Milwaukee Bucks 09 Media Session

[IamQuailman]

GM: Welcome, welcome! I know an entire off-season has passed, but WE DID IT! Finally, everything we worked so hard to build over the years finally manifested itself in the playoffs last year, and we won our franchise-first NBA title!

GM: But, unfortunately there is no real time to celebrate, as a new season is already upon us. We are going to recap quickly what exactly happen this off-season. We entered the offseason with 3 starters being Free Agents, along with 2 crucial role players. We were 18 million under the cap to start, and bringing Tony Parker and Shane Battier back would most definitely be costly. But first, we decided to tackle the draft. We had no pick, but as always, we were persistent in negotiations and seeking out any opportunity to get younger. And after some back in forth, we finally were able to work our way into the draft, unfortunately at the expense of one of our promising young players, CJ Watson. However, with the uncertainty surrounding Tony Parker's future with this team, we felt that this was the perfect draft to grab depth at point guard, and that depth turned into the 18 year-old stud, Brandon Jennings. After the draft, RFA period approached, and we had 3 major targets: Ike Diogu, Marcin Gortat, and Andrew Bynum. However, after interviewing with Marcin, both sides mutually felt that it was the perfect fit to the extent that interviews with Diogu and Bynum were cancelled. Fortunately for us, Gortat was not matched, and we then had ourselves a stud in the making at the 5. The only downside to this is that now our cap space was hanging around $5 million, with Shane Battier and Tony Parker left to re-sign.

GM: Purely a financial and basketball decision, we decided that Tony Parker was more necessary to the production of our team than Battier at this point in their careers. Shane was a consummate pro, a multi-time All-Defensive Team player, and we wish him the best in Atlanta. Without him, we would have never been in the position to win the championship last year. We are thrilled to have Tony back, though. He was a linchpin for us on the offensive side of the ball, creating for himself and others. Without that ability, our offense would be in shambles. We brought back Brendan Haywood, missed out on re-signing Jarvis Hayes, and signed many vets to very favorable deals. Fan-favorite Jamal Sampson is back, Steve Blake is joining us and could emerge as our 3rd guard, and last but not least, JALEN ROSE has come home! We are hoping that we can do Jalen a solid and send him out on top, as he has indicated that this could be his last season in the league.

GM: After entering training camp, however, the team was faced with a very tough decision. Amare Stoudemire came back in better shape than ever, but his attitude towards the team had changed. He felt that he deserved superstar treatment and in fact cause some dysfunction amongst the others in the lockerroom. As a result, the front office was forced to quietly shop him around the league, as a distraction like that is never welcome in Milwaukee. The Lakers, having lost out on Kobe Bryant, entertained our offer, and agreed to send us rebounding specialist Reggie Evans, rookie swingman OJ Mayo, and big man Mario Kasun for Amare and Brendan Haywood. This is almost the most perfect package we could expect to get, as it not only gives us depth... it gives us a starting 4 and a young high-potential rookie deal player. It is very unfortunate that we had to move on from Amare; he was a building block for this team and was entering into his 8th season in the green and purp. We had very high hopes, despite a few set backs throughout his career here. But we wish him will in Los Angeles.

GM: That's the recap for us. Any questions for us?

[WigNosy]

Do you feel that your 4-0 drubbing of the Kings in the Finals last year precipitated their breakup? Also, did the RFA signing of Gortat have any bearing on the contract you offered to Battier?

[kucoach7]

Was the Amare deal really just a sign of rebuilding to come? Can we expect you to shop Artest and Parker this year?

[Soundwave]

Any hopes of repeating? Did you feel you owed it to the team and league to give it a shot?

[IamQuailman]

Do you feel that your 4-0 drubbing of the Kings in the Finals last year precipitated their breakup? Also, did the RFA signing of Gortat have any bearing on the contract you offered to Battier?

Signing of Gortat actually did not impact the amount we offered Battier. He was offered a $17mil, 2year contract (team option). Obviously the Hawks deal was better, as it guaranteed more money for him; so we don't blame him for taking that. But due to his age, we felt that was the most we could offer without adversely affecting our team's financial future.

[IamQuailman]

Was the Amare deal really just a sign of rebuilding to come? Can we expect you to shop Artest and Parker this year?

Not necessarily. We feel like we got exactly what we needed in the Amare deal in order to nurture youth while competing on a high level. Neither Artest or Parker will be shopped for the foreseeable future.

[IamQuailman]

Any hopes of repeating? Did you feel you owed it to the team and league to give it a shot?

We are absolutely shooting for a repeat. While we lost a major offensive contributor at the 4, we feel that depth-wise we improved and have more talent down low than years past. I do envision us adjusting a little on the defensive side of the ball after losing Battier, but I still feel that we are more than ready to try and run it back.

[Eazy P]

Is this season a Repeat or Bust year?

[IamQuailman]

Is this season a Repeat or Bust year?

After winning one, it's always Repeat or bust. So I would say, yes.