Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Anderson Varejao

VIDEO: Brandon Jennings 1st practice... NBA cuts tax limit... Free and unfree agency ramble on

J.D. Mo — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:21:00 GMT

Bucks summer league workouts are under way!!

Either the Bucks need to hire a new cameraman or rookie Brandon Jennings is too quick for video.

Watch snippets of Jennings' first practice here. The link also takes you to video of 2nd round pick Jodie Meeks, who today signed a three-year deal (numbers anyone?).

Encouraging commentary from Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson after Jennings finished off a 2-on-1 break:

"That's more exciting; fans want to see that. They want to be entertained, and this kid is going to entertain them."

NBA sets cap and tax levels: As league officials forecast last winter, the NBA cut salary cap and luxury tax levels for the 2009-10 season. This squeezes the Bucks budget just a little bit more as the team negotiates with restricted free agents Ramon Sessions and Ersan Ilyasova. Bucks owner, Sen. Herb Kohl, has indicated he will not allow the payroll to rise into tax territory. Teams over the luxury tax threshold pay $1 to the league for every dollar over the limit.

The luxury tax threshold was reduced from $71.15 million to $69.92m, a cut of 1.7%. The salary "cap" went from $58.68m down to $57.7m.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the Bucks cannot or will not slightly exceed the limit to sign Sessions and Ilyasova. The tax is levied after the close of the regular season, April 2010, so the Bucks could start the season over the limit and have until the February trade deadline to make a move or two to get under.

Only half of forward-guard Bruce Bowen's $4.1m contract is guaranteed, so the Bucks could secure $2m in wiggle room by releasing Bowen. The veteran defensive menace was acquired from the Spurs in the Richard Jefferson trade, and very likely would prefer to return to the Spurs for another playoff run this season. Bowen is also reportedly considering retiring, so there seems little point (other than making me happy) in keeping Bowen around.

It's really too bad. It would be nice to see Bowen, Luc Mbah a Moute and Charlie Bell playing together next season, sticking some nasty team D on Bucks opponents.

The $884,000 contract of shooting guard Salim Stoudamire, all 6'1" of him, is also not fully guaranteed. Not sure, however, how much would count against the salary cap if the Bucks release him. You have to assume GM John Hammond has had additional payroll shaving moves/trades in mind since the end of the 2009 season -- otherwise, the addition of Stoudamire doesn't make much sense.

Shamsports' very useful guide to 2009 NBA free agents: The Bucks may be talking to Hawks small forward Josh Childress, who jumped ship to Europe last season, but that doesn't mean he's available. The term free agent gets used pretty loosely when discussing NBA players, and Childress isn't "free" -- the Hawks, if they choose, can match any offer for him.

I know this because Sham over at Shamsports.com has put his madness over minutia to good use and provided a handy dandy guide to 2009-10 free agents. It's open season as of today (July 8) and Sham's provided a team-by-team breakdown of who opted out of their contracts, who opted in, who's restricted and who's truly free and unrestricted.

Perusing the list, we also learn that:

There are so many scrub ex-Bucks on the list that it's gotta be a joke on ex-GM Larry Harris. Desmond Mason, David Ruffin, Jake Voskuhl .. c'mon. Also: Joe Smith, Brian Skinner, Royal Ivey.

Like Rasheed Wallace, Antonio McDyess is jumping off the Pistons ship. McDyess will join the Spurs, who are loading up on forwards this offseason (RJ, DuJuan Blair, and now McDyess). Actually that's hot off the presses and hasn't made Sham's list yet.

Hedo Turkoglu's signing with the Raptors. Why Hedo, why?

Shawn Marion's headed for Dallas, which is gearing up for one more run with Jason and Dirk. Can't say owner Mark Cuban is not the committed sort.

Does this make Josh Howard expendable? And might Cuban and the Mavs be interested in Michael Redd, if fully recuperated from knee surgery?

