WSSP John Hammond interview

[emunney]

Does Hammond get full credit for Giannis or is there someone in the scouting department who really deserves it?

I think he gets full credit. You could see he was bursting with excitement when he picked him. Obviously you rely on your scouts to tell you who to look at, but Hammond pulled the trigger there and should be recognized for it. There were some good evaluators right in that pick range who passed. You look at either side of that pick, you have 6ers, Celtics (who traded up with the Mavs, whose basketball people were totally sold on Giannis), Thunder before and 2 Hawks picks after. It's a miracle we landed him, we should have been more aggressive, but we did land him.

[lunchbox]

I am happy that the narrative this season between this board and talk on WSSP has not been John Hammond. It seemed like every conversation began and ended with Hammond. Probably because he traded a lot and then traded out of his mistakes. Thus lots of topics to beat to death. The Bucks over the years made sub-par coaching hires and the only consistent part of the basketball ops was Hammond, so everything began and ended with him. Since he has been pushed back from this narrative, an exit will not seem so big. I know he has a presence on the Bucks Radio Network broadcasts, but the moaning, bitching, complaining about the role of the GM has been nicely quiet this year. Definitely keeps the focus on our 41 win team.

[crkone]

If Hammond and Kidd can work together on who to get in trades and FA, he should stay at least for another season. It seems like it has worked for the most part this season.

[MickeyDavis]

Taking it one step further what kind of GM would we get if Hammond does leave? It would have to be one who know's he's more of an advisory GM. Maybe they would just give it to Morway.

[Treebeard]

Taking it one step further what kind of GM would we get if Hammond does leave? It would have to be one who know's he's more of an advisory GM. Maybe they would just give it to Morway.

Either that model, or the flip side.... Some heavyweight who's definitively in charge from the second he walks through the door, though God knows who would fit that category.

[Thunder Muscle]

It would be nice to hear Hammond off the record & see how involved he is. Im a little nervous giving Kidd full control.

[thomchatt3rton]

Im a little nervous giving Kidd full control.

I am too.


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[Cooleyo47]

I would like to see Hammond stay now that there are other voices in the room, if only for his drafting ability.

LMAM, Jennings, Tobes, Meeks, Leuer, Sanders, Henson, Jabari were all "wins" for their draft position. Hell, the Bucks were even higher than most on Klay Thompson.

Morway and Kidd's input on FA and trades is valued. I think the FO structure is pretty good as is.

[ReasonablySober]

Is Hammond's contract up this year? If not, let me ask you this: why would Kidd (and make no mistake I think he's the guy in charge here) want Hammond gone? If Kidd's the guy with the power, why bring in another GM and pay two salaries for a figurehead position?

ETA: And yea, if he's unhappy with his current role he could simply resign. If I were him I'd have my agent looking for other GM jobs. "Hey look at what my guy accomplished rebuilding the Bucks!"

[paulpressey25]

I'll predict that Hammond leaves at the end of the season or at the end of his contract in June and David Morway is announced as team GM. But in reality the decisions will be made by Edens/Lasry/Kidd with Morway doing the execution of said objectives.

[Thunder Muscle]

Hammond is under contract thru 15-16.

[sidney lanier]

I'd keep him. He's too young to retire (60), knows the league, knows how to draft, knows what he's doing generally, and most importantly provides political cover for LED and Kidd to do what they want.

There don't seem to be a lot of controversial personnel moves to be made in the near future. There's a crying need for a good young center and better depth at the one, but other than that, barring injury, the GM for this team will be working around the edges and picking up complementary pieces. Not too demanding a role, and perfect for someone like Hammond as he approaches gold watch time.

[Dobber-16]

I can't give a pass to Hammond since he signed Gooden, re-signed Salmons, traded Harris, and drafted Potsie.

[Diggr14]

You definitely keep Hammond, He has shown very good ability to draft guys especially in the middle of the draft. All of you Hammond haters are really quick to point out his busts, but then not give any acknowledgement that he was the guy that drafted Giannis and stole Middleton and Knight from Detroit. We also got Miroslav who was then shipped with Delfino for the LAC 2017 1st. He has been all sorts of awesome for us the last 2 seasons. Hammond unchained = a good GM.

[tski1972]

I can't give a pass to Hammond since he signed Gooden, re-signed Salmons, traded Harris, and drafted Potsie.

you can't dismiss the Herb Kohl factor.

[Thunder Muscle]

I just assumed Hammond is in control of draft & Kidd is geared toward NBA level. I'm cool with that but can see why Hammond maybe wouldn't be. I think he could get another GM job as seems respected around league.

[xTitan]

I can't give a pass to Hammond since he signed Gooden, re-signed Salmons, traded Harris, and drafted Potsie.

you can't dismiss the Herb Kohl factor.

Does the Kohl factor also come in to play for his few successes as well?

[Treebeard]

There don't seem to be a lot of controversial personnel moves to be made in the near future. There's a crying need for a good young center and better depth at the one, but other than that, barring injury, the GM for this team will be working around the edges and picking up complementary pieces. Not too demanding a role, and perfect for someone like Hammond as he approaches gold watch time.

That's where I think you need someone really pretty sharp to work those margins, especially if upgrades by lotto pick are a thing of the past. IF we are counting on Giannis & Parker to be the main men, then the rest of the lineup needs a thorough talent AND fit evaluation. i.e. Are MCW & Henson keepers, or just more tradeable assets? Managing the transition to the mongo salary jump in a couple of years is going to be a key to the Bucks future - and a bigger problem for teams like Milwaukee than most folks recognize.

Maybe the new GM is a back-office technocrat, who is seldom seen in public, but they need to be sharper than 95% of the other GM's out there.

[tski1972]

I can't give a pass to Hammond since he signed Gooden, re-signed Salmons, traded Harris, and drafted Potsie.

you can't dismiss the Herb Kohl factor.

Does the Kohl factor also come in to play for his few successes as well?

the Kohl factor isn't a known fact when it comes to the moves that were made during the Kohl/Hammond era. However, one could perceive certain deals in different ways. Salmons re-signing and the Harris trade seem more like deals Kohl had a hand in, Gooden as well but I give Hammond the blame for the length of the deal. Potsie was just the Bucks being in the wrong draft spot.

[M-C-G]

Hammond has some talent, the biggest strike against him was trying to serve two masters. I think he wanted to draft and develop and Kohl obviously wanted to win now. Trying to do both was silly, and he obviously wasn't a strong enough voice to hold of the win now direction. He should have just fully committed to it and made some real moves.

That said, he (or whomever is calling the shots at the moment) seems to be working really well with this group and Kidd. I have no problem with a GM going to his coach and getting some direction with what or who he wants on the court and then going out and making it happen. As long as he has input or the ability to veto a stupid move.