Bucks.com: The Skiles Style
Our man Alex Boeder wrote about the Bucks' pace a number of times for us over the years (Dec 2011, Apr 2011, Feb 2011), so it figures that he would be the one to deliver a pitch-perfect summary of the Bucks' transformation into one of the league's fastest teams.

The Business Journal: A nickname for the BMO Harris Bradley Center?
"The BMOHBC" just doesn't roll off the tongue, does it?

ESPN Playbook: Player tracking transforming NBA analytics
A new system called SportVU is being used to track player and ball movement during NBA games. The possibilities that could open up with this data are astounding: tracking shot trajectories and percentages based on precise locations, calculating pick-and-roll efficiency based on the spacing of the ball handler and the roll man, etc. The smartest teams are the ones that find ways to use every bit of data available to them, so you can bet it won't be long before every franchise is taking advantage of this new information.

The Bradley Center was one of 10 arenas fitted with SportVU's tracking system this season, which has the convenient side-effect of giving us a preponderance of data on the Bucks. For example: Carlos Delfino was 2nd in the NBA (among tracked players) in rebounding percentage, grabbing 70% of rebounds he was within 3.5 feet of. And while Delfino rebounded, Brandon Jennings ran: he was 4th among tracked players in distance traveled per game, at over 2.5 miles! [- Dan Sinclair]

SportVU data was also one of the more interesting topics at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference back in March--check out Dan Devine's summary for more--and in general it's encouraging to know that the Bucks have been ahead of the curve on the technology. Credit the Bucks for making the investment--at least there's one thing about the BC that's not completely outdated--and providing stats guru Jon Nichols another analytical tool to work with. [Frank]

Bucksketball: Most likely to improve enough to make life difficult for the Bucks: Brandon Jennings
Jeremy ponders how Brandon Jennings' improvement could leave the Bucks with some very tough decisions.

SBNation.com: The All-Time Worst NBA Slogans
Jon Bois delivers some hard-hitting analysis...of NBA team slogans. Fantastic stuff.

If you assemble all the Bucks' slogans together, they're actually just the eHow article on how to bake bread.

JSOnline: Bucks media relations staff takes honor
The Bucks public relations department, headed by Dan Smyczek, won the Brian McIntyre award presented by the Professional Basketball Writers Association. Congrats and big thanks to Dan, Mark Rosenberg and Kristen Deahl.

Bucks.com: Bob Boozer passes away
Sad news: former Bucks power forward Bob Boozer, a 1960 Olympic gold medalist and member of the 1971 NBA championship, passed away last weekend at the age of 75.

Thorpe: Milwaukee Bucks need more athleticism
David Thorpe looks at the Bucks' roster and how various prospects might fit best fit with it.

TrueHoop: Luc Richard's guide to Round 2
Luc Mbah a Moute probably has plenty of time on his hands following his recent knee surgery, which apparently means more time to watch and write about the NBA playoffs.

Bucks.com: Post Season Media Guide Now Available
In case you need reading material...

WSSP: Sparky's NBA Mock Draft 1.0
It's early, but Sparky's early projection has the Bucks going with Connecticut's Jeremy Lamb.

WSBT: Skiles makes case for Indiana single class hoops (via Nick Monroe)
Scott Skiles' letter in support of single-class basketball in Indiana offers some rather interesting insight into the Bucks' coach and how winning a high school championship shaped his views of competition.

Ball Don't Lie: Bucks forward Jon Brockman loves wearing adult onesies
Yeah.

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Bucks.com: Milwaukee's Bradley Center Becomes the BMO Harris Bradley Center
It may not represent a long-term solution to Milwaukee's looming arena question, but Monday's announcement of fresh sponsorship dollars for the Bucks and the Bradley Center still represents an encouraging step in the right direction for the future of NBA basketball in Milwaukee.

Canadian (and Chicago-headquartered) bank BMO Harris' deal to rename the Bradley Center will understandably grab the headlines, but this deal is about much more than just one company tacking its name (rather awkwardly) onto the front of the aging BC. In brokering a six-year, $18 million sponsorship package, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce showed that Milwaukee's biggest corporations--Harley-Davidson, Kohl's, Rockwell Automation and Northwestern Mutual to name a few--are willing to pony up to keep the Bucks and the BC viable while a real solution to Milwaukee's arena needs can be sorted out.

