Milwaukee Bucks Blog - The Bob Boozer Jinx : Danny Ferry

RJ traded to Cleveland: Wally Szczerbiak's parka wins out over Raef Lafrentz's big yellow hat

J.D. Mo — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:05:00 GMT

The Bucks cocked a hunting rifle and fired on a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers late Wednesday, sending forward Richard Jefferson to the Cavs for guard-forward Wally Szczerbiak.

The trade, made just hours before today's NBA trading deadline, will free up $14.2 million from the Bucks 2009-10 committed payroll and allow the team to sign restricted free agents Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions this summer while continuing its unwavering commitment to injured Michael Redd. It even leaves room to pay draft picks and still avoid the league's luxury tax.

Szczerbiak's $13.775 million contract expires at the end of this season, when he'll become a free agent.

All parties involved acknowledged that the clincher was Wally's hunting parka, which impressively features what can only be a wolftail collar. The Bucks had also been in much rumored talks with Portland regarding a trade that would have shipped RJ to the Blazers for shelved forward Raef Lafrentz -- but all Lafrentz brought to the table was a cartoonishly large yellow hat.

In an interview with NBA-TV late last night, Szczerbiak explained how and why his parka was the lynchpin for the trade, and talked about the often cruel misperceptions the coat engendered in Ohio.

"I bought it in 2002 when I was playing for the T-Wolves," the 10-year veteran said. "The coat was a big hit up there, where there's a great northwoods and a lot of cold, and wolves, too. The coat'll keep you warm in that tundra. Minnesota's still the ideal place for it but if it can't be there, Wisconsin's a great fit. The Bucks and GM John Hammond, and especially Sen. Herb Kohl, understood all this better than many other NBA executives seem to." (And Kohl knows well exactly how many voters there are in Northern Wisconsin.--J.D.Mo)

"The lack of any northwoods or timber environment in Ohio (where Szczerbiak was traded last season from Seattle) really made the coat kinda lost on people," Wally went on. "A lot of people thought it was a weird pimp's coat or something. Can you believe that? What pimp would wear a hunting parka? I'm glad I'm headed for Wisconsin, where people will understand and I can wear the coat in public."

Cleveland GM Danny Ferry had nearly settled on keeping Wally, a key member of the Cavs rotation. However, sensitivity to the needs of Wally's parka may have tipped his decision to go ahead with the trade.

"Sure, I thought about the coat, but I also started thinking about how well Mo Williams has worked out for us, and my gut instinct told me: well, why wouldn't R.J. work out just as well? I think we could have won it all standing pat but, then, we have to get by Orlando or Boston or both before even thinking about the title; it won't be easy by any means.

"Now's the time, and we had to try to get better. I'm happy to provide a home for any high quality pro who is obviously not as big a priority for the Bucks organization as Michael Redd is," said Ferry, who tried last summer to trade for Redd but couldn't work out a deal. "Now the Bucks can keep Redd and pay a full roster next season -- plus, I owed John Hammond a favor for making the Mo trade happen for us last summer. I'm glad I was able to return the favor so quickly.

"Look, they're getting a great Wisconsin coat in the deal that people can connect with," added Ferry, getting a bit defensive. "As far as I know, we don't have wolves here in Northern Ohio, and the fans just never got used to it."

Bucks GM Hammond was feeling downright upbeat about the trade and likes the new options presented by the parka.

"We kept our options open as long as we could, but at the end of the day we just couldn't say no to such a great coat. I believe that's a wolfskin collar, but that's the beauty of it. It could be coontail or bobcat. We're keeping our options open about which animal skin it might be, because, well, you never know."

Portland's Lafrentz was disappointed that the Bucks opted for Wally's parka over his big yellow hat, which he wears when visiting elementary schools to read H.A. Rey's "Curious George" books to kids. "I understand the coat is a good fit for Wisconsin, but you should see the kids light up when I walk into school wearing my yellow hat. They think I AM George's friend, the Man in the Yellow Hat, come to life."

(Lafrentz really does look the Man in the Yellow Hat, doesn't he?)

"My playing days may be all but finished, but my hope was to bring the Man in the Yellow Hat to a new city. The kids love it everywhere I've been: Denver, Dallas, Boston and Portland. It's a dam shame that Milwaukee kids will be missing something special because of a coat with a crazy collar.

"What is that, some sort of Northwoods pimp's coat?"

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Does Skiles miss Kirk Hinrich? It sounded so last night after Hinrich lit up the Bucks for 18 in the 4th in the Bulls 113-104 victory at the BC. Here's what Skiles said postgame in comments that didn't make the Milwaukee paper:

“Kirk had a great game, obviously shooting the ball and scoring. He just took our guards and made us look pretty silly on several occasions because he was playing so hard.”

Hinrich has been on the trading block, and a rumored deal between the Bulls and T-Wolves was in the works. That appears to be off. Could the Bucks possibly step in and bring one of Skiles' Baby Bulls to Milwaukee? Hinrich and Skiles might say aye but sending R.J. to Chicago is pretty unrealistic, especially considering the Bulls just acquired John Salmons.

Luke Ridnour and Dan Gadzuric for Hinrich would help the Bucks out salary-wise next season (cuttng $3.75m in payroll) and send a good backup point guard and a bench big man Chicago's way. Too bad, though, that the Bulls are fighting for a playoff spot and the last thing they would do is send Hinrich back to the Skiles team ahead of them in the standings.

Mo Williams trade brewing (and stalling) with Cleveland and Oklahoma City

J.D. Mo — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:21:00 GMT

The Cleveland Cavaliers' quest for backcourt help for Lebron James continues ... With Michael Redd apparently unavailable for the time being, Cavs GM Danny Ferry has set his sights on Bucks point guard Mo Williams, first reported Sunday in the News-Herald of Northern Ohio, a Cleveland area daily.

