Bucks Should Have Hired Bill Simmons

Smile RJ, you're leaving Milwaukee

Back in 2008, a grass-roots Internet campaign was started to get ESPN columnist Bill Simmons hired as the Milwaukee Bucks General Manager.  Instead, the Bucks hired John Hammond and all of a sudden, things are going incredibly well for Milwaukee.  Except, you know, the opposite of that. 

Last season, the Bucks gave away Mo Williams to help the Cavs build a championship caliber team around LeBron.  In exchange, they received Luke Ridnour, Adrian Griffin and Damon Jones.  That group is also known as a stop-gap point guard and the penny-pincher special.  Griffin never played for the Bucks and Jones saw action in only 18 games while waiting for his contract to expire this off-season.  In Milwaukee’s defense though, Damon Jones seemingly is only in the league so he can be included in trades and have his salary come off the books.  He may get into the Hall of Fame because of it. 

This off-season, Hammond declared that trades wouldn’t fix the Bucks and they were solely concentrating on the draft.  Well, he was half-right.  A trade didn’t fix the Bucks, but they made one anyway.  Richard Jefferson has been dealt to San Antonio for the corpses of Bruce Bowen and Kurt Thomas, plus Fabricio Oberto.  The deal would give Milwaukee an additional $15-million for next year’s off-season, but they seem to want to cut Bowen and Oberto to save $6.35-million this season.  After the dust settles, the Bucks will have traded their second leading scorer for a 39-year old role player. 

If you’re a fan in Milwaukee, killing yourself is no longer against the law or against your religion.  I’m not condoning it, but I don’t have to live in Wisconsin and cheer for the Bucks, so what do I know. 

In case you were curious, the Bucks starting line-up for next year will likely be Luke Ridnour, Michael Redd, Charlie Villanueva, Andrew Bogut and a fan dressed in all black at small forward.  Did I mention Redd tore up his knee in January?  Did I also mention he will be demanding a trade well-before next January? 

Milwaukee won 34 games last season.  I predict they’ll win 34 again, but it will take them two years to do it.

Tags: basketball, Michael Redd, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Richard Jefferson, San Antonio Spurs

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