"The investments by these committed local Champions will help extend the life of our building and enhance the fan experience to help assure the Center's continued success over the next few years," said Marc Marotta, Bradley Center Board chairman.

"While there is more to be done, the initial phase of this effort has certainly created a strong foundation for the bridge between the Bradley Center and the future. The investments by the local business community in the Bradley Center have set the stage for what we think can be a productive, private-public partnership. We hope others join in this effort to assure we can continue to maintain this first-class building."

While any new arena solution is likely years away, the six-year sponsorship agreement provides a convenient time horizon for figuring out what comes next, all while keeping up momentum to start a dialogue between the Bucks, the business community, the city and the state. Herb Kohl's announcement three weeks ago that he would personally contribute to a new arena was the critical first step needed to start the process, but the MMAC's role can't be underestimated either.

For the Bucks to make a compelling case for public funding, they'll have to first show that they're not simply looking for a handout. And while a big part of that is Kohl making a major contribution of his own to the cause, the economic case for a new arena won't hold much water unless local businesses also throw their financial support behind the idea. A central premise of any new arena will be the economic windfall it will bring Milwaukee businesses, but they'll have to do more than just passively support the concept.

That's why it's critical for proponents of a new building to build as broad a coalition as possible before they ask for public funding. Now isn't the right time for the ask--not with the Bucks struggling to re-establish themselves on the court and the economy still a major hot button. Gov. Scott Walker has been cool on the idea to date, and we should expect that to be the case so long as it's politically convenient. That leaves the onus on the Bucks and Milwaukee businesses to put their money where their mouths are and show that NBA basketball still makes economic sense in Milwaukee. The good news is that they're starting to do it:

Only a public-private partnership will get this done. The economic health of Milwaukee is critical to the economy of Wisconsin. And a vibrant downtown with a state-of-the-art arena that can keep the Bucks in town and attract major events can have a significant positive impact on the city's health.

The community has started the conversation on a new facility; Monday's announcement buys time for a full discussion and well-thought-out plan.

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The 2012 NBA mock draft season won't start in earnest until the draft order is set by the lottery on May 30, but it's never too early to start speculating, is it? Of course not. Below we've assembled the key dates, lottery odds and latest draft buzz about the Bucks and the draft in general.

Key Dates
Draft Lottery, May 30 (ESPN, 7 pm CT): While the lottery will determine the final order for the top 14 picks, we can already be fairly sure that the Bucks will end up with the 12th overall selection. Milwaukee has just a 2.5% chance of landing one of the top three selections--0.7% for the first overall pick, 0.8% for the second and 1.0% for the third--while there's only a 3.9% chance that either Houston or Phoenix leafrogs into the top three and pushes the Bucks down a spot to 13th (not that the odds of both jumping into the lottery and condemning the Bucks to 14th is virtually nil). That leaves close to a 94% probability that the Bucks end up at number 12.

Chicago Pre-Draft Combine, June 6-10. The top 60 or so North American prospects will be measured, tested, weighed and put through the interview paces by teams.

2012 NBA Draft, June 28 (ESPN, 6 pm CT): The 2012 draft will be held at the Prudential Center in lovely Newark, NJ starting at 6 pm CT. Don't worry, New Jersey, you may have lost your team but at least you get the draft. Aside from their lottery pick, the Bucks will also hold the 42nd overall pick. As a result of the Keyon Dooling trade in December, the Bucks would have sent the pick to Boston had it been outside the top 44.

Hit the jump for latest mocks and links...

Latest Mocks

• As we've known for quite some time, Kentucky big man Anthony Davis will be the top overall pick on June 28, but everything thereafter is a bit hazy. Davis' Kentucky teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Connecticut big man Andre Drummond, Kansas power forward Thomas Robinson and Florida shooting guard Bradley Beal seem to be in the next tier, and after that all hell breaks loose.
• DraftExpress' latest pre-lottery mock has Connecticut shooting guard Jeremy Lamb going to the Bucks at #12, ahead of point guards Damian Lillard and Kendall Marshall and Illinois big man Meyers Leonard. UPDATE: This morning DX updated its mock to show Lamb going 10th to New Orleans and the Bucks selecting UNC center Tyler Zeller.
• Chad Ford's latest mock has the Bucks nabbing Ohio State big man Jared Sullinger over Austin Rivers and Terrence Jones. Ford hasn't updated his mock in over two weeks, but then again nothing has really happened in that period either. You can also check out his position rankings here.
  