Unrestricted Mike Bibby and former Buck Zaza Pachulia will resign with the Hawks.

The Celtics have left Stephon Marbury (takers?) and big men Leon Powe and Miki Moore free and unrestricted.

Trevor Ariza will sign with Houston (as good as Ron Artest can be, whose getting better in the Artest-Ariza swa, the Lakers or the Rockets? Looking ahead, I'd rather have Ariza.)

The Sixers have five restricted free agents, headed by Andre Miller, who could be good pickups. Former Buck Royal Ivey is among them (don't worry, I'll stifle the Royal Ivey rant this time.)

Paul Millsap, the Jazz' up and coming, young big forward, a favorite of many Bucks fans, is restricted. (Don't expect the Jazz to let him slip away).

Anderson Varejao from the Cavs and the Lakers Lamar Odom look to be the big prizes on the unrestricted front.

(Day after I wrote this, Varejao got a new deal from the Cavs - 5 yrs, $50million, which is what he wanted two years ago when he was a restricted holdout. Can't help but figure that the 5 yrs, $37.5m ($7.5m/yr) Charlie Villanueva got from Detroit bumped Varejao's stock up.)

PF Chris Wilcox from the Thunder and Rodney Carney from the T-Wolves might be interesting targets.

Suns forwards Matt Barnes and Grant Hill are free and unrestricted. (Hill resigned with the Suns.)

Could the Bucks pick up Brandon Bass from the Mavs for the mid-level exception? Is Bass worth it ($5.85m)?

Yahoo's Johnny Ludden ranks his Top 20 NBA free agents, complete with deals and signings as they come.

Speaking of the Bucks very real need for tough power forward play, why are the Bucks talking to restricted small forward Josh Childress? Shouldn't the Bucks leave the SF position to our young and developing forwards (Luc and Joe) and get some rugged help in the paint? Brandon Bass certainly matches that description. Wilcox maybe less so, but he does qualify as paint-help.

Let's face it -- Kurt Thomas, Malik Allen, Francisco Elson and Dan Gadzuric aren't going to help the Bucks get anywhere.

In any case, there just aren't really any good small forwards out there in the free and unrestricted market. Would Matt Barnes be all that big of a help? Probably not. So what about a PF like Boston's Leon Powe, a guy who, moreso than Wilcox or Bass, would be less of a mid-level risk.

So goes my brainstorm for now. More later (consider that a warning if you like). I think the Bucks have a shot to improve if they play their mid-level exception right in this market.

Food for thought: Who in the market is worth the Bucks $5.85 exception?

Ramble on ...

Celtics get 'Sheed... More NBA free agents

J.D. Mo — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:42:00 GMT

The Detroit Pistons had room under the salary cap to sign Rasheed Wallace after reaching agreements with Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon last week -- but the Celtics had something the Pistons could no longer offer: A shot at the NBA championship.

And another of the NBA's best teams will get better. The Boston press reported last night that the Celtics had reached an agreement with the Pistons forward-center. The Celtics would not be denied. This from Peter May's report:

Ainge brought out the full arsenal in an all-out assault on Wallace, enlisting Kevin Garnett (a Wallace chum), Paul Pierce and Ray Allen to make the recruiting pitch. The money was pretty much the same, but, once again, the Celtics’ owners stepped up, mindful the team already is over the luxury-tax threshold. That means Wallace will cost $2 on the dollar. Not every owner would do that; most, in fact, would probably reject it out of hand. Having won once, however, has given the Celtics’ owners the appetite for more.

Somehow I doubt the money was the same. Boston will pay Sheed the mid-level exemption next season ($5.8 mill) whereas Detroit had much more to offer: The Pistons are still about $17m away from tax territory -- after the Gordan and Villanueva deals. And with the signing of Charlie and Gordon, gunners more than defenders, and the loss of Amir Johnson to the Bucks, the Pistons needed Sheed's inside presence more than ever. However, it appears that Detroit never had much of a chance.

