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A word from the Bucks
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Ready or not ...: GM-less Bucks prepare for draft
By Michael Hunt
of the Journal Sentinel staff
June 21, 1997
When Vin Baker admirer Rick Pitino reportedly said he didn't know
whom to speak with regarding a possible trade, it gave an
impression of the Milwaukee Bucks as a rudderless ship.
[LINK]
Olivier Saint-Jean Although the Bucks are still without a general
manager three days before the National Basketball Association
draft, this is an image the franchise wishes to dispel.
In preparation for making the 10th and 38th overall picks in the
draft, the Bucks have established the following hierarchy:
-- Assistant coach Bob Weinhauer, who was credited with helping to
bring Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley to the Houston Rockets in
his former role as Houston's vice president of basketball
operations, is serving as the draft's point man.
Any team wishing to discuss a trade will go through Weinhauer, who
remains a candidate to replace Mike Dunleavy as general manager.
-- Larry Harris, the Bucks' director of scouting and No. 2 on the
draft team, has been responsible for bringing draftable players and
potential rookie free agents to Milwaukee for coach Chris Ford and
his staff to evaluate.
NBA Draft First Round
No. Team Player
Pos. School
1. San Antonio
2. Philadephia
3. Boston
4. Vancouver
5. Denver
6. Boston (from Dallas)
7. New Jersey
8. Golden State
9. a-Toronto
10. MILWAUKEE
11. Sacramento
12. Indiana
13. Cleveland
14. L.A. Clippers
15. a-Dallas (from Minnesota)
16. Cleveland (from Phoenix)
17. b-Orlando
18. c-Portland
19. Detroit
20. c-Portland (from Charlotte)
21. New Jersey (from Lakers)
22. Atlanta
23. Seattle
24. Houston
25. New York
26. Miami
27. Utah
28. Chicago The Bucks, in the draft lottery since 1992, have
experienced spotty success with their last five drafts. Todd Day
was a first-round disappointment and is no longer with the team.
Gary Trent was traded for Shawn Respert, who also was dispatched.
But the Bucks also have Baker, Glenn Robinson and Ray Allen to show
for their recent first-round decisions. Whether this temporary
management-by-committee arrangement can produce favorable results
will be important to the future of a franchise hoping to regain
stability and direction.
Harris said the Bucks had brought in more than 40 players, the most
in the past six years, because without a sitting GM the onus for
judging talent has fallen to the coaching staff.
Even with a wider pool from which to choose, the question remains:
Whom will the Bucks select Wednesday night with their first-round
pick?
At this point, it appears the Bucks will not trade the draft
choice. Although a draft pool considered short on sure-fire stars
suggests that an impact player might not be available at the 10th
slot, Harris is confident someone of substance will be around.
"There will be a player there who will have the ability to help
us," he said.
Trading up is always a possibility, but the Bucks seemed to have
moved away from the notion of peddling Baker, the three-time
all-star power forward who is scheduled to make $3,964,687 toward
the salary cap next season and has an option to become a free agent
after the 1998-'99 season.
Pitino, the Boston Celtics coach with power to make personnel
decisions, reportedly likes Baker enough to have considered
dangling the No. 3 overall pick in front of the Bucks as part of a
package to bring the forward back to his native New England.
But if the Bucks stay the course with their current personnel and
draft picks, they will likely go for a point guard or a big man in
the first round.
With virtually no salary-cap relief for free-agent acquisitions for
1997-'98, the Bucks could help matters there by drafting a point
guard and dumping a costly veteran or two. Between them, Sherman
Douglas and Elliot Perry are scheduled to make more than $6 million
next season.
Yet at the No. 10 draft position, pickings will be slim. The Bucks
would prefer a big point guard, but they might consider Brevin
Knight of Stanford, one of at least four players who are currently
on their draft board.
Knight, who is listed at 5-foot-10, won the Francis Pomeroy
Naismith award for the nation's best player under 6 feet. Knight,
who averaged 16.3 points per game last season, had 780 assists in
115 games at Stanford.
The Bucks' needs for a big man are more pronounced. And as at point
guard, the team is salary-heavy at center with veterans Andrew Lang
and Armon Gilliam at a combined $5.5 million next season.
Only one legitimate center, 6-11 Kelvin Cato of Iowa State, should
be available at No. 10. At least one draft expert has projected the
Bucks to select Cato, whose stock rose with an excellent
performance at the Phoenix pre-draft camp. The Bucks, however, may
have other options in mind.
Although more than one draft observer has questioned his mobility,
All-American forward Danny Fortson of Cincinnati remains on the
Bucks' board. A tough inside banger who had 35 double-doubles
during his three years with the Bearcats, Fortson packs a solid 257
pounds on a 6-7 frame.
Two other players the Bucks appear to favor, but not necessarily
with their first-round pick, are Austin Croshere of Providence and
Olivier Saint-Jean of San Jose State.
Croshere, who helped the Friars beat Marquette in the NCAA
tournament, is 6-9 and 235 pounds. Saint-Jean (6-6, 223), a
one-time Michigan player, averaged 23.8 points last season and is
hoping to become the first Frenchman to play in the NBA.
The Bucks may have another big-man option in Rashard Griffith, the
former University of Wisconsin center whom they took in the second
round two years ago. The Bucks are hoping that Griffith, who has
played the last two years in Turkey, will agree to demonstrate his
progress next month at the California summer league camp.
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