  There seem to be plenty of Sullinger skeptics out there, but at number 12 I wouldn't be complaining so long as the nagging injuries that limited him at Ohio State aren't long-term concerns. Bottom line is that every player will be flawed in the late lottery, and I wouldn't want the Bucks' crowded power forward position to dissuade John Hammond and company from taking a four/five who might be better than everyone else the Bucks have down low. Ersan Ilyasova may or may not be back next year and none of the Bucks' current big men bring the kind of low post skill and strength that Sullinger has shown dating back to his days as a high school phenom. Everyone would love for the Bucks to find a legit center to follow in Andrew Bogut's footsteps, but Sullinger could actually work pretty well next to longer, slimmer shot-blockers such as Ekpe Udoh and Larry Sanders.
• At NBA.com, David Aldridge has extensive positional previews to peruse: PG | SG | SF | PF
• Among other mocks: Hoops Report and Hoops World both have the Bucks tabbing UNC big (but skinny) man John Henson, while SBNation, NBADraft.net and Walter Football project the Bucks will end up with Henson's former UNC teammate Tyler Zeller.
• The Nets held the first big workout of the draft season over the weekend, though the crowd had a distinctly second round feel to it. Among the attendees were Marquette's Jae Crowder and Darius Johnson-Odom, with DX's Jonathan Givony reporting that DJO impressed while Crowder measured out shorter than hoped (6'3.75" in socks, 6'8.5" wingspan, 242 pounds). Nets Are Scorching has more including a video interview with Crowder.

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We come at last to the big one. Most Valuable Player. Shockingly, no Bucks player received even a single vote for the NBA's award (I blame market size), but we're not worried about that right now.

"MVP" is an ever-contested term, especially when it comes to team performance. Can a player be MVP if his team struggles? If the Milwaukee Bucks even have an MVP, the answer had better be yes. Of course, MVP's are ultimately revered for their role in winning games, something the Bucks did precisely the worst amount of this season. Maybe "Bucks MVP" is a silly proposition, given the circumstances. But all these player awards have required a certain suspension of disbelief. It hasn't stopped us yet.

Previously covered: Most Improved Player, Sixth Man of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year

Our writers have made their cases after the jump, and we want to hear from you too. Who earns the top individual award from the Milwaukee Bucks?

Mitchell: Brandon Jennings. I have to say Brandon Jennings, if only because he a) continued his improvement year-over-year, b) showed off glimpses of truly stellar play, c) was able to shake off the February funk he got himself caught in, and most importantly d) seemed to respond to the franchise placing their bets on him long-term. He's got a long way to go, and year 4 is certainly the biggest one for him and the Bucks. Dunleavy was nice, Ilyasova was sick, but Jennings is currently the most valuable to the team. Let's all hope he lives up to it.

Steve: Ersan Ilyasova. I will probably go Ilyasova here, but I don't feel particularly convinced about it. Everyone on the team did a great job sharing responsibility in the losses this year, and there were more of those than wins, but Ersan player the steadiest ball when the Bucks were most successful this season. Could the Bucks have finished with the 12th- worst record without Ilyasova? Probably. But that goes the same for everyone else, too. Whatever value the lottery-bound Bucks actually produced this season, I think Ersan was most responsible for it.

Jacob: Ersan Ilyasova. I'll have to go with Ersan as well. It's a hard pick considering how balanced overall the team was in its contributors, but for a team that didn't really end up going anywhere, Ersan stood out in the improvement he made over last year. Plus, you can't discount the excitement he generated-- If you're going to be slightly less then mediocre, you might as well do it in style. Even if he doesn't have a long term role on the team I think he made a big enough impact and gave us just enough hope to help us get through the year.

