Bucks Sign Ruffin

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed forward Michael Ruffin.

"Michael has made a career out of being a high-character, high-energy player who does the little things to help his team," Bucks general manager Larry Harris said. "He is a very good rebounder and excels on the defensive end of the court."

Ruffin is indeed a defensive-minded player who is very low on offensive ability.

He’s also the guy who threw the ball up in the air a little too early in a game last year, costing the Washington Wizards a win in the thick of the playoff race:

“The Wizards appeared to have a victory secured until Michael Ruffin's celebratory heave toward the rafters landed in the hands of Raptors guard Morris Peterson, whose 3-pointer from 31 feet tied the score at 109 as the horn sounded ending regulation.”

His assist to Peterson was one more assist than he had to his own team in that game. He also managed to not score in 26 minutes.

To be fair, that’s not exactly a fair representation of a typical Ruffin game.

For an end-of-the-bench type, he’s a solid player, because like Harris said, he can rebound and play defense. Particularly on the Bucks, those are valued, all-too-often missing attributes.

However, considering the Bucks already signed Jake Voskuhl this summer, there won’t be many minutes available for Ruffin. In fact, he’s probably on the outside looking in at an active roster spot.

Offseason Evaluation

ESPN’s Marc Stein ranked all fifteen Eastern Conference teams “based on who has done the East's finest shopping and trading” this offseason. He rated the Milwaukee Bucks a very respectable fourth.

An excerpt from the article:

“Is Mo Williams really a $52 milion player? Was Yi Jianlian worthy of the sixth overall pick in the June draft? You have to believe "yes" to like what Milwaukee did this summer.

Yet you can understand why the Bucks feel victorious no matter what skeptics say. For awhile there, it looked as though they were going to get neither of their top two offseason targets, with Williams threatening to bolt for Miami because the Bucks' initial offer wasn't close to where it ended up ... and with Yi seemingly determined to hold out well into the season in an attempt to force Milwaukee to trade him.

To have secured both signatures by Sept. 1? A dream double for Milwaukee.”

At a time when most fans feel refreshingly optimistic about their team’s chances, Bucks fans are sure to feel a little worn out as summer nears its end, following the nonstop drama of negotiations. In times like this, it’s important to look at the bottom line, and what happened rather than how it happened.

Another way to think about this is to ask yourself what priorities you had for the team entering the offseason and reflect on whether or not they fulfilled those priorities.

When you think in these terms, you see the team added more than subtracted, and retained the important parts. While simplistic, this much is not terribly debatable.

As intense followers, sometimes we are prone to overly critical views. It’s difficult to take a step back from the situation. In this case, Stein offers a more removed perspective, and finds a lot more that went right than wrong. That’s not to say he’s correct, but it’s a view certainly worth considering after an exhausting summer.

Villanueva Interviewed

HoopsHype interviewed Charlie Villanueva, who said his shoulder is “100 percent ready.”

That’s obviously very encouraging news, as the Bucks aren’t yet good enough to fight through another injury-plagued season

Also from the interview:

“Do you think Michael Redd will take most of the shots this season again or do you expect a more balanced attack?

CV: Mike is the best player on the team and everybody knows he's one of the best shooters in the NBA. He's our leader and will take a lot of shots. But I'm expecting a more balanced attack this season, with Mike leading us. We have enough talent on the team so that other players can take responsibility. We have Maurice Williams out there, Charlie Bell too... A lot of guys.”

Perhaps a question about commitment to team defense would have been more discussion-worthy than one about how the Bucks are going to score, after allowing 104.1 points per game last season.

In any event, adding Desmond Mason, Bobby Simmons, and Yi Jianlian and losing Ruben Patterson should spread the offense around a little more. Michael Redd might not average 26.7 points again, but the team has a good shot to eclipse last year’s mark of 99.7 points per game.

