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A Buck for a Nugget

Bucks Trade Smith to Denver for Patterson


Everyone, including myself thought the Milwaukee Bucks were done trading. We were wrong. Milwaukee traded Joe Smith to the Nuggets for strong forward/shooting guard Ruben Patterson.

Smith, or the beast, has been in a Bucks' uniform since 2003, when the team aquired him from Minnesota. Joe was also a fan favorite for the city.

"It just came about that the numbers matched, the salaries matched and both of them were in the last years of their deal. We get a small forward who is a tough-minded defensive person that also has the ability to score, and has playoff experience," Harris stated at a Press Conference.

In return, Milwaukee gets Ruben Patterson, who in 2001, pleaded guilty to sexual assault, before signing with Portland. He registered as a sex offender in Oregon. Patterson had other run ins with the law. Including a misdemeanor assault in Cleveland, and an assault on his wife.

"We want him to come in and be a person that can back up both the '3' and the '4' and if there are injuries to the '2,' '3' or '4,' he has an ability to start, so that's a luxury for us," the Bucks GM said.

I will miss Joe. He was one of my favorite players, and was a great guy for the team and community. Both of these player's stats are roughly the same, with Joe a better rebounder, Ruben a better defensemen.

Mark Warkentien, the Denver Nuggets director of player personnel qouted, ""We believe his addition gives us one of the deepest front lines in the NBA."

With this trade, the Bucks' Depth chart looks completed:

5 Bogut-Gadzuric-Jin Seung
4 Villanueva-Skinner-Patterson
3 Simmons-Patterson- Illysova
2 Redd-Bell-Noel
1 Williams-Blake-Greer

Summer Round-Up

In case you put your Bucks cap away after the playoffs and haven't looked back, let's get you caught up in a little diddy I call "Marc, My Words". The premise is real simple: first the news and then my views:

Six-Pack Edition:

#1. New Colors
Well technically new colors and "redefined" logo for the Bucks. The logo is the same, the powers that be just played with the font on the word "Bucks" that appears below the logo. Gone is the purple. Green is now the primary color, with a "deep" red as the secondary color. Uniforms and the Bradley Center court will be unveiled in September.

My words: Well the good news is that the purple is gone. I've only been calling for that since 2 days before they introduced that god-foresaken scheme. I mean really, what self-respecting athlete wears purple? (I'm looking at you, Minnesota Vikings). Look for the uniforms to look alot like the green and red threads that the team wore when they broke into the league in 69/70. I'd like to see a return to the use of the word "Milwaukee" on the road uni's, but that's just personal preference.
Alot of people got excited when they heard that changes were coming for the Bucks colors and logo and were disappointed that the logo is essentially unchanged. Let's be real clear, the IMPORTANT thing is, the purple is gone. That being said, I saw some creative renderings from people with some artistic software and tons of free time, and I must say the organization could have done more. But they got the general point.

#2 TJ Ford dealt to Toronto for Charlie Villanueva
On June 30th the Bucks announced this deal. Milwaukee also gave up the always popular "cash considerations". The 6'11 Villanueva finished 2nd behind Chris Paul in last season's "Rookie of the Year" voting. TJ played in 72 games for the Bucks last season, averaging 12 ppg, and 6.6 assists. The deal presumably will allow the Bucks to start Villanueva at the 4, move Andrew Bogut to the 5, and move disappointing Jamaal Magloire on to greener pastures. (More on that coming up.)

My words: Try finding a Bucks fan that doesn't like this deal. The emergence of Mo Williams and Charlie Bell at PG made this deal more than palatable for GM Larry Harris. I have a theory that the "cash considerations" by GM Brian Colangelo to take a little mini-vaca to Windsor while he gets raked over the coals for this deal. Luckily for him, basketball in Toronto ranks just below "stalking Celine Dion" and just above "listening to Celine Dion" on the list of things people there care about.

#3 Jamaal Magloire is dealt to Portland for Steve Blake, Brian Skinner, and some Korean guy who will be cut in the time it takes me to look up the correct spelling of his name. For the sake of journalistic integrity and racial sensitivity, let's just call him "Ervin Johnson and Chan Ho Park's love child"
This one was just finalized a few days ago. Magloire's fate as a Buck was clear ever since the season ended and then crystalized after the Ford/Villanueva swap. The move is suspect for both teams, Portland because they just signed former Buck Joel Pryzbilla to a phat deal and the Bucks because the prevailing thought is that an All-Star center should be worth more than what they got. The Bucks however, will save money on the deal by NBA standards clearing Magloire off the books for this year and "EJ&CHPlc" and Skinner's money off at the end of the season... if not sooner.