Dan: Brandon Jennings. I know I should go with Ersan Ilyasova here. I'm usually a numbers disciple when it comes to evaluating performance, but I also have one crippling weakness, and it's the guy I'm giving this award to. Ersan's production was unmatched on this squad, but I just can't tear myself away from the excitement and promise Brandon Jennings continues to taunt us with. Thankfully, he improved to the point where we can identify just one bad month, rather than just one good month. If we remove Jennings' miserable February, his TS% jumps to 53.7, slightly above-average for a starting PG. Then again, valuing sporadic three-point binges over consistent rebounding and scoring is an easy way to mess up your team, which is why it's a good thing I'm not running the Bucks. Ersan was the best player on the court this season, but in my mind, Jennings cemented himself as the franchise's most valuable player. Scary, huh?

Frank: Ersan Ilyasova. Let's be clear: I want Brandon Jennings to be the Bucks MVP, and the Bucks at this point kind of need him to be that guy, too. So it's certainly good news that he was closer than ever to living up to that billing this year, improving demonstrably as a scorer and floor general, scoring at a higher and more efficient rate while rarely turning it over. The Bucks' shift to a more up-tempo, motion-oriented offense better leveraged Jennings' open court abilities while mitigating his lack of point guard purity, spreading around the playmaking burden and helping the Bucks dramatically improve offensively (30th to 13th in OEff). While his month of February was forgettable for a number of reasons, he rebounded in the second half of the season and had no issues sharing the ball with Monta Ellis down the stretch.

But Jennings' improvement paled in comparison to that of Ersan Ilyasova, who over the course of the season catapulted himself from inconsistent sixth man to the team's most productive player. After he disappointed as a starter in the first few weeks of the season, Ilyasova was a poor man's Kevin Love over the season's final 37 games, posting 16.2 ppg, 9.6 rpg and a rather sensational .532/.488/.815 shooting line (63.2% true shooting) in that span. Though his style is complementary by nature, his value over the season's final few months was impossible to miss; aside from his impressive raw stats, Ersan was also the team's runaway leader in a number of advanced statistical metrics (PER, Wins Produced, TS%, etc). And while I'm still nervous that he might not be able to replicate or improve on his 11/12 performance in the years to come, his usual non-stop motor and newfound consistency offer up hope that he could be a useful and youthful contributor for years to come. All the Bucks have to do now is re-sign him...

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I have a love/hate relationship with NBA Mock Drafts. I love examining the process itself -- like what makes people change their picks and opinions long after the most important aspects of each prospect's career are already in the books (the competitive basketball games they played are scouted and on film) -- but I hate how everything quickly becomes a disguised riff on the what the handful of true experts have to say. Draft Express is better than almost anything else you can read for free online. That's the simple truth.

However, it's also undeniably fun to pick and project players as if we have the experience of a professional scout and the power of an NBA GM. I tracked the mock drafts last year, and that will be a project again this summer, but I wanted to start with basic prospect rankings this time.

Raw 2012 NBA Draft prospect rankings carry more weight in my mind. Mock drafts can be muddled with hearsay and "whispers" about who a team liked in workouts, or fear that a team will draft based on need, but the true rankings speak more to the "Best Player Available" mantra that everyone really wants. Straight up, who's going to be the better player? That's what I want to know from draft sites.

Draft Express and ESPN are the big players in terms of original content and scouting notes, so they will go head-to-head in my 2012 NBA Draft rankings post series. Where do the sites disagree? On which players are they aligned? Usually this information just fades into the ether as each site updates their rankings and makes the old versions disappear, but I'm going to track what happens this year. The respective draft boards are analyzed and combined in a single graph, so you can get a good look at how each players grades out.

Here's what's going on: I recorded the big board rankings from Draft Express and ESPN as of 5/12/2012, and complied a chart of the top 20 players on each site. The chart below is organized according to Draft Express' hierarchy (which is why you see the clean diagonal line of full circles) and ESPN is listed side-by-side as an open circle for comparison. The easy thing to remember is that open circles trending to the left mean ESPN is higher on a player than Draft Express, while an open circle trending to the right means ESPN is less impressed than DX.

Here is what the current landscape looks like for the 2012 NBA Draft:

The four players generating the most discord in the top 20 after the NCAA season are Arnett Moultrie (nine-slot separation), Dion Waiters (eight slots) John Henson (six slots) and Marquis Teague (six-slots). Those are big swings, but only Henson is projected to go in the Draft Lottery by either site, so the stakes aren't exactly high.