Bucks Match Heat's Offer For Bell

Charles Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports the Milwaukee Bucks have matched the Miami Heat’s offer for guard Charlie Bell.

Bell's agent, Mark Bartelstein, said he talked with Bell today and that the 6-foot-3 guard was "kind of digesting it."

"This is all part of the business," Bartelstein said. "They (the Bucks) realize Charlie Bell is a heck of a player, a huge piece of their present and future. They decided they wanted and needed to have Charlie with them."

I have been atypically optimistic about Bell’s chances of staying in Milwaukee throughout most of this ordeal.

Fom September 15:

“For now however, the NBA, and in this case the Bucks, have the upper-hand. Bell could slip away, but there is reason to be optimistic that he'll stay in Milwaukee.”

And from September 17:

“It’s safe to say Larry Harris and the Bucks know this, and judging by the team’s suave handling of the Yi situation, they aren’t likely to suddenly cave in and overpay for Bell. That increasingly makes it look like Bell won’t be playing for the Bucks this year, but I’ve cautioned before, and still maintain, that there’s a possibility he’ll ultimately resign, with the fact that he's a restricted free-agent playing a big role in that possibility.”

I must admit however, Bell’s public pleading to the Bucks to not match the Heat’s offer almost turned me into a disbeliever.

In an offseason of a lot more boom than bust, the Bucks again delivered.

The bad news is that apparently they could have signed Bell at a lower price if they would have negotiated the terms more seriously, and faster.

The good news is that possible playoff discussion can now be reintroduced in Milwaukee.

The offseason must be considered at least a mild success now. Resigning Mo Williams was the first priority, and that was accomplished. And now, the Bucks have locked up two players, Yi Jianlian and Bell, whose public desire to play elsewhere has been sometimes outrageously intense, sometimes intensely outrageous. As a small-market team and with little public pressure relative to the giants of the NBA, management has steadfastly proved their tenacity and intent to win is level with anyone.

And the relationship between Bell and the Bucks is repairable, with the $18.5 million working effectively to expedite any necessary healing process. However, as a sidenote, for those who have been following the Bell MySpace page part of the story, his mood today is currently “sore.”

Many considered the Royal Ivey acquisition a sign that Bell would not return. Now that he is back in the fold, cutting the active roster to twelve becomes a little more difficult. Here is one shot at the opening-night depth chart:

C- Andrew Bogut/Dan Gadzuric
PF- Charlie Villanueva/Yi Jianlian/Jake Voskuhl
SF- Desmond Mason/Bobby Simmons
SG- Michael Redd/David Noel
PG- Mo Williams/Charlie Bell/Royal Ivey

In this scenario, the three inactive players to produce the necessary fifteen total are Lynn Greer, Awvee Storey, and Ramon Sessions.

Bucks Sign Ivey

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed guard Royal Ivey.

“Royal has shown that he can play both the point and off-guard positions,” said Harris. “He has good size and athleticism, and brings a defensive mentality to our roster.”

With the comments about guard versatility, Harris seems to hint that Ivey will assume the role of the possibly departing Charlie Bell.

However, as Just Another Bucks Fan notes, a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article reveals a quote from Harris that flies in the face of that implication.

"There's no direct correlation at all, Bucks general manager Larry Harris said of Ivey's signing. We already had planned to do this, regardless of the Charlie Bell situation. "

While it’s reasonable to believe the Bucks were interested in bolstering their backcourt depth regardless of Bell’s situation, Bell’s signing with the Heat yesterday and the addition of Ivey today hardly looks coincidental. Harris might not refute that anyway, because if you read his words closely, you’ll find that he doesn’t say there isn’t a correlation, rather that there isn’t a direct correlation.

The Bucks don’t likely have any interest in matching the Heat’s offer. That doesn’t mean they are going to publically admit that for the next six days or so, probably preferring to methodically weigh their options and let Bell fret over the mere possibility.

Regardless, it’s probably time to concentrate on players that are actually going to play for the Bucks, like Ivey. Here are a few things to consider about the newest Buck:

• Ivey has mostly played point guard in the NBA. At 6'4" and 215 pounds, he becomes the team’s biggest point guard. He’s taller and weighs more than Mo Williams, Lynn Greer, and Ramon Sessions. More importantly, his size doesn't come at the expense of speed, and he's regarded as a solid defensive player.

• Not a dynamic offensive player even in college, Ivey averaged 9.4 points as a senior on Texas. Naturally, he hasn’t been a big scorer in the NBA, averaging just 3.4 points in three seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. However, in his second pro season he did go far toward earning the treasured point guard label of expert decision-maker, with a 3.2 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2005-06. At the same time he became a viable outside threat, shooting .400 on three-pointers. Unfortunately, last year saw his assist-to-turnover ratio dip to a very mediocre 1.5, a numbered bettered by Williams and Greer. His three-point percentage also fell to .313.

• The Bradley Center might be a happy home for Ivey, considering he scored a season-high 16 points in 42 minutes in the Bucks' backyard last year. His 9.0 point average against the Bucks was also his highest against any opponent on the season. Granted, the small sample-size and bloated minutes are probably the determining factors for the increased numbers.
  

Ivey is a decent signing given the timing and circumstances. It’ll be interesting to see how the point guard bench minutes are distributed among Ivey, Greer, and perhaps Sessions if Bell doesn't return.

Heat Sign Bell To Offer Sheet

The Miami Heat have signed Charlie Bell to a five-year, $18.5 million offer sheet.

Since Bell is a restricted free-agent, the Bucks have seven days to match the Heat’s offer. If not, Bell will get his wish to leave Milwaukee.

"I hope they don't match it," Bell said Monday afternoon in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "The Bucks said they didn't have this kind of money and didn't want to give me a long-term deal, so I would hope they stick to what they said and let me go. ... I'm really thankful Miami stepped up."

The Bucks didn’t budge with a seemingly disgruntled Yi Jianlian earlier this summer, eventually winning him over and signing him. Don’t expect the entire Bucks organization to go so far out of the for Bell though, especially now. The difference in the two situations is that the Bucks are extremely high on Yi and are lukewarm on Bell. Making Yi the sixth pick in the draft and offering Bell only a three-year contract are reflections of that.

But it's not a matter of the Bucks neglecting to realize Bell's true value and importance. Rather, the progressive direction of the team cannot be bogged down by risky, low-reward, long-term contracts. The Bucks surely couldn’t have envisioned signing Bell would be so difficult, especially as a restricted free-agent. He fits in well on the team. The Bucks and Bell both know that. But that doesn’t mean he’s such a perfect fit in four or five years. The Bucks need to put the future of the franchise first, and by not overpaying they will have done that.

This season is another story. Losing Bell, arguably one of the top backup guards in the Eastern Conference, would only damage the team's already shaky playoff aspirations. Potentially losing him to a contender within the conference would only compound the problem.

Still, if the Bucks were going to lose a free-agent guard to the Heat, they picked the right one. Mo Williams will combine with Michael Redd to form an excellent starting backcourt. Lynn Greer and perhaps recently signed Ramon Sessions will play increased roles off the bench. It’s also been reported that the Bucks have recently worked out Dee Brown and other guards.

The Bucks play the Heat for the first time this season on January 2. Even if Bell is playing against the Bucks in that game, he won’t be the most important former Milwaukee basketball guard to hold in check, as Dwyane Wade still holds that title.

In any event, my cautious optimism that Bell will remain in Milwaukee has officially been downgraded more than a few levels, but this story isn’t quite over.

Bell's Milwaukee Farewell?

Charlie Bell seems intent on surpassing Yi Jianlian for the title-holder of most bizarre holdout of the Bucks this summer. As reported on Just Another Bucks Fan, a seemingly authentic Bell MySpace page has provided a unique twist to the story and telling details about the player’s thought-process.

The latest is that Bell’s current moniker reads:

“Thank you Milwaukee for the last 2 years!”

Either he really is done with the Bucks, or is just on a melodramatic kick.

From a blog post on Sept 15:

“I also want everyone to know that its not about the money at this point. It's about my heart. This summer has been long and trying for me and my family with many ups and downs. I am grateful for the offer by milwaukee last week and I was willing to accept it with a minor change. But the ultimatum and take it or leave it approach permanently poisened me and changed my desire to even be in Milwaukee anymore. I know that because my heart is no longer there I will not be able to be the player they want or need. They could offer me 10 million dollars/yr now and it would not change my heart. I can't play to the best of my ability if I'm miserable. I can't sabotage myself or a team like that. The Bucks will sign a player whose heart will be with the team. Good luck this season.”

And in a reply to his own post, he wrote:

“I don't threaten. It's immature. I really wanted to go to Greece. What upset me though is when I told my mother that I was going and she cried. She had already spent 3 years not seeing her grandchildren when I was in Europe and told me she couldn't do it again. I was taking the offer in Olympiacos, the team is wonderful and the fans are loyal, it wasn't a threat. The Bucks upped their offer to 3/year when I was there. It made me rethink my decision. And now? If I do decide to go to Europe or whatever I decide, don't worry, I will be happy. Thanks for your concern.”

It’s interesting how he tries to clarify that his trip to Greece wasn’t a threat, but then conceded that he had to rethink his decision after the Bucks upped their offer while he was there. Call it what you want, but the trip was another part of playing the bargaining game with the team he wanted to play for ideally and initially: the Bucks. Obviously he’s genuinely interested in playing for Olympiakos, but the fact that the increased Bucks’ offer made him rethink his decision makes it pretty clear the Bucks are very much on his radar, even if that’s not how it comes off, or what the headlines say.

While his flirtation with Olympiakos is winning him new fans overseas, the ridiculousness of the situation is turning off many in Bucks Nation, and what else could he expect? The Bratwurst speculates that Bell’s sour attitude toward the Bucks and admission that his heart wouldn’t be in Milwaukee is a ploy to warn the Bucks against matching potential offers from other NBA teams.

“So maybe Bell is holding out for an offer from an NBA team that is closer to winning than the Bucks but isn’t willing/able to exceed the contract that the Bucks have already offered? So now he is trying to poison his relationship with Milwaukee, trying to ensure that when someone else brings an offer the Bucks won’t match it.”

In a recent Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, Bell talked more about his unwillingness to play for the Bucks.

“Bell said he was not sure of his next destination, but he hoped to know within the next week.

"I think it's going to be soon," Bell said. "Teams over in Europe, they don't want to let it drag on too long.

"My agent knows I don't want to be in Milwaukee anymore. So, we're just trying to see if we can make that happen."

Although the Bucks have the ability to match any other NBA offers for Bell, he said he hoped they would not.

"That's going to be on them," Bell said. "I don't think it would be a good situation.

"If I was a general manager, I wouldn't want a player who doesn't want to be there. It's hard to coach that type of player."

I’m not sure how agent Mark Bartelstein is guiding Bell through this process, but allowing his client to admit that he wouldn’t be trying his hardest in what amounts to a rather typical situation certainly won’t be a good bargaining chip in future negotiations. And while Bell is a solid backup NBA player, it’s not like we’re talking about the football equivalent of Terrell Owens, talent-wise.

It’s safe to say Larry Harris and the Bucks know this, and judging by the team’s suave handling of the Yi situation, they aren’t likely to suddenly cave in and overpay for Bell. That increasingly makes it look like Bell won’t be playing for the Bucks this year, but I’ve cautioned before, and still maintain, that there’s a possibility he’ll ultimately resign, with the fact that he's a restricted free-agent playing a big role in that possibility.