Posted by:
gwoelfel on
August 13, 2008 at
3:45PM CST
BY GERY WOELFEL
When I talked to John Hammond shortly after he became the Milwaukee Bucks’ general manager four months ago, he said he intended to “tweak’’ the roster.
As it turns out, Hammond’s definition of “tweak’’ is noticeably different than Webster’s.
Since assuming the Bucks’ GM reins, Hammond has radically revamped the Bucks’ roster.
First, Hammond traded the incumbent starting power forward Yi Jianlian to New Jersey that brought the Bucks small forward Richard Jefferson.
Then, on Wednesday, Hammond traded two more starters from last season, sending point guard Mo Williams to Cleveland and small forward Desmond Mason to Oklahoma City as part of a three-team deal.
As part of the transaction, the Bucks acquired point guard Luke Ridnour and swingman Adrian Griffin from Oklahoma City and ex-Bucks guard Damon Jones from Cleveland.
Ridnour was clearly the key to the deal for the Bucks.
While he is coming off a disappointing season – he averaged 6.4 points and 4 assists in 61 games primarily as a backup – he played well in his three previous seasons.
Two years ago, Ridnour averaged 11 points and 5.2 assists. What's more, Ridnour is also considered a consummate team player who looks to get his teammates involved in the offense.
"In continuing the process of evaluating our roster, we think the addition of Luke Ridnour is another piece to improving it,'' Hammond said.
"When you look at certain guys who play point guard in this league you sometimes say: 'Is he a one or a two?'
"Luke Ridnour is a one. He has been, is today and always will be a point guard.
"We like our wings, Michael Redd at one of them and Richard Jefferson at the other wing. When you look at Luke Ridnour's career, he was most effective when he had Ray Alllen and Rashard Lewis on the wings.
"And, if you look at their careers, Ray Allen had three of his four highest-scoring averages, and Rashard Lewis had his three highest scoring averages and Luke Ridnour was the point guard.''
While acquring Ridnour may have surprised some observers, trading Williams wasn't. The Bucks have been shopping Williams all summer -- despite the fact he was coming off an outstanding offensive season in which he had averaged 17.2 points and 6.3 assists.
But Williams played abysmal defense and some of his teammates quietly complained about his selfishness on the court, often-times neglecting to pass the ball to teammate and taking a shot himself.
"The Cavs have had their eyes on Mo for a long time,'' said Mark Bartelstein, Williams' agent. "They talked about him when he was a free agent last summer.
"Mo's excited about going to Cleveland. He enjoyed his time in Milwaukee and liked being there. But he thinks this is a great opportunity for him.''
Ditto for Ridnour.
"He's extremely excited about coming here,'' Hammond said.
There has been speculation that Ramon Sessions could become the Bucks' starting point guard if Wililams was traded.
Sessions played well late last season when Williams was injured and set a franchise-record with 24 assists against the Chicago Bulls.
But Hammond made it clear that Ridnour is the starter.
"There's always open competition,'' Hammond said. "But when you move a starting point guard (Williams) and acquire a point guard, you expect that point guard to be the starter.''
As for Mason, his departure was hardly stunning, either. Not only did the Bucks acquire Jefferson, one of the best players at his position in the NBA, but they expended their No. 1 draft pick on Joe Alexander of West Virginia.
Mason started 56 of the 59 games he played in last season for the Bucks, averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds. Mason played collegiately at OklahomaState and is good friends with Thunder owner Clay Bennett.
Jones and Griffin are journeymen players: Jones, who played for the Bucks 2003-2004 season when he averaged 7 points, will be entering his 11th pro season.
He played in 67 games last season for Cleveland, averaging 6.5 points and 1.9 assists in 19.90 minutes.
Griffin will be entering his 10th with Milwaukee being his sixth team. He played for Chicago and Seattle last season, averaging 1.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 35 games.
"Both players have veteran experience and you can never have too much veteran experience and leadership on your roster,'' Hammond said.
Both Jones and Griffin are also in the final years of their contracts, thus giving the Bucks some flexibility next summer.
The trade didn't become official until late Wednesday afternoon as paperwork still needed to be completed.
What’s more, some of the players involved in the trade hadn’t been informed of their fate, including Mason who was on a plane flight.
I think this team is starting to shape up... Could MKE have a winner? This year may still have a bunch of bumps, but give Hammond some time to truly fix the mess Harris left him...
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