Orlando, San Antonio and Dallas were other teams with meetings scheduled with Wallace's agent -- Sheed was going to a title contender while the Pistons slid toward mediocrity.

A talent-rich get richer trend has hit the NBA, with the elite teams getting better. Teams such as the Bucks and now, even the Pistons, having little or no hope of competing for the league's best veterans when the contenders are in the mix. The league is as loaded at the top as it's ever been, with Shaq in Cleveland; the Lakers adding Ron Artest; the Spurs improving with Richard Jefferson; and the Magic getting Vince Carter (but apparently losing Hedo Turkoglu).

But for now let's go to the Need4Sheed blog for the Detroit reaction:

"Some will even give you the obligatory 'You can launch your three’s and not play in the paint for another team, thanks for mailing in the last season Sheed.'

But to most Pistons fans we are thankful to him for putting our team over the top in 2004, allowing us a Championship we won't soon forget."

They're going to miss him. And if Pistons fans are under any illusions that Charlie Villanueva's going to fill Sheed's sneakers, they are going to be very disappointed.

I just realized I've been spelling Hedo Turkoglu's name wrong all year. Sorry dude.

Look who opted out of their contracts:

- Cleveland: Anderson Varejao
- L.A. Clippers: Brian Skinner
- Orlando: Hedo Turkoglu

- Philadelphia: Royal Ivey

Royal Ivey? Brian Skinner? There's no keeping a former Buck happy, apparently. I wouldn't mind having either of those guys back in Bucks uniforms, especially after John Hammond blew some $2.5 million and counting replacing Ivey with first Tyronn Lue and then Keith Bogans.

Skinner's a rugged big forward who had perhaps his best season as a pro with the Bucks in 2003-04 and was back for the 2006-07 season. He's 32 now and no longer commanding a mid-level exception-sized contract. Or maybe he thinks he does.

Ivey made less than $1 million in Philly last season and is obviously looking for a raise. He was a key part of the Sixers crunchtime rotation, burning the Bucks last season with some late 3-balls to steal a game the Bucks had in their grasp. Good D and point guard court sense make Ivey a very useful guy to have around, especially when developing younger point guards (Sessions and Jennings). I still have no clue why Hammond didn't resign him to the Bucks last summer. He could have saved some of Herb's money AND retained a guy who contributed more last season to the playoff Sixers than Lue or Bogans did on the Bucks.

Even more free agents still unsigned

What an abundance of players -- too many to list here - but Sham's got 'em here. Some of the players on Sham's list, such as Sheed and Charlie Villanueva have reached agreements but most of the guys on the list haven't. Everybody on sham's list is unrestricted. (Notice how Ramon Sessions or Ersan Ilyasova are NOT on the list. That's because they're not free agents. The Bucks filed qualifying offers to both players, which means they are Bucks unless the Bucks decide not to match whatever offers they receive from other teams).

Here are a few notables from the NBA free agent wire, and some oddities, too:

Point guards Andre Miller (Sixers) and Mike Bibby (Hawks) are still out there.

Hey, former Buck Joe Smith's a free agent after joining the Cavs for the 2009 playoffs.

Of course, there's Trevor Ariza, the Lakers versatile guard who's apparently been replaced by Ron Artest.

Brandon Bass, a good, young big forward who played in Dallas is an unrestricted free agent.

Keith Bogans and Damon Jones, two 2009 Bucks are free agents. Antoine Walker's free, and gladly accepting any and all calls (don't do it GM Hammond).

Wes Matthews, Jerel McNeal and Dominic James from Marquette are all free after going undrafted. McNeal might be a nice pick-up at shooting guard.

Everybody from Matt Barnes (Phoenix forward) to Bonzi Wells (former Trailblazer guard) and Chris Wilcox (OK City PF) are looking for new contracts.

And yes, Bucks fans: Ruben Patterson is once again a free agent.

