The Bucks were able to outbid the Phoenix Suns who wanted Lue to backup Steve Nash.

The Lue signing signals to me that a Mo Williams trade might be in the works. I’ll take a look at possible destinations for Mo later today, but let’s focus on the Bucks right now. Ramon Sessions should team with Michael Redd in the backcourt with Lue and Charlie Bell coming off the bench.

Lue also brings another veteran presence with playoff and Finals experience. He played with the Lakers in 2001. He played last season with Atlanta and Dallas. He was on Sacramento’s roster but never saw any action for the Kings.

This is another good move by GM Hammond. The roster is starting to take shape. One more move (trading Mo Williams) should make the Bucks a threat in the Eastern Conference this season.

While all this has been going down, GM John Hammond has been transforming the Milwaukee Bucks from perennial laughing stock to a real threat in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. Hammond served as Joe Dumars assistant in Detroit so he knows how to build a winner.

Hammond was hired after Larry Harris was fired and immediately began to clean house. Head coach Larry Krystkowiak was fired and replaced by Scott Skiles.  Hammond made his biggest splash when he traded Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons to the Nets for Richard Jefferson. Jefferson addressed Hammond’s biggest concern going into the off-season: small forward. The move also got rid of Bobby Simmons’ horrible contract. The same day that the Bucks acquired Jefferson, they drafted Joe Alexander in the draft. Alexander is a versatile and athletic player who can play either the small or power forward positions. Finally, news is out today that the Bucks have signed Andrew Bogut to a long-term extension.

Hammond is surrounding Michael Redd with the most talent of his career. Redd needs to build off of last season when he became a much better all-around player. Redd and Jefferson give the Bucks a great 1-2 punch and with Bogut improving on the defensive end, the Bucks should be a much improved defensive team.

The Bucks are definitely moving in the right direction as an organization after several years of drifting along without direction. Although they aren’t there yet, they have made several moves to ensure a successful future for the team. Unfortunately, the Bucks will never be more than third to the Packers and Brewers in the hearts of Wisconsin sports fans.

Bogut is the key piece for the Bucks competing both now and in the future. He is a versatile big man that will allow the Bucks to remain competitive for the foreseeable future. Bogut has the size and speed to bang with almost any center in the Eastern Conference.

Bogut averaged 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds a game last season. The key stat for Bogut was his 1.7 blocks a game. He had never averaged more than .8 blocks a game prior to last season and his improvement on the defensive end of the court proved a stabilizing force for the team.

Bogut has improved his number in each of his first three seasons and by the end of this contract Bogut could be a steal for the Bucks. He has the tools to be one of the best centers in the conference.

This is another in a recent slew of great move for the Bucks. General Manager John Hammond is proving he was a great choice by Senator Kohl to run the team. Don’t expect the Bucks to be done for the summer, though. A Mo Williams trade is still a distinct possibility and it should happen for the Bucks to be a legitimate contender next season.

Elton Brand is a very good player and puts up great numbers as a power forward but he would be a bad fit with the Bucks. Michael Redd, Richard Jefferson and Andrew Bogut will be taking the majority of shots on the offensive end of the floor and that wouldn’t sit well with Brand.

No, the reason that everyone involved with the Bucks should be happy is a bit more complicated. Brand and the Miami Heat have a mutual interest. If Brand were to sign with the Heat, that would make Udonis Haslem expendable. Haslem is the sort of defensive-minded, rebounder that the Bucks have been lacking. Haslem is happy getting his points off of offensive rebounds and there will be plenty of opportunities for Haslem on the Bucks.

The Bucks have the perfect piece to send to Miami for Haslem as well, Mo Williams. Miami had interest in Williams when he was a free agent last off season.  Williams has literally shot his way out of Milwaukee. He and Michael Redd are not able to exist together in the same backcourt. Both want to be the ‘man’ and with Redd being signed to a max-out contract, it’s just not in the cards here for Mo. The trade would then allow Ramon Sessions to be the starting point guard and Charlie Bell would serve as his back-up.

A starting five of Session, Redd, Jefferson, Haslem and Bogut would be talented and versatile enough to compete with the upper-tier teams in the Eastern Conference. It would also give Bucks’ fans a reason to keep coming to the Bradley Center.

Hammond had gone on record and said the most pressing need for the Bucks was to get a small forward that was healthy and could play at both ends of the floor. He accomplished that goal by bringing in Richard Jefferson from the New Jersey Nets for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons. The trade benefited the Bucks in several ways. First and most importantly, it gave the Bucks that small forward that Hammond’s was seeking. Jefferson averaged a career-high 22.6 points last season for the Nets. He played in all 82 games which is key since both Yi and Simmons missed significant time to injuries. Perhaps most importantly, Jefferson brings playoff experience to a team which is lacking that more than anything else. Jefferson has made the playoffs six times in his career, including two trips to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.

Some people might think that Hammond gave up too much to get Jefferson but when you analyze it a bit more, you realize it was in the best interest of the team to pull it off. Although Yi may turn out to be a superstar, he was not Hammond’s pick and he had no interest in Yi long-term. It was also doubtful that Yi would sign a contract with the team in a few years when he became a free agent. Trading Bobby Simmons was nothing more than a salary dump. He was a bad contract on a team filled with them. Along with Simmons, Dan Gadzuric, Mo Williams and to a degree Michael Redd had all bogged the Bucks down with outrageous contracts. Jefferson has 3 years and about 42 million left on his contract but this move shows that the Bucks are trying to compete in the Eastern Conference immediately and not waiting out bad contracts or for young players to mature.

There are still several more moves yet to be made and I will cover that over the summer. For now, it’s nice to see the team bringing in quality talent and trying to change the fortunes of the Bucks.

