach. I don’t think anybody outside of the Bucks Front Office thought they’d be the #6 seed in the East this year. Grade: A

14.) Traded Brandon Knight for MCW & Miles Plumlee: I have to give this one an incomplete since MCW hasn’t played a game. I like their potential on defense more after this move. Grade: I 

*Feel free to weigh in on 2nd round choices, the OJ Mayo extension, and other moves.

[high floorParticipant]

Hammond was torn a new one by his fan base for this move. Not really sure what Tobias’ ceiling is to this day, but he’s proven to be the best player involved on that deal. Plus he was on a rookie contract & under team control for 3 seasons while JJ was an expiring. Grade: C-

[high floorParticipant]

Hammond was torn a new one by his fan base for this move. Not really sure what Tobias’ ceiling is to this day, but he’s proven to be the best player involved on that deal. Plus he was on a rookie contract & under team control for 3 seasons while JJ was an expiring. Grade: C-

[machu46Participant]

That trade deserves much worse than a C-.  Milwaukee traded one of their best prospects that everyone knew had potential for half a season of playing JJ Redick at SF with Jennings and Ellis.  Just a brutal trade in every sense.

[machu46Participant]

That trade deserves much worse than a C-.  Milwaukee traded one of their best prospects that everyone knew had potential for half a season of playing JJ Redick at SF with Jennings and Ellis.  Just a brutal trade in every sense.

[Anton123Participant]

I am not exactly certain what I feel about the Knight trade, but I sure am excited. The Sanders situation is extremely sad, a line up of: Carter-Williams-Middleton-Antetokounmpo-Parker-Sanders could have been scary, it has slashing, shooting, defense and shot creators.

Now I wonder what the Bucks will do with their centre spot. I love the Parker-Antetokounmpo forward combo, I like Carter-Willams as a facilitator and Middleton as a shooter to space the floor and score when needed. They need a guy in the middle who can really rebound and block shots, because this is not a strong suit of either Gianiss or Jabari.

 

[Anton123Participant]

I am not exactly certain what I feel about the Knight trade, but I sure am excited. The Sanders situation is extremely sad, a line up of: Carter-Williams-Middleton-Antetokounmpo-Parker-Sanders could have been scary, it has slashing, shooting, defense and shot creators.

Now I wonder what the Bucks will do with their centre spot. I love the Parker-Antetokounmpo forward combo, I like Carter-Willams as a facilitator and Middleton as a shooter to space the floor and score when needed. They need a guy in the middle who can really rebound and block shots, because this is not a strong suit of either Gianiss or Jabari.

 

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 They basically got two players who are better than Jennings on both ends of the floor who were both on rookie contracts.  Saving money and getting more talented.  And Middleton is probably the team’s starting SG of the future, while Knight was traded for three young players who could become good rotation players, plus the cap space that comes with having them on rookie contracts.

[high floorParticipant]

Jennings was playing really, really well between the Josh Smith waiving and the rupturing of his Achilles. But given the rookie contract status of both players, that B. Knight was almost an All Star this year, and Middleton has looked great the past 2 months, I probably should have graded higher.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Jennings issue is playing consistently well for a while.  He has had crazy good hot streaks his entire career.  He has also had prolonged slumps every season of his career.  At this point, I just can’t give him the benefit of the doubt that any hot streak is truly a sign he has turned a corner.  And he still is a bad off-ball player who is a terrible defender, so his value is limited when he is not playing with all-star level production.

It is possible that I am overreacting to Middleton’s own hot streak, but considering he has made steady progress during his two seasons with the Bucks, has developed into an outstanding defender, generally has solid shot selection and has some of the best adjusted on/off splits in the league, I have more faith in his helping his team win. I think Middleton could be a Wes Matthews or Arron Afflalo-esque player in his prime.  His shooting efficiency is really good – 57.2% True Shooting – and his post game is excellent for a wing player.

 

[B-ball fanParticipant]

Jennings issue is playing consistently well for a while.  He has had crazy good hot streaks his entire career.  He has also had prolonged slumps every season of his career.  At this point, I just can’t give him the benefit of the doubt that any hot streak is truly a sign he has turned a corner.  And he still is a bad off-ball player who is a terrible defender, so his value is limited when he is not playing with all-star level production.

It is possible that I am overreacting to Middleton’s own hot streak, but considering he has made steady progress during his two seasons with the Bucks, has developed into an outstanding defender, generally has solid shot selection and has some of the best adjusted on/off splits in the league, I have more faith in his helping his team win. I think Middleton could be a Wes Matthews or Arron Afflalo-esque player in his prime.  His shooting efficiency is really good – 57.2% True Shooting – and his post game is excellent for a wing player.

 

[high floorParticipant]

Jennings was playing really, really well between the Josh Smith waiving and the rupturing of his Achilles. But given the rookie contract status of both players, that B. Knight was almost an All Star this year, and Middleton has looked great the past 2 months, I probably should have graded higher.

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 They basically got two players who are better than Jennings on both ends of the floor who were both on rookie contracts.  Saving money and getting more talented.  And Middleton is probably the team’s starting SG of the future, while Knight was traded for three young players who could become good rotation players, plus the cap space that comes with having them on rookie contracts.