Charlie Villanueva, Ben Gordon are Detroit Pistons... Ersan Ilyasova VIDEO and bandwagon

J.D. Mo — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:59:00 GMT

AP is reporting that Chuck-It Charlie Villanueva will become a Piston, and has agreed to a 5-year, $35 million contract, Journal Sentinel is reporting. So, that sentence should be interpreted as follows: The Bob Boozer Jinx says that the Journal Sentinel says that Charlie will be a Pistion next season and agreed to a deal sometime today (Wednesday). Just a couple of hours ago.

Charlie joins free agent shooting guard Ben Gordon in Detroit. Gordon earlier today agreed to a 5-year, $55 mill contract to become a Piston.

In Detroit, the fans are wondering whether they're still the Pistons or the UConn Huskies (Gordon, Villanueva and holdover Pistons guard Rip Hamilton played at UConn).

It's interesting that, in Chicago, $11 million was considered too much to pay for Gordon, considering some of the ridiculously inflated 2-guard salaries out there. But Bulls fans have griped over the last year or so that Gordon's running mate, Kirk Hinrich, is overpaid. Hinrich signed a $10 million per year contract extension in 2007, about the same dough the Bulls offered Gordon. It seems as much as they liked Hinrich and Gordon in Chicago, it was understood that they were not good enough to get the team to the upper echelon of the East. ... Derrick Rose, Derrick Rose, Derrick Rose.

As for Charlie, $35 million at $7 mill per year would NOT have been money well spent by the Bucks. It is, however, about market rate for productive, improving young big forwards -- believe it or not Bucks fans. Charlie gets nearly $1 million more than the Cleveland's Anderson Varejao ($6.2 mill 2009-10) plays for, and Varejao had to hold out into December of 2007-08 season to get his. (Varejao this week opted out of his final year in Cleveland, looking for raise).

Unfortunately for the Pistons (not the Bucks, thankfully) there isn't anything Chuck-It Charlie does better than Varejao except chuck up shots.

There are, on the other hand, far worse contracts in the NBA than Charlie's pending deal with the Pistons. The Bucks will pay Dan Gadzuric $6.7+ mill next season, part of the reason why the Bucks couldn't afford to keep Charlie around even if they had wanted to. They didn't want to, and never tendered to him a qualifying offer.

Charlie had his best season as a pro in 2008-09, averaging 16.2 ppg and 6.7 boards, missing only 4 games and both starting (41 games) and coming off of Scott Skiles' bench. Unfortunately, as a "best pro season" it really wasn't all that good or good enough. Charlie's all-around play and shooting died down the stretch as the Bucks stumbled out of a playoffs spot. It was sadly predictable.

But let's wish Charlie well in Detroit, where, pending the resigning of Rasheed Wallace, the Pistons will have two big men out by the 3-point line, chucking away while their new sharpshooting guard, Gordon, wonders what the #@#! is going on. I just can't see Sheed staying long in the paint to watch Charlie shoot bricks from downtown. Seems to me the Pistons next season will need a more consistent Sheed than ever before.

Ersan and the Bucks new frontcourt ... Meanwhile, we can look forward to the return to the Bucks frontcourt of Ersan Ilyasova, currently in negotiations with the Bucks. The more I look at what I've dug up so far on Ersan from last season in Barcelona, the more I like the promise of the Bucks young frontcourt -- Andrew Bogut, Amir Johnson, Ersan and Luc Mbah a Moute ... Bogut, still only 24, would be the senior member ... But enough out of me -- enjoy some more Ersan video ...

Here he is winning MVP honors in game 5 of the Euroleague quarterfinals, the game that launched FC Barcelona (Barca) into the Euroleague final four (they finished 3rd).

