2007-2008
Finish: 32-50
What went…

Welcome back to another edition of Team By Team: Special Trade Craziness Edition! This time we focus on the Milwaukee Bucks. Like the Phoenix Suns, this team has gone through so many incarnations this season that is almost impossible to keep up with who is still playing in Milwaukee. Top it all off with a cranky GM who values youth and take a look at why so many trades pushed Milwaukee out of playoff contention and into the rebuilding position they are in now.

After signing draft pick Aaron Gray and letting go Patrick O’Bryant, GM Badwolf went on a trading spree that seemed hell bent on ditching all the team’s best players for youth, glorious youth. Once again, a GM decided that inexperience will mean glory but judging by the Bucks’ final record, these maneuvers didn’t work out for the best.

1) The Milwaukee Bucks send Antawn Jamison and Jerome James to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Joel Przybilla, Jared Jeffries, Josh Childress, Amir Johnson, Anthony Parker and Wilson Chandler to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Woof! What a deal to dissect. Of course, if it’s a blockbuster, Minnesota is involved. Bucks send away team star Jamison and deadweight James for six players! Pryzbilla isn’t much better than James in total games played, Jeffries has a horrible contract while Chandler and Johnson are completely unproven. Childress and Parker are nice pick-ups but neither can match the muscle of Jamison, who may be declining in age but still plays some great basketball. So what’s the Bucks going to do with all these guys?

2) The Charlotte Bobcats send Bostjan Nachbar, Martell Webster and Brandan Wright to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Bucks send Michael Redd, Fran Vazquez, Bobby Jones and Aaron Gray to the Charlotte Bobcats.

The good people of Milwaukee must have choked on their PBR when they saw this deal. Michael Redd? You can’t be serious! He’s the heart and soul of this club. Ditching no-show Vazquez and the other guys don’t mean anything, but Redd? At least the Bucks got someone like Kobe Bryant back, right? Wrong. They got Nachbar, three-point specialist Webster and rookie Wright. Redd went on to have a career year in Charlotte. Beer sales went through the roof in Wisconsin.

3) The Milwaukee Bucks send Adrian Griffin and Tyronn Lue to the New Orleans Hornets. The New Orleans Hornets send Jason Collins to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Great! Another big man that never plays and has a horrendous contract. Griffin and Lue aren’t much better…but still. After this trade the Bucks are ready to start the season. Will this team stay intact? NB: The Bucks release Collins less than a week later and sign bust Hilton Armstrong.

Some time goes by before the next trade. Holdout Anderson Varejao signs and the team flushes Jeffries into free agency, adding another player they have to pay that’s not on the roster. What’s a good way to feel better? How about another trade?

4) The Milwaukee Bucks send Anderson Varejao to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Minnesota Timberwolves send Othella Harrington and Thaddeus Young to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Bucks send a 2nd-Rounder (Mil) to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Take that, Varejo! You don’t want to sign with Badwolf? I’ll call up Minnesota and offer him a trade. He’ll eat anything, right Mikey? Bucks luck out by getting Young, who has a lot of potential. But it seems they are accumulating every broken down big man in the league by grabbing Harrington. Varejao does have some promise, but after his pre-season shenanigans, they are much better off with Young. NB: Harrington is released soon after. The waiver wire is now wearing only Bucks uniforms.

5) The Miami Heat send Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Jannero Pargo and Andrew Bogut to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Bucks send Hidayet Turkoglu, Drew Gooden, Bostjan Nachbar and Hilton Armstrong to the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat send a 1st-Rounder (Utah) to the Milwaukee Bucks.

You know who the Bucks were missing? Shareef Abdur-Rahim! Yeah, a) he’s big, b) he’s expensive, c) he’s always hurt. So they went out and got him from the Heat (and someone named Bogut). It only cost them Turkoglu (who was having a career year), a big man that actually plays (Gooden) and some filler. That Heat first rounder isn’t as good as GM Badwolf thinks since this trade actually helped improve that team.

6) The Milwaukee Bucks send Jannero Pargo to the San Antonio Spurs. The San Antonio Spurs send Scot Pollard, Richie Frahm and Stanko Barac to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Last trade before the deadline. Take a look at it. Is it even worth mentioning?

So then the Bucks fell apart and didn’t make the playoffs. The draft came and the trade barrier was lifted. So now what? MORE TRADES!!

7) The Chicago Bulls send Steven Hunter, Bobby Simmons and Joe Alexander to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Bucks send Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Anthony Parker and Roy Hibbert to the Chicago Bulls.

I guess you don’t have to be big, just broken down. The Bucks take on Simmons who didn’t play last season and made almost $10mil, little used Hunter and possibly overrated Alexander for Abdur-Rahim (seemed wise until he retired), sharpshooter Parker and the full of potential Hibbert. The jury’s out until we see what Hibbert and Alexander can do.

8) The Milwaukee Bucks send Jerryd Bayless to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send Russell Westbrook to the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Bucks take advantage of the Magic’s draft day gaffe and walk away with a better player. Hooray!