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