Ersan had 18 points, 11 boards in that game. His jumper looks great, more consistent than Charlie's -- and he's a much better 3-baller. Better shooting is just what the inconsistent and chucking Bucks need to be more complete in the frontcourt, assuming that Bogut and 6'9" Amir Johnson will be doing most of the banging. I'm on the Ersan bandwagon. Here's another good-shooting reel:

And here's the Euroleague October "player of the month" vid, in case you missed it in yesterday's post.

Bucks face Lebron, Mo Williams - Cavs look like title contenders; Antonio McDyess; Damon Jones

J.D. Mo — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:45:00 GMT

Image by Jeremy Jannene

One could argue that the Phoenix Suns, who defeated the Bucks Saturday, may not be title contenders. I wouldn't but it could be argued, Shaquille O'Neal's age being one talking point. However, if you come across arguments that the Cleveland Cavaliers are not contenders, then you know that the source didn't watch the 2008 playoffs.

While NBA wags all over the country were ready to hand the 2008 NBA title to Kobe, Pau Gasol and the Lakers, the real battle was taking place in the East as the Celtics wrested a grueling semifinals series from the Cavs in the final minute of game seven. Once Lebron and his Cavs were dispatched, the Pistons and Lakers were a matter of course for the champion Celtics.

This season, the Cavs are healthy, there are no holdouts to deal with, and they've improved with the addition of Mo Williams' instant offense in the August trade with the Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder. Even without the addition of Mo, this Cleveland team couldn't help but improve: Coach Mike Brown has had more time to integrate the new players acquired last February at the trading deadline -- Big Ben Wallace, Delonte West and Wally Szczerbiak.

With the addition of Mo and rookie power forward J.J. Hickson, most of Cleveland's 9-man rotation is new since they played the Spurs for the NBA Title in 2007. In other words, the Lebron team that Detroit couldn't beat in a playoff series has been remade. They are younger and quicker at the guard positions; they are stronger inside with Ben Wallace; and with the addition of Mo and a healthy, more experienced Boobie Gibson, they shoot better than ever. The only real question is whether the Cavs' aging big men, Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas can stay healthy into the playoffs. Currently, backup big man Anderson Varejao -- who's name surfaced often over the summer as a guy the Bucks may be interested in -- is playing more than Wallace.

I'm not expecting the Bucks to escape from the Q in Cleveland with a win. In fact, coach Skiles should let Michael Redd shoot all night in his home state** and play the deep bench players like Joe Alexander, Dan Gadzuric, Tyrone Lue, Malik Allen and Francisco Elson -- save some energy for the home crowd tomorrow night against an injury riddled San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs without Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker? It's a gift and the Bucks should focus on getting a win against the Spurs. The early schedule is so tough, the more wins they can cherry pick here and there, the better off they'll be in January when the schedule eases up, obviously.

**Anybody else wondering why coach Skiles seems in no hurry to get Redd back on the court?

How is Mo doing? So far so good with room to improve. Through seven games the Cavs are 5-2 and Mo is playing 34 minutes a game, averaging 14 pts and 5 assists. He and Lebron are doing most of the ballhandling which is heat off of Delonte West - the Cavs best defensive guard - and Boobie Gibson, the 3-point gun. Mo has yet his shot going but I'm sure he'd love to turn it on against his old teammates.

Are the Bucks in the Antonio McDyess sweepstakes? No. But before I get to that, McDyess would be a perfect fit on the Bucks roster -- a power forward who plays within the game and can stick a fifteen footer a la Scott Williams back in the days of The Big Three. McDyess would very likely be the factor that would launch the Bucks into the playoffs.

According to McDyess' agent, 19 teams have called about acquiring Antonio, who refused to report to the Denver Nuggets, negotiated a buyout of his contract and was waived yesterday. Once he clears waivers Wednesday, McDyess is a free agent and can sign with anyone but Detroit. The rules say he must wait 30 days before he can resign with the Pistons.