The Cavs want scoring, and that's our Mo. He was one of the top shooters in the NBA last season, 2nd only to Utah's Kyle Korver in 2-point jumpshooting with a .508 percentage (Korver, Mo and 2-time MVP Steve Nash were the only players in the NBA above 50%). Mo led the Bucks in three-point shooting (38.5%) and free throw shooting (85.6%), averaging 17.2 pts, 6.3 asts per game.

Yet while Mo was the Bucks best shooter last season, he leaves a lot to be desired as a floor general and playmaker -- and he's terrible defender with a five-year, $43M contract. This doesn't make him coach Scott Skiles' kind of point guard. And Cleveland has been knocking.

News-Herald writer Bob Finnan speculated that trade talks may have begun with Cavs point guard Delonte West and two Cavs 2009 expiring contracts -- former Bucks Joe Smith and Damon Jones. West, a restricted free agent, is in a contract dispute with Cavs GM Danny Ferry, and has been offered a "take it or leave it" minimum offer -- $2.8 million for one year. A sign and trade deal sending West to the Bucks with a higher salary would break the impasse.

I watched a lot of Cleveland Cavs playoff basketball. West was acquired from Seattle in the three-team Ben Wallace-Larry Hughes trade and had been on the team only two months -- yet he had stepped in and was doing yeoman work running the offense with Lebron, playing scrappy defense and hitting key shots. He started all 13 playoff games as the Cavs ousted the Wizards and pushed Pierce, Garnett and Allen to the final minute of game seven. Mo Williams for Delonte West and Smith, the crafty 33-year-old forward-center with a soft shooting touch, works for me.

But apparently Bucks GM John Hammond and Skiles are not interested in West. Too much like Mo, probably. Enter Oklahoma City (the team that left its name in Seattle), one of the teams that have reportedly been involved in talks with the Cavs r.e. forward-center Anderson Varejao. (The Bucks have also been one of those teams). OK City, as luck would have it, has a corral of point guards that Scott Skiles could like -- draft pick Russell Westbrook, last year's starter Earl Watson and Luke Ridnour, the point guard during the Ray Allen years in Seattle.

After days of speculation centering on Watson and the possibilities for a larger trade involving power forwards Varejao, OKC's Chris Wilcox and Charlie Villanueva, who do the Bucks reportedly want for Mo Williams? Luke Ridnour, the third stringer, fallen on hard times since the departures of coach Brian Hill and Ray Allen. With the Sonics last season, West played more minutes per game than Ridnour prior to being traded. The Mo trade would reportedly send Mo to Cleveland, Joe Smith to OK City and Ridnour to Milwaukee. Setting aside for a moment whether or not this deal works within NBA rules ...

Luke Ridnour???

That had to hurt. I can understand how Skiles sees a little bit of himself in 27-year-old Ridnour, but

... Luke Ridnour???

And people say Mo is a bad defender ... But hold on. This trade is now stalled. Apparently, ESPN league sources say, Cavs GM Ferry is "balking at taking on Williams' contract. OKC and Milwaukee are ready to do the deal. The trade is not dead, but I'm told as of right now it has stalled."

At least someone came to their senses. I don't think, however, that this was ever "the trade." The salaries don't match. ~~The salary amount going out from a team in a trade has to be within 15 percent of the amount coming in. Trading Mo's~~ ~~$8.35 million salary~~ ~~requires that the Bucks take in at least $7.1M but not more than $9.6M.~~ ~~Ridnour's salary is $6.5M~~ ~~- $600,000 short. OK City is not taking in enough with~~ ~~Smith, whose salary is $4.8M~~ ~~-also about $600,000 short. OK City is under~~ ~~the salary cap~~ ~~and can take over 15 percent of a salary, but they can't undercut.~~ Cleveland and Milwaukee are both over the cap, and the Cavs are over the luxury tax threshold.

The Cavs need to find at least $2.3M to send out in order to take on Mo's contract. This trade could work if the Cavs sawed Delonte West or Damon Jones in two (I'm assuming they would choose Jones) and sent half a player and contract to Milwaukee and half to OK City. Barring that, they could send 1st round draft pick J.J. Hickson, a 6' 9" forward to either team, and fill in the other team's gap with Tarence Kinsey, an athletic 6' 6" guard built to play D whom the Cavs signed this month. After all that, the Cavs would still be $200,000 short of being within 15 percent of Mo's salary. Going deeper to the Cavs bench, guard Billy Thomas or center Lance Allred would cover it.

By now, Danny Ferry is no doubt cursing Larry Harris for paying Mo too much last summer. The Cavs have an $85.5 million payroll, some $13M over the luxury tax limit. Because Cleveland is over limit, the Cavs would have to send a dollar-for-dollar tax to the league based on how much additional payroll Mo's contract adds. As this deal lays now, the Cavs would pay Mo his salary plus about $1 M to the NBA -- a total of $9.3 million. For this privelege, they would give up Smith, a key role player in their front court rotation, and possibly three players including the 1st round draft pick -- after pinching pennies with Delonte West.

No wonder Ferry's balking and the deal is stalled. The price is high. Keep in mind that the Cavs can stand pat and still know that they are a contender for the title. The only team in the East that has proven it can beat Lebron in a playoff series is the Boston Celtics. Would Mo make the difference? Or would a healthy Boobie Gibson serve just as well? Cleveland and Ferry may have picked up the phone to get the ball rolling on this trade, but they're good enough as a team to risk nothing by waiting to see how the season unfolds.

And Luke Ridnour? Here he is in better times, the 2005 playoffs against Sacramento. This must be the guy that Hammond and Skiles are hoping to acquire: