Most people think that the Bucks will be the worst team in the Eastern Conference and possibly the league next season. I don't think any differently. General Manager Ernie Grunfeld did a downright awful job until he was fired. He sent the team into a downward spiral. Luckily the Bucks hired one of the smartest guys available to take his place a few months ago in Larry Harris. Harris has already made tonnes of smart moves including firing head coach George Karl and signing Jones, Strickland, Santiago, and Skinner. Unfortunately he came too late. The Bucks look out of the playoff picture this season, but I think he could rebuild them quite nicely. Let's look at the Buck's team position by position and see what Harris could do to improve them. Center: The Center position has always been a weekpoint for the Bucks and it seems that this season will be no exception. They traded away Ervin Johnson and waived Jamal Sampson earlier this offseason when Grunfeld was the General Manager. Those were two small mistakes in my opinion. The Bucks need all the help that they can get. When Harris was hired he immediately signed two of the best Free Agent centers in Daniel Santiago and Brian Skinner. They will both be backing up second year player, Dan Gadzuric, but they will both have very important roles coming off of the bench. Next draft the Bucks should draft a Center in the first round. Bucks Last Season - Dan Gadzuric/Joel Pryzbilla/Ervin Johnson Bucks This Season - Dan Gadzuric/Brian Skinner/Daniel Santiago/Joel Pryzbilla Power Forward: The Bucks are strong at Power Forward this season, but in a way it they are too strong. The Bucks should have either never traded for Joe Smith or traded one of their other Power Forwards. Currently they have three Power Forwards. Joe Smith is their first one. Smith has been a question mark since he was drafted. He could never really get more than sixteen points per game. He has really shown to be one of the biggest number one pick busts of all time. He still has an outside chance of being something great though. His main backup is Anthony Mason. Somehow he has been rumored to go to Los Angeles, but there is little truth to that obviously. Mason used to be great in Charlotte and Miami. He still has some fight in him. He'll be a very consistant backup. Then at the end of the bench the Bucks might sign Szymon Szewczyk from Poland. Bucks Last Season - Anthony Mason/Marcus Haislip/Jamal Sampson Bucks This Season - Joe Smith/Anthony Mason/Szymon Szewczyk Small Forward: The Bucks have a little bit of everything at Small Forward. A veteran in Toni Kukoc. A player in his prime with Tim Thomas. And an up and coming young guy with potential in Marcus Haislip. The Bucks don't really have a problems here. They are just fine. Bucks Last Season - Tim Thomas/Toni Kukoc/Jason Caffey Bucks This Season - Tim Thomas/Marcus Haislip/Toni Kukoc/Jason Caffey Shooting Guard: The place where the Bucks have the most strength and depth is here at the Shooting Guard position. They start their second best player, Desmond Mason, and he is backed up by 6th Man of the Year runner up Michael Redd. They also have recently signed veteran Damon Jones incase one of the two players goes down. Bucks Last Season - (Ray Allen)/Desmond Mason/Michael Redd Bucks This Season - Desmond Mason/Michael Redd Point Guard: Former General Manager Ernie Grunfeld screwed the Bucks over at Point Guard when he traded Cassell to Minnesota and let Payton slip through his fingers. Thankfully he had enough common sense to draft Terrence Ford with the eigth overall pick in the draft. Since General Manager Lenny Harris has taken over the Bucks have signed Free Agent Point Guard, Erick Strickland to backup Terrance Ford. Point Guards are important to have in the East and Milwaukee doesn't have a good one. Bucks Last Season - Gary Payton/Sam Cassell Bucks This Season - Terrance Ford/Erick Strickland Entire Rosters - Last Season: C - Dan Gadzuric/Joel Pryzbilla/Ervin Johnson PF - Anthony Mason/Marcus Haislip/Jamal Sampson SF - Tim Thomas/Toni Kukoc/Jason Caffey SG - (Ray Allen)/Desmond Mason/Michael Redd PG - Gary Payton/Sam Cassell This Season: C - Dan Gadzuric/Brian Skinner/Daniel Santiago/Joel Pryzbilla PF - Joe Smith/Anthony Mason/Szymon Szewczyk SF - Tim Thomas/Marcus Haislip/Toni Kukoc/Jason Caffey SG - Desmond Mason/Michael Redd PG - Terrance Ford/Erick Strickland