I am assuming that one of the calls to McDyess' agent was from Bucks GM John Hammond, simply because Hammond is too thorough to NOT make the call. But if McDyess wouldn't report to the Nuggets (reportedly because the Nuggets are not a title contender), what chance would the Bucks have? They wouldn't be able to compete with the Celtics, Cavs, Lakers and Pistons, all of whom are very interested in signing McDyess.

It's difficult to imagine McDyess abandoning his Pistons teammates of the last four years and jumping to Cleveland or Boston, but stranger things have happened in these self-interested times. I wouldn't bet on McDyess going anywhere but back to Detroit. NBA fans should keep this in mind when reading the wishful thinking in the Cleveland and Boston media, or watching the any-rumor-for-a story channel, ESPN. In this Boston.com story, Sam Cassell, a friend of McDyess', figures his pal will wait 30 days and return to Detroit, where they've missed him in the paint already.

What's Damon Jones up to? At the tail end of the Cleveland Morning Journal McDyess story linked above (here 'tis again), the MJ tracks down former Cav Damon Jones:

Former Cavs guard Damon Jones, who was traded to Milwaukee in August but never reported, is working out in California under trainer Joe Abunassar. He’s waiting for another shot at the NBA. The Bucks don’t appear overanxious to give up on his expiring contract, which is why he’s still on their roster. Jones isn’t interested in a buyout.

So what does "Bucks don't appear overanxious to give up on his expiring contract" mean? It means that John Hammond likely views Jones and his $4.5 million contract, which expires at the end of this season, as good to have around when you've got to work out a trade. The bigger question is who else on the Bucks roster would Hammond be willing to trade? My speculation is that Bogut and R.J. are safe - and probably Ramon Sessions and the rookies. The rest will likely wait until after some more games are played.

The Chad Ford Watch and .... Redd to Cleveland hits snag

J.D. Mo — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 12:36:00 GMT

ESPN rumor mongerer Chad Ford is at it again. Last week Ford was speculating that the Bucks want to move up in the draft to "add some star power to their team." In his mock draft 6.0 today Ford has the Bucks picking Joe Alexander out of West Virginia with their #8 pick.

I have developed what can only be called "The Chad Ford Principle." Whatever Ford mongers out there as rumoroid fact, expect it to be false and driven by the needs of certain agents whom Ford spends far too much time listening to. And bear in mind when reading him that Ford an ethically challenged journalist who doesn't seem to be able to put two and two together very well.

Let's give The Chad Ford Principle a test run. If Ford writes that his sources say the Chicago Bulls are taking point guard Derrick Rose with the number one pick, expect the Bulls to pick forward Michael Beasley. In fact Ford himself is beginning to back off his "90 percent" assurance that the Bulls would take Rose, writing in mock draft 5.0 that he's "not as confident as I was a week ago that he'll be the pick."

The Bulls will take Beasley and I would bet on it. Again using The Chad Ford Principle, expect the Bucks to take Anthony Randolph (LSU) and not Alexander or do something more creative with the pick.

(Note: I've since learned that Rose and Randolph have the same agent -- former Chicago Bull B.J. Armstrong, a rep for the Arn Temer agency. Using The Chad Ford Principle, assume that agent Armstrong is one of Ford's key sources regarding both Rose and Randolph).

As for the Bucks moving up in the draft, Bucks GM John Hammond said last week that he doesn't "have a deal to move up or to move down" and that he's seeing movement among the teams drafting ahead of them. This could mean the Bucks might trade out of the first round altogether or trade whomever the Bucks pick.

That wasn't the only Ford-broadcasted fire that was extinguished last week. Remember all that talk about trading Yi Jianlian to Golden State in a deal for developing 21-year-old forward Brandan Wright and the Warriors #14 pick? A rep from the Warriors contacted Ford last week and "took umbrage" at the rumor. This from Ford's column last Thursday:

"A Warriors representative shot down an assertion made in a couple of my columns that the team was looking to move Brandan Wright. He especially took umbrage at the report that the team coveted Milwaukee's Yi Jianlian. I've been assured that Warriors GM Chris Mullin, who makes the final decisions at Golden State, isn't trading Wright for Yi."

