I - Personnel Changes
FA Signings
Anthony Mason
Greg Anthony (midseason)
II - Season Recap
There are twelve teams in the NBA who finished at or below .500 in the standings last year. Quite a few of those teams were justifiably happy with their improvements, or resigned to rebuilding while they mine the lottery. The Bucks with a 41-41 record, falling one win short of the playoffs are not one of those teams who could be content with their finish.
Milwaukee has three legitimate star players, in Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson, and Sam Cassell, all in the prime of their careers. Add to the mix strong role players like Anthony Mason, Tim Thomas, and Michael Redd, and you have what is arguably the deepest roster in the Eastern Conference. They also have a "star" coach in George Karl, with plenty of experience in getting teams into the playoffs, and at least some success in the playoffs themselves. None of these factors would lead you to believe this is a .500 team. In fact, many publications had selected the Bucks are the pre-season favorites to win a weak Eastern Conference.
So what went wrong? I guess you start with Defense, where the Bucks were the 8th worst team allowing 97.7 ppg to oppenents ( they were the 8th best offensively scoring 97.5ppg), 9th worst in steals with 7.3 per game. Throw poor rebounding into the mix ( 7th worst with 41.4rpg)... oh, and bad team chemistry. Bad Chemistry?? Didn't we already anoint George Karl a "star" coach, wouldn't he have the answers to any chemistry problems? In short, no.
Even George Karl can only provide one ball to play with, and so many shots per game for each player. By the midpoint of the season, newly acquired Anthony Mason was already unhappy with his role. The entire team had tired of listening to Karl rant about heart and the need to play defense. Karl was ripping his team in public, threatening trades and the guaranteed export of one of his star players.
The team lost their heart, and ended the season losing 9 of their last 12 games, allowing both Toronto and Indiana to slip by them into the playoffs. The Bucks headed home to spend the summer thinking about their disappointing season, and who next year could possibly get better.
III - Roster
Modified version from ESPN.com
PLAYER POS. HT. WT. BORN
Ray Allen SG 6-5 205 Jul. 20, 1975
Rafer Alston PG 6-2 173 Jul. 24, 1976
Greg Anthony PG 6-1 180 Nov. 15, 1967
Jason Caffey PF 6-8 260 Jun. 12, 1973
Sam Cassell PG 6-3 185 Nov. 18, 1969
Greg Foster C 6-11 250 Oct. 3, 1968
Darvin Ham SF 6-7 240 Jul. 23, 1973
Byron Houston SF 6-5 250 Nov. 22, 1969
Ervin Johnson C 6-11 255 Feb. 21, 1967
Anthony Mason PF 6-8 255 Dec. 14, 1966
Mark Pope FC 6-10 235 Sep. 11, 1972
Joel Przybilla C 7-1 255 Oct. 10, 1979
Michael Redd SG 6-6 215 Aug. 24, 1979
Glenn Robinson SF 6-7 235 Jan. 10, 1973
Tim Thomas PF 6-10 230 Feb. 26, 1977
Stats
Modified version from ESPN.com
NAME
|
GP
|
MIN
|
PTS
|
OFF
|
DEF
|
TOT
|
AST
|
STL
|
BLK
|
TO
|
PF
|
R.
Allen
|
69
|
36.6
|
21.8
|
1.2
|
3.3
|
4.5
|
3.9
|
1.28
|
0.26
|
2.3
|
2.3
|
G.
Robinson
|
66
|
35.5
|
20.7
|
1.1
|
5.1
|
6.2
|
2.5
|
1.47
|
0.62
|
2.6
|
2.6
|
S.
Cassell
|
74
|
35.2
|
19.7
|
0.7
|
3.5
|
4.2
|
6.7
|
1.22
|
0.16
|
2.4
|
2.8
|
T.
Thomas
|
74
|
26.9
|
11.7
|
0.9
|
3.2
|
4.1
|
1.4
|
0.88
|
0.43
|
1.7
|
2.7
|
M.
Redd
|
67
|
21.1
|
11.4
|
1.1
|
2.2
|
3.3
|
1.4
|
0.63
|
0.1
|
0.9
|
1.4
|
A.
Mason
|
82
|
38.3
|
9.6
|
1.5
|
6.4
|
7.9
|
4.2
|
0.7
|
0.27
|
1.6
|
2.3
|
G.
Anthony
|
24
|
23
|
7.2
|
0.2
|
1.6
|
1.8
|
3.3
|
1.17
|
0.04
|
1.5
|
1.8
|
D.
Ham
|
70
|
17.3
|
4.3
|
1.3
|
1.6
|
2.9
|
1.0
|
0.36
|
0.53
|
1.2
|
2.5
|
J.
Caffey
|
23
|
12.3
|
4.3
|
1
|
1.1
|
2.2
|
0.5
|
0.17
|
0.22
|
0.8
|
1.7
|
R.
Alston
|
50
|
12
|
3.5
|
0.2
|
1.2
|
1.4
|
2.9
|
0.64
|
0.04
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
J.
Przybilla
|
71
|
15.9
|
2.7
|
1.1
|
2.9
|
4
|
0.3
|
0.28
|
1.66
|
0.6
|
2.8
|
E.
Johnson
|
81
|
20.5
|
2.6
|
1.8
|
4
|
5.8
|
0.3
|
0.46
|
1.01
|
0.6
|
2.7
|
M.
Pope
|
45
|
9.5
|
1.9
|
0.4
|
1.2
|
1.6
|
0.4
|
0.24
|
0.24
|
0.3
|
1
|
G.
