BY GERY WOELFEL
David Griffin was in Milwaukee Monday and he wasn’t there on vacation.
Griffin, the senior vice president of basketball operations, was on a business trip, meeting with top-ranking Milwaukee Bucks officials about the organization’s vacant general manager’s position.
Griffin is one of several candidates under consideration for the Bucks’ job, which opened up two weeks ago when Larry Harris was relieved of his duties.
Griffin has been affiliated with the Suns 15 seasons. He joined the organization as an intern in the communications department in 1993 and worked in media relations for four years before moving into the basketball side of the operations.
Griffin has had a wide-range of responsibilities with the Suns and held several titles, including assistant general manager and director of player personnel.
Neither Griffin nor Bucks officials were available for comment Monday.
It is believed Bucks owner Herb Kohl wants to have a new general manger in place by the conclusion of the regular season.
The Bucks, who are bound for the draft lottery for the second straight season, play their final regular-season game on April 16.
Griffin was the second person to be recently interviewed for the GM job. Rick Sund, who began his NBA career with the Bucks in the mid-70s, recently met with Bucks officials.
Sund has worked for several NBA teams, most recently the Seattle SuperSonics. Sund was hired as the SuperSonics general manager in 2001 and was fired last year with one year remaining on his contract.
Sund and Griffin are the latest individuals to be on their radar for the GM position. The Bucks had targeted television analyst Doug Collins and former Indiana Pacers president Donnie Walsh.
However, Collins seems content working in television, and Walsh appears on the brink of accepting the position of president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks.
The Bucks also have more than a passing interest in John Hammond, the Detroit Pistons’ vice president of basketball operations.
The Bucks would have to receive permission from the Pistons to talk to Hammond and it’s unknown whether Pistons would grant it.
Hammond has played a pivotal role in the Pistons’ success, serving as president of basketball operations Joe Dumars’ top assistant.
Hammond and Dumars also have a close relationship and, unless the Bucks brass can convince Dumars that Hammond is indeed their top choice for their GM job, Dumars isn’t likely to allow the Bucks to talk to Hammond.
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