Building The 15 - How to Handle 2014-15 RFA's & UFA's on The 15 in 2013-14

Welcome to the start of my off-season advice for Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond.  In years past I wrote one long post (2011, 2012, and 2013) but much like I did in my seven-part off-season advice for Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson, I wanted to break down how Hammond should Build The 15 for the 2014-15 season into multiple posts.  NBA free agency officially opens on July 1st but rumors are already flying around.  Given that Hammond currently possesses four picks in the 2014 NBA Draft, I will reserve my advice for how Hammond should approach players that were not on The 15 for the Bucks last year till after the draft.  Instead I will focus on how Hammond should approach the restricted and unrestricted free agents that were on The 15 for the Bucks last season.

Let's start with the only restricted free agent on The 15 for the Bucks last season, power forward Ekpe Udoh.  The Bucks acquired Udoh from the Golden State Warriors right before the 2012 NBA Trade Deadline when they traded Andrew Bogut (C) and Stephen Jackson (SG/SF) for Monte Ellis (SG), Ekpe Udoh (PF), and Kwame Brown (C).  After a promising end to the 2011-12 season as a member of the Bucks, Udoh has been very underwhelming ever since.

In fact the most impressive contribution Udoh made to the City of Milwaukee last season, despite the fact that he was essentially in a contract year, was off the court with his book club.  On the court Udoh posted the lowest PER on the entire team, which is disappointing given that Udoh was the 6th player selected in the 2010 NBA Draft by the Warriors. At the time it seemed like the Warriors reached when they drafted Udoh but just to add insult to injury, two of the next four players taken in the 2010 NBA Draft after Udoh were Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe and Indiana Pacers small forward Paul George.  Hindsight is always 20/20 but Monroe and George looked like much better NBA prospects than Udoh even before the 2010 NBA Draft, which frankly makes the Udoh pick a head scratcher.

The Bucks hold a one-year team option on Udoh for next season.  Given that picking up Udoh's team option would cost the Bucks almost $6 million, there is no way in the world that the Bucks should tender Udoh.  In fact I am not sure Udoh is even worth keeping on one-year, veteran minimum deal no matter what players Hammond selects in the 2014 NBA Draft.

With my advice to let Udoh walk out of the way, let's take a look at the unrestricted free agents that were on The 15 for the Bucks last season.  Hammond needs to be very cautious with how they deal with their unrestricted free agents: combo guard Ramon Sessions and small forward Jeff Adrien.  I say Hammond needs to be cautious because of his penchant to overpay borderline starters in free agency. Case-and-point, last off-season Hammond signed shooting guard O.J. Mayo (three-year, $24 million) and center Zaza Pachullia (three-year, $15.6 million) to expensive contracts despite the fact that both are borderline starters.

Neither Sessions or Adrien are worth breaking the bank but each are somewhat useful, at the right price. Sessions is an interesting player given that he posted an 18 PER last season.  Unfortunately for Session, the Bucks have two younger combo guards in Brandon Knight and Nate Wolters that if they continue to implement will need extensions soon, which cuts against Hammond offering Sessions an extension.  I would offer Sessions the mini mid-level exception that amounts to a two-year, $5.5 million contract.

Possessing one above average skill makes a player at least somewhat enticing to keep on The 15.  For Adrien, his above average skill is rebounding, which helped him post a robust 18.4 PER last season.  I have no grand illusions that Adrien will turn into a franchise guy but the fact remains that he is a really useful player given his rebounding prowess.  I would offer Adrien a three-year, $4.5 million contract with no money guaranteed. That allows the Bucks to keep Adrien under contract at a relatively cheap price with no salary cap ramifications if they cut him.  Best case the Bucks bought cheap on a rebounding machine, worst case the Bucks either cut or use Adrien as a cap filler in a future trade.

Sure the above decisions are important for Hammond but the key to building the Bucks is the NBA Draft.  Besides the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, Hammond also currently has three picks (31, 36, and 48) in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft too.  Make sure to check back tomorrow for my all important preview of the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft.