My words: Well Larry Harris' "genius" status after the Villanueva deal didn't last very long as Del's kid seems to be getting raked over the coals for this one. Personally I don't mind it that much. I think Buck fans may be over-estimating "Big Cat"'s value just a tad. I think the addition of Steve Blake is huge. Here's a guy that has an assist to TO ratio of 3:1. It may just be me but I'm still not sold on Mo Williams as the starting PG. Just a little too much of that Sam Cassell "shoot first" attitude that I don't like in a point guard. I love Charlie Bell, but also not sure he's a starter. Skinner had his best year as a pro a few years back as a Milwaukee Buck and is an energy guy. When the Bucks had their renaissance in the late 90's-early 00's they always had guys like Scotty Williams and Darvin Ham to do the dirty work and energize the team and crowd. Gadzuric has a little bit of that in him, and I think Skinner will help in that department too.

#4 Bucks draft David Noel in 2nd round of 2006 NBA draft
Noel, a 6'6 forward from North Carolina, was the 39th pick overall and the Bucks' only selection in this year's draft. Their 2006 1st round pick belonged to NO/Ok. City as part of the Desmond Mason/Jamaal Magloire deal.

My words: Usually second rounders aren't anything to write home about, but the Bucks seem to have a knack finding diamonds in the 2nd round rough. Obviously we all know that Michael Redd was a 2nd rounder for Milwaukee. As was Eric Snow, Voshon Leonard, and Flip Murray. Now they just have to learn when to hang onto a 2nd rounder. Don't expect Noel to have a huge impact this year but two things to bear in mind: #1 he played 4 years at UNC suggesting that he might have enough maturity/experience to get some minutes and #2 he was on the All-ACC Defensive First Team which never hurts either.

#5 Turkey's Ersan Ilysasova was named MVP of the Ostchem U20 European Championship Men in Izmir on Sunday.
While Ilyasova's comeback was not enough for Turkey to claim gold, the Milwaukee Bucks player put together an impressive championship, averaging 17.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in 8 games.

My words: I have no idea if this is impressive or not, but the dude is young and he belongs to the Bucks, so I'm guessing it can't hurt. Just something to keep stored away in the back of your head in case the kid comes out of nowhere in the pre-season.

#6 Did you know?

a. Only New Jersey and New York play in older arenas than the Bradley Center (opened in 1988). MVs: The MECCA is still better.

b. Michael Redd's former Ohio State teammate Schoonie Penn was given a tryout with the Bucks this summer. MVs: Remember college when Redd was 'Silent Bob' to Scoonie's 'Jay'?

c. The Bucks acquired the draft rights for Damir Markota from the San Antonio Spurs on June 28, 2006, in exchange for the better of Milwaukee’s two second round draft picks in the 2007 NBA Draft. MVs: Markota will likely play for the Bucks' NBDL affiliate for this season.

d. Bucks Name Larry Krystkowiak Assistant Coach MV: If you're anything like me, you're going to make that 'nails on a chalkboard' face everytime you see him, conjuring up images of his SICK knee injury as a Buck playing against the Pistons.


That's all I got. You're all caught up. The Bucks aren't real deep at SF behind Bobby Simmons so don't be surprised if Larry Harris isn't done dealing this summer. And if something breaks, be sure to stop back in to discuss.

Magloire on the Trail to Portland

Milwaukee Bucks' general manager Larry Harris has been trying to trade Jamaal Magloire since the NBA Draft. He finally has that deal completed. The Veteran Center, and former All-Star, will be dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers for guard Steve Blake, forward Brian Skinner, and 7-foot-3 Center Ha Seung-Jin. The Trade will soon be announced.

Magloire was aquired by the Bucks last year from the NO/Oklahoma City Hornets for fan favorite Desmond Mason, and a first round pick, which would end up being Cedric Simmons.

Andrew Bogut stated during the playoffs, that he could of played better at the Center role. This opened up thoughts for a Magloire trade. Harris has announced that Boggie will play the 5, while he played the 4 last year.

Magloire started all 82 games for Milwaukee, averaging 9.2 points and 9.5 rebounds in more then 30 minutes a game. Magloire was terrible at scoring during the last half of the season, but he kept his rebounds up, ranking 10th in the NBA.

Brian Skinner was previously a Buck in the 03-04 season. Skin had his best season that year averging 10 points and 7 rebounds. He would later sign with Philadelphia during the offseason. It was that year that he turned me down when I asked for his autograph.

Steve Blake is expected to back up Moe Williams at Point Guard. Blake was the third stringer at Portland, but quickly became their starter. Charlie Bell was thought to play PG, but this trade allows him to move up to his natural position at SG behind Mike Redd.

Ha Seung-Jin is expected to be cut.

Many Bucks' fans hate this trade ( with a passion.) But they need to know that we won't be able to get another steal like the Ford/CV deal.

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