Chad Ford: Bucks Would Have Interest in Augustin

[europa]

From his chat today:

Ariel (Albany, NY): With DJ Augustin molding his game after Steve Nash, he seems like a perfect fit for the Knicks. Should they consider trading down to pick him if they can move a contract or pick up another piece?

SportsNation Chad Ford: I'm not sure how far you could trade down. The Bucks would have interest and so would the Pacers.

[LUKE23]

Yuck. That would be about worst case scenario for me.

[trwi7]

Yuck. That would be about worst case scenario for me.

[Licensed to Il]

I'm not sure how Augistine brings anything to the table that Mo doesn't already. It is not like Mo is a bad player or has no talent. It's just that he doesn't fit with the direction the Bucks need to go.

While I am a firm believer in the draft strategy that you have to take the best guy available, I'm not sure Augistine is an upgrade over what we already have at the position.

One thing I will say about Skiles though, is his almost Stottsian preference for playing three guards at a time. He has stated that it opens up the floor, results in less turnovers, and produces better ball movement that in turns wears down defences. So it wouldn't shock me if the Bucks stocked up on guards this offseason.

[LUKE23]

Mo is as good of a scorer/shooter as Augustin could probably ever hope to be in the NBA. Mo put up 17+ on 48% this year, I'd be surprised if Augustin ever did that.

If Augustin was a standout defender, I'd be more apt to look at him, but he's not. Short and average lateral quickness. He's a better facillitator than Mo, but not enough to make up for the other shortcomings.

[europa]

I think Augustin potentially (heavy emphasis on that word) can bring more to the table as a creator and leader than Mo can. I don't know if he'll be as bad defensively as Mo but it's unlikely he'll be very good given how he doesn't have the supreme quickness to compensate for his lack of height.

What strikes me most about this is this is the second time Ford has linked Augustin to the Bucks. First in his most recent mock and now in this chat. That leads me to wonder if he's hearing rumblings that suggest Hammond is looking for a new PG. It also makes me wonder if Hammond thinks Augustin has elite potential. Something's going on here for Ford to start linking Augustin to the Bucks when not long ago he was pretty much set on Gordon going to the Bucks and maybe Westbrook.

[BucksRuleAll22]

Nobody thinks Augustin is gonna be a elite player, and Chad Ford is the worst guy in sports to get a opinon or information from. Augustin is a mid to late 1st round pick. Hes 5'11 and is undersized and will never to be able to defend well in the NBA. He will resemble Jameer Nelson if he pans out.

[fam3381]

Remember Chuck Diesel also mentioned that the Bucks liked Augustin as of a couple months ago.

[MikeIsGood]

and Chad Ford is the worst guy in sports to get a opinon or information from.

That's been false for about four years.

I certainly hope he's wrong and this case, and just speculating.

[paulpressey25]

Remember Chuck Diesel also mentioned that the Bucks liked Augustin as of a couple months ago.

But everybody from a couple months ago is gone.

I saw that blurb as well. I think that is Ford's conjecture rather than any inside info. Just my thoughts.

[worthlessBucks]

Remember Chuck Diesel also mentioned that the Bucks liked Augustin as of a couple months ago.

There's a new sheriff in town.

I don't mind Augustin's skill set, he's small and can't defend that well, but what does he do to improve this team? Our glaring weaknesses are on the defensive end and at small forward so unless Hammond has a trade package in mind to address those issues, I doubt they draft Augustin.

[fam3381]

But everybody from a couple months ago is gone.

Not in the scouting department...Babcock and Gilmartin were the main guys there and they still are. I think it's correct to think Hammond and the Detroit crew's thinking might reverse the Bucks' opinion on some guys, but among the people involved in draft preparations, there's been some continuity (which given the logistical problem with firing the guys who have scouted your draft prospects, that might not be a coincidence).

[Licensed to Il]

Obviously this is all speculation, so it would be foolish of me to say that my speculation is better than someone elses.