Foster
|
6
|
4
|
1.2
|
0
|
1.3
|
1.3
|
0.2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0.7
|
Salaries and Contracts
Modified version from ESPN.com
NAME
|
SALARY
|
LENGTH
|
TOTAL
VALUE
|
GUARANTEED
|
OPTION
|
Ray
Allen
|
11,250,000
|
6
yrs.
|
70,875,000
|
2005
|
|
Tim
Thomas
|
9,675,000
|
6
yrs.
|
67,632,000
|
2006
|
|
Glenn
Robinson
|
8,990,000
|
11
yrs.
|
80,150,000
|
2005
|
|
Jason
Caffey
|
4,812,000
|
7
yrs.
|
33,861,000
|
2005
|
|
Anthony
Mason
|
4,538,000
|
5
yrs.
|
26,428,000
|
2006
|
|
Sam
Cassell
|
4,000,000
|
6
yrs.
|
21,000,000
|
2003
|
|
Greg
Anthony
|
3,940,000
|
2
yrs.
|
7,440,000
|
2002
|
2003-x
|
Ervin
Johnson
|
3,670,000
|
7
yrs.
|
20,409,000
|
2003
|
|
Greg
Foster
|
1,924,000
|
3
yrs.
|
4,545,000
|
2002
|
|
Darvin
Ham
|
1,760,000
|
2
yrs.
|
3,460,000
|
2002
|
|
Joel
Przybilla
|
1,741,000
|
3
yrs.
|
5,222,000
|
2003
|
2004-x
|
Rafer
Alston
|
625,000
|
3
yrs.
|
1,349,000
|
2002
|
|
Mark
Pope
|
591,000
|
2
yrs.
|
1,089,000
|
2002
|
|
Michael
Redd
|
465,000
|
2
yrs.
|
781,000
|
2002
|
|
IV - Positional Analysis
No lack of talent at any position but Center, but that is ok, the last thing the Bucks need is a player who want to take more shots. Talking about the need for Defense and team players would be beating a dead horse.
V - Coaching/Management
It all begins and ends with George Karl, who got the complete control of the team he wanted when he came to Milwaukee.
VI - Previous drafts
- 2001 - #52 PF Andre Hudson: Cut out of camp
- 2000
-
#15 C Jason Collier, Rights traded, with a first-round draft pick, to Houston for draft rights to Joel Przybilla. Not a trade that worked out well for the Bucks, but at least Collier was a bust too. Downside of passing on Turkoglu, Mason, and Richardson.
- #43 G Michael Redd: Great pick. Redd has become the player a lot of scouts thought he'd be before a bad slide in the draft.
- #49 PG Jason Hart: Got cut, but actually a decent pick at this point. Hart has shuttled back and forth between the minors and the NBA, and will probably be a decent backup some day
- 1999 #47 G Galen Young: Never made it.
- 1998
- #9 PF Dirk Nowitzki: F Robert Traylor to Milwaukee for the rights to C Dirk Nowitzki and F Pat Garrity. Wow, this is almost too awful to talk about. Traylor was turned into Jason Caffey, Nowitki turned into an All-Star.
- #19 PF Pat Garrity: F Robert Traylor to Milwaukee for the rights to C Dirk Nowitzki and F Pat Garrity
- #39 PG Rafer Alson: not bad for the 39th pick to still be around
VII - Your selection
Jared Jeffries - SF Indiana
Player Analysis
Jeffries has shown the commitment to getting stronger, and that is frame is able to handle the extra weight. Could be ready to contribute as a 6th man this year, although you'd prefer to see a more passionate player in that role. You just don't see his kind of talent in 6'10" players very often, so he'll be hard to pass up. Jared is probably somewhat similar to Tim Thomas, which actually may be a good things for the Bucks, giving them a strong position to trade from if they have a need. I was tempted by Chris Jefferies, who possesses many of the qualities the Bucks lack, like passion and defense, but it's just too high a pick for Chris, and you could trade down to around 20 and still have him on the board.
Usenet Analysis
Jeffries is simply the best player available on the board. I've never seen him projected below 11 in any other drafts. At the 13th pick, you take the best value available. I think this could be a Usenet climber pick, I've heard Jared is working out well.
VIII - Other Players considered
Bucks Draft Board
1.Yao Ming - can't teach 7'5", couldn't find 7'5" with 3 point range till Yao.
2.Jay Williams -would love him running point ( ok, who wouldn't? )
3.Drew Gooden - polished front-line with some inside moves, 3pt range
4.Mike Dunleavy - well-rounded star to build around, Bird-like? wow
5.Caron Butler - ready to start, maybe star soon, sure thing is hard to pass up
6.Nene Hilario - word is he's a true center
7.Chris Wilcox - No workouts yet, may hurt status, Shaq-esque at the FT line
9.Dajuan Wagner - Good combo-guard if he falls
10.Qyntel Woods - Amazing scorer, can let him develop if he falls.
11.Nickoloz Tsitishiviv - huge SF, NBA is moving towards guys like this
12.Jared Jeffries - could move up based on new muscle, is he a PF?
13.Curtis Borchardt - would likely contribute immediately
14.Marcus Haislip - shot blockers are good bets to stick around
15.Frank Williams - Could pave way to an eventual Cassell trade?
16.Chris Jeffries - Defensive stopper, Bucks need D
17.Jiri Welsch - would take over for Redd if he leaves as a FA
18.Carlos Boozer - Can start at PF for Bucks now?
19.Kareem Rush -Potential Redd replacement, but too Allen-like.
20.Amare Stoudemire - Projects low on this board, Bucks need help now
IX - Other Moves
We sit anxiously awaiting to see if Karl will break up the big three for the Bucks. I wouldn't rule out a draft day deal, but that would probably be to trade the pick for a veteran player who can help immediately.
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