Tim_VanVooren's Blog

Joe Alexander seems like a good fit for the Bucks.  His selection in the first round of the NBA draft on Thursday is anything but a surprise, given the rather public courtship between team and player in the weeks leading up to the draft.  However, the acquisition of Richard Jefferson on draft day is probably a significantly more important move, even though it doesn't garner as much attention as warranted because of the backdrop of the draft.  Jefferson is an All-Star level player who is a proven scorer in the league (who also makes a ton of money).  Yi Jianlian is traded away in order to acquire Jefferson, and that pretty big too, given the hype attached to the Chinese rookie over the last year.  What's most striking about the trade, though, is that it comes as a surprise.  There is so much chatter on sports radio and the internet these days that trades are often publicly debated before they ever officially go down.  But not so with this deal, and I think you have to commend those involved for that.  In the media, it's great to have inside information and it's much more fun to discuss potential deals with at least a few nuggets of validity to them.  However, a brand new general manager keeping his cards close enough to the vest involving a couple of major commodities to surprise even the national experts is worth acknowledging.  John Hammond still has a lot of work to do in remaking the Bucks, but it appears we may not hear about some of that work until it is already done.