What's more amazing is that there is so much agreement on the relative value of the top prospects, even though all of those players are underclassmen and need to be projected into the NBA on smaller sample sizes. Terrence Jones (four slots) joins Henson as the only other top 14 prospect where the sites disagree by four or more slots. In a sport where the draft is always filled with lottery busts, it's pretty amazing that both sites are in near agreement on most of the underclassman lottery players.

Maybe the game film really is clear and convincing. Maybe the NBA scouts across the league have yet to influence the process. Maybe the workouts matter a lot for both sites, and the whole landscape will change in the coming weeks. Whatever happens, I will continue to update you on the process, because the process fascinates me.

Stay tuned for more.

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Welcome to the NBA offseason, Milwaukee Bucks fans. It's almost too easy to engage in over-analysis of the NBA Draft. People who have never seen the full compliment of 2012 NBA Draft prospect play for an extended period of time (read: everyone except Draft Express, myself included) will not hesitate to project and pontificate on picks and players with aplomb. It can be....exhausting.

In the spirit of content diversification, Mitchell Maurer and I are prepared to take a left turn from the late-lottery each week and bring you our nominated songs and story links. You will have the opportunity to vote on your favorites, and we will develop bragging rights along the way. This is decidedly a non-Bucks series of offseason posts. The story links can be about anything, and the songs will introduce you to artists and songs we believe you haven't heard before. It's simple, really: we present you with fun stories and new songs, and you tell us who did the better job.

If you want more coverage on the NBA Draft Lottery (May 30), Early Entry Entrant Withdrawal Deadline (4 p.m. CT, June 18), 2012 NBA Draft (June 28), 2012 NBA Free Agency (July 11), and NBA Summer League (July 13-22), we will certainly have you covered from a Bucks perspective and beyond. Don't worry. In the meantime, this is just a nice way to break up the monotonous regurgitation of Draft Express profiles and ESPN Mock Draft snippets you will see from around the web.

Volume 1 is beyond the jump.

BONUS MATERIAL: The two-part interview between Stephen Colbert and Maurice Sendak, entitled "Grim Colberty Tales with Maurice Sendak" is the last interview Sendak did before he passed away earlier this month. It's very much worth your time:

Here's Part 2:

Steve's Story Link: Bertrand Russell's 10 Commandments of Teaching

British philosopher, mathematician, and winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature, Bertrand Russell, wrote about many topics throughout his life -- including, but not limited to, metaphysics, the logic and the philosophy of mathematics, and epistemology -- but I think his 10 Commandments of Teaching from a 1951 article in The New York Times Magazine (reproduced via BrainPickings.org) is well worth checking out. Rule 1? "Do Not Feel Absolutely Certain Of Anything." Check out his other nine rules and let me know what you think in the comments.

Mitchell's Story Link: A Special Graduation Message To the Class of 2012 (NSFW)

Drew Magary is not a scientist, or a scholar, or an esteemed philanthropist. He is a husband and father who lives in Maryland, enjoys sports, has lingering body issues, tried several careers that didn't work out, and is relatively funny. He is the Everyman. If you haven't read his stuff before, I encourage you to do so, because he goes into things that we all deal with on some level but are sometimes too nervous, naive, or arrogant to recognize. He's like a text-only version of Louis C.K.

Annually since 2008, he writes a special address to the year's graduates, which serves as the polar opposite of any commencement speech you'll ever hear on a college campus. A sampling from 2008:

"You think you're gonna make a difference? You got some nerve, a--hole. You're just part of another class going through the same routine as the class before you. You're no different."

Inspiring, no? It certainly made me ready to remake the world when I graduated. But there is a lesson here that Magary glosses over, and it's one that people need to learn sooner rather than later: Too many people are going to college.

It's true! For decades now, college has been the be-all and end-all of anyone born in the USA. Go get a degree! Find your calling! Change the world. (That will be $45,000.) The last part is what we're dealing with now: too many graduates with too much debt and not enough jobs to go around.

I'm not opposed to giving everyone a shot at doing what they want. Shoot, I am a pristine example of the kid raised with the expectation of going to college whether or not it was the right option for them. But we're on top of a bubble that is just waiting to burst, like the housing market a few years ago. WHO ELSE IS EXCITED?