[Sewok15Participant]

Defense was already the strength of the Bucks obviously since they are 2nd in the league in scoring defense so the Knight-MCW trade didn’t make that much sense to me. They must be buying into the potential of MCW developing offensively which isn’t something I am buying into and the Sixers certainly didn’t considering they traded him for a shot at the 7th overall pick fresh of a ROY season.

Knight is one of the top 5 shooting PG’s in the NBA especially from 3. MCW is easily one of the worst shooting PG’s in the league. I think Knight spacing the floor is more valuable then MCW distributing. Knight could play off the ball when it was in The Greak Freak or eventually Jabari’s hands but MCW is not an effective off the ball player.

If you are trying to continue to build a long defensive oriented team I guess MCW helps your cause but if you are trying to build a team that can score over 90 points a game he isn’t the guy at least right now. I think he will have trouble integrating because he won’t have the ball nearly enough and will have trouble making decisions of when to attack which will result in more bad shots and turnovers. It could go the other way and he could play way more efficient with better talent around him but I just don’t have a feeling he will fit with this team as well as Knight did.

[machu46Participant]

If you factor in that Milwaukee wasn’t going to re-sign Knight, this trade was a slam dunk.

Personally, I like what Knight brought to the team, but I’m not sure he was ever going to develop into a primary ball-handler on a contending team.  Maybe Milwaukee didn’t need him to be given the passing abilities of Giannis, Jabari, and Middleton, but I can definitely understand the allure of a guy like MCW that can do literally everything you want in a PG besides shooting (and Milwaukee also believes MCW is one small tweak away from being a decent shooter, which they plan to address in the offseason).

So getting a guy that could very well become better than Knight, plus a 2014 1st round pick that can develop into the backup PG, plus an athletic big man that they can use in terms of rebounding and blocking shots is a pretty good haul for a guy that they didn’t think was the PG of the future.

 

 

[machu46Participant]

If you factor in that Milwaukee wasn’t going to re-sign Knight, this trade was a slam dunk.

Personally, I like what Knight brought to the team, but I’m not sure he was ever going to develop into a primary ball-handler on a contending team.  Maybe Milwaukee didn’t need him to be given the passing abilities of Giannis, Jabari, and Middleton, but I can definitely understand the allure of a guy like MCW that can do literally everything you want in a PG besides shooting (and Milwaukee also believes MCW is one small tweak away from being a decent shooter, which they plan to address in the offseason).

So getting a guy that could very well become better than Knight, plus a 2014 1st round pick that can develop into the backup PG, plus an athletic big man that they can use in terms of rebounding and blocking shots is a pretty good haul for a guy that they didn’t think was the PG of the future.

 

 

[Sewok15Participant]

Defense was already the strength of the Bucks obviously since they are 2nd in the league in scoring defense so the Knight-MCW trade didn’t make that much sense to me. They must be buying into the potential of MCW developing offensively which isn’t something I am buying into and the Sixers certainly didn’t considering they traded him for a shot at the 7th overall pick fresh of a ROY season.

Knight is one of the top 5 shooting PG’s in the NBA especially from 3. MCW is easily one of the worst shooting PG’s in the league. I think Knight spacing the floor is more valuable then MCW distributing. Knight could play off the ball when it was in The Greak Freak or eventually Jabari’s hands but MCW is not an effective off the ball player.

If you are trying to continue to build a long defensive oriented team I guess MCW helps your cause but if you are trying to build a team that can score over 90 points a game he isn’t the guy at least right now. I think he will have trouble integrating because he won’t have the ball nearly enough and will have trouble making decisions of when to attack which will result in more bad shots and turnovers. It could go the other way and he could play way more efficient with better talent around him but I just don’t have a feeling he will fit with this team as well as Knight did.

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I wonder who they draft at 18 (where they are now).

I would think that Frank Kaminsky would get a look.  He plays at Wisconsin, would give them a center for their young core, and he can also shoot outside.  

Then in the 2nd round, they can go after a 3 and D type guy.  

 

 

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I wonder who they draft at 18 (where they are now).

I would think that Frank Kaminsky would get a look.  He plays at Wisconsin, would give them a center for their young core, and he can also shoot outside.  

Then in the 2nd round, they can go after a 3 and D type guy.  

 

 

[Moon RiverParticipant]

Hiring of Larry Drew.  I think a D is a bit harsh given they lost a ton of games and ended up with Jabari Parker.  Thats not an A given they stunk up the joint, but the end result was worth it and would give him a B for that.

[Moon RiverParticipant]

Hiring of Larry Drew.  I think a D is a bit harsh given they lost a ton of games and ended up with Jabari Parker.  Thats not an A given they stunk up the joint, but the end result was worth it and would give him a B for that.

[sitlbitoParticipant]

For the lack of improvements of MCW we often forget that he was njured in the offseason,which is the moment where he should/could have worked on his jumpshot. I’d wait at least to other offseasons with a shooting specialist to see how it works.

[sitlbitoParticipant]

For the lack of improvements of MCW we often forget that he was njured in the offseason,which is the moment where he should/could have worked on his jumpshot. I’d wait at least to other offseasons with a shooting specialist to see how it works.

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