Building The 15 - Bucks trade Neal & Ridnour to Bobcats for Sessions & Adrien

For the second year in a row Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond made a deal on the eve of the NBA Trade Deadline.  For those that do not remember, last season Hammond sent small forward Tobias Harris, point guard Beno Udrih, & shooting guard Doron Lamb to the Orlando Magic for shooting guard J.J. Redick, center Gustavo Ayon, & point guard Ish Smith.  Earlier today Hammond sent shooting guard Gary Neal & combo guard Luke Ridnour to the Charlotte Bobcats for combo guard Ramon Sessions & under-sized power forward Jeff Adrien:

This trade looks like nothing more than a money saver for Bucks owner Herb Kohl.  Neal is earning $3.25 million this season in first year of a two-year, $6.5 million deal while Ridnour is earning $4.32 million in the final year of a four-year, $16 million deal.  Sessions is earning $5 million this season in the final year of a two-year, $10 million deal while Adrien is earning roughly $900,000 this season in the final year of a two-year, $1.6 million deal.  That means Kohl saves roughly $3.75 million over the next two season: $500,000 this season ($1.67 million difference in salary this season multiplied by the percent of the 82 games left in the regular season) and $3.25 million next season given that everyone besides Neal is on an expiring contract.  Far be it for me to take money out of someones pocket but the biggest thing that jumps out to me about the salaries discussed above is that Sessions will earn $10 million over the last two seasons as a backup combo guard, which is about $8 million too much.

Just a quick look at the advanced stats this season for Neal (11.5 PER), Ridnour (9.3 PER), Sessions (14.9 PER), and Adrien (15.0 PER) confirm that over the long-haul all four guys are average NBA players, at best.  The only guy with a nice potential upside is Neal given that he is the perfect heat-check guy on a good team, which he proved last season as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.  I am sure that Neal is longing for the days that he got to come off the bench for the Spurs because since losing to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals last season, he played for the worst team in the NBA and just got traded to a borderline playoff team in the watered down Eastern Conference.

Before you start to feel too bad for Neal let's not forget that he got into a locker room argument in early January with center Larry Sanders, which essentially confirmed that Neal would get trade before the 2014 NBA Trade Deadline given that the Bucks have $44 million over the next four seasons committed to Sanders.  In my advice for Hammond for how to approach the 2014 NBA Trade Deadline, I advised him to trade Neal to the Phoenix Suns for shooting guard Archie Goodwin.  We will never know but I hope Hammond at least floated the Neal/Goodwin deal and was shot down by Suns general manager Ryan McDonough because I like that trade much more than the one that Hammond actually made today.

Bucks Decline to Match Sessions Offer Sheet

The Milwaukee Bucks declined to match the offer sheet that combo point guard/shooting guard Ramon Session signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves (source here). Last Friday Sessions signed a four-year offer sheet with the Timberwolves worth a reported $16 million. This move comes as no surprise as Bucks General Manager John Hammond continues to re-shape the roster he inherited from former Bucks General Manager Larry Harris. Signing Sessions would have put the Bucks over the luxury tax threshold, which neither Hammond nor Bucks Owner Herb Kohl were interested in doing.

The Bucks already have a crowded backcourt with Brandon Jennings, Luke Rindour and Roko Ukic at point guard as well as Michael Redd, Jodie Meeks and Charlie Bell at shooting guard. The last name on that list Charlie Bell is an example of the difference between the Larry Harris regime and the John Hammond regime. While General Manager of the Bucks, Harris matched the five-year $18.5 million offer sheet that Bell signed with the Miami Heat in 2007 (source here). The Bell contract has proved to be wasted money and it was smart for Hammond not to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor.

Bucks fans are fortunate that Hammond has a long-term vision for the roster. There is so much turnover in professional front offices, usually General Managers mortgage their future for short term results. Hammond could have resigned Sessions but it would have created an even bigger logjam at the guard position. Instead, much like declining to re-sign Charlie Villanueva, Hammond opted for long-term financial relief. The open question is whether long-term financial relief will come at the expense of short-term results.