Steve's Song:

Mitchell's Song:

Follow @brewhoop on Twitter | Like Brew Hoop on Facebook | Join and Start Posting Content

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The NBA announced today that Oklahoma City guard James Harden won the league's Sixth Man of the Year award--predictably, in overwhelming fashion. Harden appeared in 62 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season (starting in just two), averaging 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. Harden was one of the NBA's best pure scorers, with a .660 TS% that ranked behind only dunkaholic Tyson Chandler. His playmaking came a long way as well, something very evident if you've watched the Thunder at all this postseason.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Mike Dunleavy played exceptionally well in his bench role, with per-game averages of 12.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. Dunleavy wasn't too shabby a scorer himself, ranking 9th in TS%. Anybody who watched the Bucks more than a few times this season can attest to how well Dunleavy performed in his role, as a sort of hybrid scoring/creating forward. His chemistry with backup point guard Beno Udrih evolved quickly and stayed consistent.

However, Dunleavy went largely unrecognized in the Sixth Man voting, earning only two 3rd-place votes. Not being in the playoffs sure seems to have hurt his case: only New Orleans forward Carl Landry and Portland guard Jamal Crawford joined Dunleavy as vote-getters from lottery-bound teams.

There were lots of deserving candidates behind Harden: Philadelphia's Louis Williams, Dallas's Jason Terry, and Chicago's Taj Gibson, just to name a few. Mike Dunleavy's season might not have been high-profile enough to capture national attention, but it was undeniably successful. Every Bucks fan can attest to that.

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SI.com: Bucks reportedly denied Blazers permission to interview John Hammond (via Behind the Buck Pass)
Putting an end to speculation about Portland's interest in Bucks GM John Hammond (for now), Sam Amick reports that the Bucks recently turned down the Blazers request to interview Hammond for their vacant GM position.

While nominally it would have been a lateral move, you can only assume Hammond would have been very interested in exploring a potential multi-year deal with a deep-pocketed organization that could pay him up to double his current salary. Instead, he'll finish up the final year of his contract in Milwaukee, with Herb Kohl having made clear last Friday that he's not currently interested in extending either Hammond or head coach Scott Skiles.

It's really not an ideal situation for anyone, which is precisely why there's been so much grumbling among fans. Still, Kohl appears intent on making due with what he has for now, even if he's primed the pump for wholesale changes a year from now (or sooner). Essentially the Bucks' braintrust has a year to prove itself to Kohl, with Skiles drawing the toughest task--having to manage a roster without the organization's long-term endorsement. Beyond that, the most obvious question is how the Bucks will balance Kohl's usual mandate of making the playoffs without being overly short-sighted (that's still a thing, right?). Making good decisions on that front is tough enough as is, but it's even more difficult when your GM and coach have to impress now in order to earn new contracts. Stay tuned...

Bucks.com: Luc Mbah a Moute Undergoes Successful Surgery
Thankfully no surprises here.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Luc Mbah a Moute (6-8, 230) underwent successful right knee surgery on Friday to address his patellar tendonitis, General Manager John Hammond announced today. The procedure was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. Mbah a Moute is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for training camp in October.

Same goes for free agent Carlos Delfino and his groin muscle injury, though the 29-year-old Argentine is more concerned at the moment with recovering in time for the London Olympics. Delfino faces a 6-8 week spell on the sideline, with the Olympics running from July 27 to August 12.

Bucks.com: Season's best games
Our man Alex Boeder counts down his top ten wins of the season (with video). Also at Bucks.com, Alex has another piece on former Bucks playing in the postseason.

Bucks.com: Pointed review
Truman Reed checks in with Brandon Jennings on a variety of subjects--the joys of playing with Monta Ellis, how Ersan Ilyasova might be padding his rebounding stats and how he might change things up his summer routine in 2012.

"As far as workouts. I’ll know how to pace myself," Jennings said. "During the lockout, I didn’t really know how to pace myself. I was going crazy with the workouts and playing everywhere.

"This summer will be great, just knowing that training camp starts Sept. 27."

OnMilwaukee.com: Bucks' Brandon Jennings on verge of payday or exit (via Bucksketball)
Speaking of Jennings, Jim Owczarski chimes in on his potential summer contract extension, including some interesting quotes from the end-of-season media sessions. For those worried about Jennings wanting to bolt for greener pastures, his comments last week might provide some reassurance--basically he sounds like every other guy on a rookie contract looking to get paid:

"I mean, why not?," he said. "If everything's right and my agent comes back and says this is what we should do, then I'm going to do it.