But this is the time of the year when GMs and assistants (and agents) buddy up to media members in order to confuse their peers. For example, if Hammond really did want Westbrook, it would be very clever to "leak" how much the Bucks liked Augistine. Same thing if the Bucks were interested in Love, Nic Batum, etc.

The one thing I feel we can conclude, is that niether Hammond nor Skiles value undersized guards who don't defend well. Hammond was involved in building a roster around Billups and drafting Stuckey. Skiles relied almost exclusively on Hinrich and Duhon, two guys who are not great shooters or creators but defend exceptionally well.

[europa]

Yea I like Augustin and wouldn't have any problems with the Bucks drafting him but given the importance Hammond has placed on the PG position and defense I can't see him drafting Augustin. He'd have to think Augustin brings elite PG skills to the table and while I do think Augustin will be a good PG I don't think he'll be a great one.

He'd be a nice fit with the Knicks, though.

[Licensed to Il]

The Knicks are going to need to identify a guy who can get the ball up the court in a hurry, shoot, and run the pick and roll.

Obviously they are not going to find the next Steve Nash, but they don't got anyone on their roster who fits that mold of "seven seconds or less" point guard. I mean, you could play that way with Marbury and Crawford, but you would only win ten games.

Also, Phoenix (pre-Shaq) never put more than one guy on the floor at a time that was dead weight offensively, because that gave the D a person to double team and trap with. And the beauty of the scheme was that Nash would run the pick and roll with Amare until you trapped and doubled to stop it, and then he would find the open guy lined up on the perimiter for a 3.

The additions of Grant Hill and Shaq really killed that one thing that made Phoenix great (that you culdn't double without giving up the three pointer to a great shooter).

It would take about 7 trades before NY had the roster to run that scheme successfully.

Curry and Randolph are perhaps the two worst fits in the league for D'ntoni's system.

[europa]

I agree their roster is a mess. But if they land Augustin or trade for Ford and draft Mayo, that'd be a helluva nice start in my opinion.

[DH34Phan]

I agree their roster is a mess. But if they land Augustin or trade for Ford and draft Mayo, that'd be a helluva nice start in my opinion.

Any team with TJ Ford is headed for greatness. LMAO.

[LUKE23]

Yeah, TJ has slowly regressed throughout his career. I don't think he was any better than an average PG this past season, otherwise Toronto is probably better in the East than they were.

I loved TJ his rookie year. I haven't seen him play like that consistently since though. There were a lot of Raptor fan complaints about him this season as it wore on.

[fam3381]

Ford had a strange season. The injury scare and the attitude stuff combined with Calderon's excellence has put him on the outs, but his per-minute averages in scoring and steals were up, assists were unchanged, and turnovers were down. His PER of 20+ was a career high and generally outstanding. As a basketball fan I'd love to see him get a chance to start again in New York.

[europa]

Ford had a strange season. The injury scare and the attitude stuff combined with Calderon's excellence has put him on the outs, but his per-minute averages in scoring and steals were up, assists were unchanged, and turnovers were down. His PER of 20+ was a career high and generally outstanding. As a basketball fan I'd love to see him get a chance to start again in New York.

Good post. There's nothing in Ford's production that suggests he is regressing. The opposite is actually true. He averaged 14-7 on 51% FG shooting as a starter. Any PG who can shoot over 50% from the floor is having a sick season but T.J. Ford? I don't think there's anybody who honestly believed Ford would ever shoot that high a percentage. Well T.J. probably did. Seriously, he played exceptionally well as a starter. The problem was he absolutely stunk coming off the bench.

I think the big problem the Raptors have is they have two very talented young PGs who need to play 30-35 minutes per game. Dividing up the minutes equally isn't helping either of them do the most they can and it's no longer helping the team win. I expect Ford will be traded and I agree with you, I think he'd be a great fit in New York and he'd be a really nice fit in Portland.