The Warriors called to demand a correction, didn't they Chad?

And it was likely the first contact Ford's had with the Warriors in all of this. Still, Ford didn't quite have to the guts to label it a correction and just tacked it on at the end of his column with the following caveat:

"This time of the year, the information is flying fast and furious. Sources often have agendas, and from time to time I just get things wrong."

That's well and good, except that in an earlier version of the very same column, Ford wrote that, in still another trade involving Golden State and Wright, Cleveland was set to trade Anderson Varejao and their #19 pick to the Warriors. The Varejao report is apparently what prompted the Warriors to shut Ford's rumor mill down. Ford was slinging agent slime at Golden State week after week.

Guess who Yi Jianlian and Anderson Varejao have in common? Sports agent Dan Fegan, who obviously fed Ford the Yi trade rumors last season and is at it again now with Yi and Varejao. You bet Fegan's got an agenda. He wants Yi out of Milwaukee and Varejao out of Cleveland. Ford has been Fegan's willing accomplice when the agent feels the need to toss grist into the NBA rumor mills. I assume Ford knows fully well that Fegan has no ability to make trades.

Ford's problem is that this is not a "this time of year" thing; it's general Chad Ford practice. Ford routinely references agents off the record with tags such as "a source familiar with the talks" -- which is how he referred to Fegan in the Varejao rumor write-up.

In Cleveland, the Morning News called its sources and quickly debunked the Varejao to Golden State talk as "nothing more than a rumor." The Cavaliers are apparently not as upset with Ford as the Warriors were.

Journalistically, Ford's general practice is unethical. Because he writes for ESPN, NBA teams and the daily newspapers in NBA cities are compelled to react, in large part because he doesn't let his readers know that he's spinning rumors from agents -- not sources from NBA teams. That's downright unethical.

Is Ford writing for entertainment purposes only and is that an excuse? No and no, and Ford doesn't write in an entertaining style anyway. He shows little flair for absurdity, wit, sarcasm or humor, or even the cut-the-crap ***-ishness that sometimes makes for good writing. Overall, his style is banal. There's so little there and so many other mock NBA draft outlets for fans, such as Draft Express and NBADraft.net.

What purpose does Ford's column serve ESPN other than to generate site hits with agent-flushed yellow journalism? And what does that say about ESPN?

Cleveland, we have a problem here: The Akron Beacon Journal's Patrick McManamon took an in depth look at Anderson Varejao's situation last week and revealed something I don't think any of us wildly speculative blogger types had realized -- Varejao can reject any trade up until Dec. 5. That date matters because Dec. 5 is the one-year anniversary of the Cavs matching the contract offer Fegan and Varejao negotiated with the Charlotte Bobcats last fall.

According to NBA rules, a player can reject a trade for one year after a team matches a contract offer to keep him. The Bucks Charlie Bell, for example, could have rejected the trade to the Knicks that Larry Harris had reportedly negotiated before the trading deadline last February because the Bucks last summer matched an offer sheet from Miami to keep Bell. Now Varejao, a key piece of a potential trade for Michael Redd, could be off limits to the Bucks this summer unless Bucks GM John Hammond can make Varejao (and Fegan) happy. Remember that Fegan is also Yi's agent and that on the Bucks Yi and Varejao would be sharing power forward minutes.

Still, Akron's McManamon likes a trade for Redd, calling it "logical" and writing that "it all makes sense."

McManamon does however, have more bad news for the Bucks. Guard Boobie Gibson underwent ankle surgery this offseason and could be considered off the table. If Gibson is off limits it wouldn't leave Cleveland much to deal with beyond the Wally Szczerbiak contract and the #19 pick -- not enough of a return for Michael Redd.

I'm suddenly concerned that the Bob Boozer Jinx -- the Bucks jinx at the power forward position -- is once again working its crazy mojo.