"At the end of the day, it's an NBA team. And if you ask any guy in the NBA 'Would you want to be the face of a franchise?' I'm sure 80-percent of them would say 'Yes' no matter where they're at."

So to recap: Brandon will stay if his agent says it's a good idea, which puts him in the same boat as every other NBA player who wants to be a) paid and b) given the keys to the car. Hey, as long as we don't have to hear people moan about Milwaukee winters driving players away...

And for better or worse, Jennings at this point is the face of the Bucks, even if recent arrival Monta Ellis has forced him to share the spotlight a bit. But being the face of the organization doesn't compel the Bucks to overpay him now. If he doesn't sign an extension this summer, he would only be a restricted free agent in 2013 and would need to risk accepting a one-year qualifying offer in order to hit unrestricted free agency in 2014. That typically only happens to injury risks (like Greg Oden) or in-between players that teams are hesitant to really commit to (see Nick Young). So based on the history of good-to-great players coming off rookie deals, you can be confident the Bucks will be able to retain Jennings if they really want to.

Speaking on the topic last Friday, Hammond quite logically characterized a Jennings extension this summer as nice but not required (though some valuable context was lost in the Twitter-blasting that followed). Hammond referred to it as a two-way street, and that's exactly what it is. If the Bucks are confident Jennings' price tag could rise next summer, then they'll certainly think longer and harder about making him a generous offer this summer, but even then they would have matching rights on any offer received in 2013. In other words, there's no doomsday scenario in the event nothing happens this summer.

Which raises the obvious follow up question: what will Brandon need to be paid? I certainly don't foresee Jennings' camp needing max money as suggested in the article, but they similarly don't have a burning need to get something locked up just for the sake of it. Security is nice, but you can guess Jennings and agent Bill Duffy will be working under the assumption that Jennings continues to improve and will want to price his next deal accordingly. For reference, Russell Westbrook's extension starting next year will likely be worth close to $80 million over five years, numbers that are certainly out of Jennings' league. Meanwhile, three-time all-star Rajon Rondo is owed an average of $12 million as part of his extension that runs through the next three years.

The Bucks would be wise to be cautious, though their challenge is figuring out what a cautious price tag actually is. As we've discussed in the comments, offering anything short of $8 million per season (Mike Conley money) likely won''t move the ball forward, and in my head I keep coming back to $10 million as a figure that might need to be reached to make Jennings and company sign on the dotted line. Maybe that's optimistic--after all, it's always easier to be rational in May. But it''s also a serious chunk of change for a player who is unlikely to ever be a top five player at his position, but it may well be the long-term minimum price of admission to keep Jennings in Milwaukee. And that's what makes this such a difficult decision. How tradeable would Jennings currently be if he made $10 million annually? Could the Bucks actually find a better way to spend $10 million than by giving Jennings a handsome extension?

The Bucks won't be alone in working through some of these issues over the summer. Aside from Jennings, the class of 2009 also includes Ty Lawson, Jrue Holiday, Steph Curry, Jeff Teague, Tyreke Evans, and Darren Collison, though my guess is that at most one or two of them will actually sign extensions this summer. Lawson would seem like the best bet, and the first deal to be sign will likely play a crucial role in setting the market value for everyone else. You never know how much money the Nuggets might throw at Lawson, but for the Bucks' (and every other teams') sake, let's hope they don't break the bank.

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Welcome to “Thoughts to Section 211″ which will serve as my new weekly column to share my thoughts as a fan in the seats of an NBA team. In my particular case, I’m a Milwaukee Bucks season ticket holder and stake my claim to the economically aging Bradley Center. I don’t intend with this column to break down offenses, post game recaps, or do anything resembling what a beat reporter would do. Frankly beat reporting sounds like work, and I’m merely looking for an outlet to discuss my experience as an NBA fan.

With that in mind, here we go.

The Milwaukee Bucks first preseason home game is tonight. I would be lying to you if I said I wasn’t excited to be back watching live NBA basketball, but expectations must be tempered, it’s still preseason basketball. The Bucks play the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that throttled them in their first preseason game, but the re-matchup holds a little less intrigue as Spanish phenom Ricky Rubio won’t be playing.