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Spartanfan2003:</div><div class="quote_post">Most people think that the Bucks will be the worst team in the Eastern Conference and possibly the league next season. I don't think any differently. General Manager Ernie Grunfeld did a downright awful job until he was fired. He sent the team into a downward spiral. Luckily the Bucks hired one of the smartest guys available to take his place a few months ago in Larry Harris. Harris has already made tonnes of smart moves including firing head coach George Karl and signing Jones, Strickland, Santiago, and Skinner. Unfortunately he came too late. The Bucks look out of the playoff picture this season, but I think he could rebuild them quite nicely. Let's look at the Buck's team position by position and see what Harris could do to improve them. </div> The whole reason for the Ray Allen for GP trade was to dump cap the following season. Reason being, that team wasn't going anywhere, so the Bucks decided to rebuild. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Center: The Center position has always been a weekpoint for the Bucks and it seems that this season will be no exception. They traded away Ervin Johnson and waived Jamal Sampson earlier this offseason when Grunfeld was the General Manager. Those were two small mistakes in my opinion. The Bucks need all the help that they can get. When Harris was hired he immediately signed two of the best Free Agent centers in Daniel Santiago and Brian Skinner. They will both be backing up second year player, Dan Gadzuric, but they will both have very important roles coming off of the bench. </div> Say what you want about Skinner, but he is more of a PF. Of course he will be asked to play some minutes at center, and in the East he can get away with it. But he wont make a huge difference. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Power Forward: The Bucks are strong at Power Forward this season, but in a way it they are too strong. The Bucks should have either never traded for Joe Smith or traded one of their other Power Forwards. Currently they have three Power Forwards. Joe Smith is their first one. Smith has been a question mark since he was drafted. He never could really get more than sixteen points per game. He has really shown to be one of the biggest number one pick busts of all time. He still has an outside chance of being something great though. His main backup is Anthony Mason. Somehow he has been rumored to go to Los Angeles, but there is little truth to that obviously. Mason used to be great in Charlotte and Miami. He still has some fight in him. He'll be a very consistant backup. Then at the end of the bench the Bucks might sign Szymon Szewczyk from Poland. </div> Mason is nothing anymore. He will muscle you, but thats it. He hasn't had any positive effect since signing with Milwaukee. Milwaukee would love to move him, but no team wants him really at his current salary. Joe Smith is decent. Moving out East may help him, but the same thing was said about Vin Baker(although Baker is overweight, where Smith is a twig). <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Small Forward - The Bucks have a little bit of everything at Small Forward. A veteran in Toni Kukoc. A player in his prime with Tim Thomas. And an up and coming young guy with potential in Marcus Haislip. The Bucks don't really have a problems here. They are just fine. Bucks Last Season - Tim Thomas/Toni Kukoc/Jason Caffey Bucks This Season - Tim Thomas/Marcus Haislip/Toni Kukoc/Jason Caffey </div> When Milwaukee drafted Haislip, their intentions where to have him be their PF. I still believe that is what they want in the future, bec. Ford/Mason/Thomas/Haislip is what they are counting on in their current rebuild mode. Should they land the #1 pick, Emeka Okafor might be their center next year. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Shooting Guard - The place where the Bucks have the most strength and epth is here at the Shooting Guard position. They start their second best player, Desmond Mason, and he is backed up by 6th Man of the Year runner up Michael Redd. They also have recently signed veteran Damon Jones incase one of the two players goes down. Bucks Last Season - (Ray Allen)/Desmond Mason/Michael Redd/ Bucks This Season - Desmond Mason/Michael Redd </div> This is their strength, I agree. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> Point Guard - Former General Manager Ernie Grunfeld screwed the Bucks over at Point Guard when he traded Cassell to Minnesota and let Payton slip through his fingers. Thankfully he had enough common sense to draft Terrence Ford with the eigth overall pick in the draft. Since General Manager Lenny Harris has taken over the Bucks have signed Free Agent Point Guard, Erick Strickland to backup Terrance Ford. Point Guards are vital to success in the East and without one Milwaukee is sunk. Bucks Last Season - Gary Payton/Sam Cassell Bucks This Season - Terrance Ford/Erick Strickland</div> Here is where I disagree. Payton was let go bec. he wanted to leave. He wanted a ring. There was nothing Milwaukee could do, except a S&T. But what did LA have to offer? Probably not much that interested Milwaukee. Rush would have just added to their glut of SGs. And Milwaukee is looking to dump cap. He was a goner. And the Cassell trade was necessary, unfortunetly. Had they not completed it, the Bucks would have to pay the L.T after signing TJ Ford. Herb Kohle doesn't want to pay the L.T., so they had to shave a million off their payroll. That whole trade was about getting enough under the LT threshold to sign Ford and avoid ramifications of the luxury tax. So the choice was, Cassell or Ford? Since Milwaukee is rebuilding......it makes sense they kept Ford.