Besides being the first game at the Bradley Center since April of last year (the free intrasquad scrimmage is neat, but still just a glorified practice), it’s the first game since the NBA lockout and follows another off-season of major roster moves for the Bucks.

Of note with the roster moves is one that appears certainly combustible, Stephen Jackson. Now I couldn’t care less about Jackson’s emerging second career as a hip-hop artist, but I am paying to hopefully see him produce on the court and that’s the problem. Last time I remember Stephen Jackson at the Bradley Center he was getting tossed out of a game in the first quarter while playing for the Charlotte Bobcats and I was getting quite a laugh. The Bucks were clearly overmatched because of injuries, and Jackson more or less cost his team the game less than 5 minutes into it. The time before that which I can clearly remember? Brandon Jennings lighting him and the Warriors up for 55 points, to which it didn’t seem Jackson was putting in that great of an effort on the defensive end. Nothing short of not impressive.

Now he’s a member of the deer and throwing up tweets about his pining for a contract extension “First day of camp. Made it threw. I know alot of people happy. Still want what i deserve. Asap. Patience is thin.” All of which is a bit odd, because he has another year on his deal left. The reason why? The ESPN NBA Today podcast recently clued me in that Jackson was actually extended a year early in Golden State, so perhaps that’s how he believes things should work.

All that aside, Jackson had an epidural this week for his back pains. I’m sure he’s feeling great now, but I can see a day a few weeks from now where the pain comes surging back and he’s missing lots of games AND asking for a contract extension. He has the potential to be more or less Corey Maggette Part Two!

In short, I have little faith that the Stephen Jackson experiment ends well. He has the ability to score points in bunches which should be make it entertaining at least for a few games. The organization meanwhile should rush to get acquainted with how to spell his name, I’ve caught two typos calling him Steven this week already and it’s only Wednesday.

Also of note were the Bucks additions of Shaun Livingston (who I was hoping they would add as a free agent last summer) and Beno Udrih, who hopefully will bring a high efficiency style of play that should keep the team in games.

Going on the record now, despite former Badger Jon Leuer’s first game going pretty well, I don’t expect anything productive to come from him this year. Just my gut feeling, he went in the second round for a reason. I’m pretty surprised he left his German team to come to camp this year. Not how I expected the roster situation to play out there, especially given that he’s essentially slotting himself to be the 15th man and a role where he regularly dons a suit, not a jersey.

Anyway, I’ve got a lot more thoughts to share as I try to get back in the habit of writing about basketball, but it’s time to head on over to the Fortress on Fourth and watch some basketball for a change.

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In the Time of Bobby Cox

I just finished reading SLAM Executive Editor Lang Whitaker’s book about spending the past 20 years with Bobby Cox (mostly through a one-way television connection). In the Time of Bobby Cox: The Atlanta Braves, Their Manager, My Couch, Two Decades, and Me details Lang’s entry into adulthood alongside one of the greatest runs a baseball team has ever gone on (14 consecutive division titles can’t be argued against). It’s a story of one man’s love of his team.

I’ve included a short review I wrote below, but checkout the book if you’re so inclined.

I’m not a Braves fan, so I wasn’t sure if this was the book for me. On top of that, I’m not extremely knowledgeable about the history of the Braves.

Turns out, I didn’t need to be either to enjoy this book. The book is as much about Lang’s journey into adulthood as it is about the Braves, which made it an easier read than just a straight Braves history book.

I found myself engaged in the book, but it’s not something I’m going to be telling everyone I know to read (my 5-star rating standard). I’m not sure why that is, I enjoyed reading it, it just wasn’t life changing.

My next test (4-stars) is would I tell my friends that are into baseball to read it before other baseball books. I’m not sure I would. If they’re into the Braves certainly, but I’m not sure a die-hard Brewers fan gets a lot out of this book if he isn’t interested in Lang’s journey. Moneyball and others are these perspective altering books, Lang’s book is a story of a man’s journey with his team.

I’ve been a SLAM subscriber for years, and that’s what ultimately pushed me over the top to read the book. I’m glad I did. If you’re going to read just one book this year, this probably isn’t it. However, if you’re into reading about sports, you will likely enjoy this book, especially if you have a relationship with a must-watch favorite team.

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