It’s quite simple why Yi isn’t on the ballot. The NBA fears a circumstance similar to Yao Ming’s rookie year. Yao was voted as the All-Star starter over a dominant Shaquille O’Neal. This was due to online voting made available by the NBA.

The system is obviously flawed and needs to be changed. Every starter should be on the ballot; if not every player. At the very worst, each team should have a representative for each position similar to Major League Baseball.

David Stern has been pushing the international scene since 1992 and the original Dream Team. It is now a global sport that the rest of the world is on par with against the United States. I would love to see the All-Star format changed and have an international squad play a US team to change things up.

Yi will undoubtedly play in the Freshman-Sophomore game, but he should at least be given the opportunity to play in the big game. The NBA should be embracing its global appeal and not be trying to hide from it. Would it be fair if Yi was voted a starter? Obviously not from a statistical or talent point, but if that’s what the fans want to see, then they should be given that right.

I have no doubt that Yi has the talent to one day make an All-Star roster. He is just the latest in a long line of great international talent to come to the NBA. This was Stern’s vision so many years ago; it’s just shameful that he’s now turning a blind eye to that vision.

Michael Redd the Bucks in scoring with 27 on 7-11 shooting and also went 12-15 from the free throw line. Andrew Bogut had a big game scoring 16 while pulling down 14 rebounds. Mo Williams did what a good point guard does; get his teammates involved first and then scores second. Williams dished out 10 assists and scored 19.

It was a great display of what this team can accomplish playing solid team offense. In fact, the Bucks pulled out the win attempting only four shots from three-point range. I love watching the Bucks when they play this way. Beautiful, flowing offense that gets the whole team involved coupled with just enough defense to beat anyone in the league.

Milwaukee will host the 76ers on Tuesday night and look to keep their great play going. They have no beaten three very good teams in a row and need to avoid a let-down against a very bad Philadelphia team.

Michael Redd again led the Bucks in scoring and had another great game. Redd scored 26 and pulled down 8 boards while dishing 7 times.

For the second straight game, the forward reserves played more than the starters. CV and Bobby Simmons outscored Yi and D-Mase, 25-14.  Mason is still playing good defense which is the reason he was picked as a starter, but at some point he needs to pick it up on the offensive end.

Andrew Bogut was in foul trouble the entire game and fouled out scoring only 13 points. Andrew continues to try and find his niche in the Bucks’ lineup. It’s clear to so many fans what needs to be done. Just work Bogut in the post and let the offense flow through him. Bogut is skilled enough to find the open man on any double team and has an underrated array of offensive moves.

The defense played well holding the Lakers to 43% shooting from the field. They also out rebounded the Lakers and dished out more assists.

Mo Williams, I don’t think you will ever please me. He is quickly becoming my whipping boy. I will get on him every game in which he takes 17 shots. There is absolutely NO reason for it. I don’t care if he’s a shoot-first point guard or not. Mo scored 18 points, dished out 9 assists and pulled down 3 rebounds. I’m not trying to slight the talent that Mo has, but he’s still a young player that needs to mature into a complete point guard. He has the talent and supporting cast to lead the league in assists.

Milwaukee faces another tough test in their next game. They will host Dallas on Saturday night and try for their fifth win in a row. It will take a total team effort to beat one of the league’s best team.

The Bucks had an all-around great team effort led by Michael Redd and Mo Williams. The starting guards combined to shoot 15-30 from the field and scored 54 points, 34 by Redd. Add in a combined 15 assists and 13 rebounds and the duo showed why they are one of the most underrated backcourts in the game.

For as good as Redd and Williams were, the starting forwards of Yi Jianlian and Desmond Mason were that bad. They only scored 11 points and could only grab 6 rebounds. Yi has really slowed down the last couple of games and looks very tired out on the floor.

Charlie Villanueva is taking the opportunity to shine while Yi struggles. CV scored 17 off the bench and pulled down 9 rebounds. He looks like he is finally comfortable out on the court and isn’t forcing things so much. CV has been the talk of many trade rumors lately, but with this play he is showing just how valuable he is to Milwaukee.

The offense had a great night, but the defense is still well below average. Cleveland shot 47% from the field. Lebron was Lebron and scored 34. Daniel Gibson through in 26 for the Cavs as well. Cleveland fell to 5-6 with the loss.

All-in-all it was a good win for Milwaukee. Any win against a division foe is good, especially against a team that went to the finals last season. You can see the confidence growing in the players as they adjust to Coach K’s system.

The Bucks will host Kobe and the Lakers on Wednesday night. The Lakers blew out the Pacers 134-114. Eight players scored in double digits led by Kobe with 32. It will be a game that the Bucks can win and one they must so it doesn’t take away from a great win tonight.

Michael Redd and Andrew Bogut each scored 21 points to lead Milwaukee. Bogut also pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the team.

The bench played a large role in the victory as well. Charlie Villanueva decided to play like he has talent and scored 17 points while grabbing 7 rebounds. Bobby Simmons scored 10 also giving the team a boost off the bench.

Mo Williams had another solid all-around game. Williams scored 11 points, dished out 10 assists and pulled down 8 boards. More importantly, Mo only took 9 shots from the field which is a good thing for the Milwaukee offense.

Yi Jianlian had his worst game as a pro scoring only 5 points. Yi went 0-4 from the field; scoring all of his points from the free throw line. Since CV was able to pick up the slack it isn’t a big deal, but Yi still needs to be consistent on a regular basis to become the player he has the ability to be.

The defense once again left something to be desired. Atlanta was able to shoot 47.6% from the field. Josh Smith led the Hawks with 38 points. Atlanta fell to 3-6 with the loss.

Milwaukee will take the court again on Tuesday night when the travel to Cleveland to face LeBron and the Cavaliers. The Cavs are without point guard Larry Hughes and this is a game that the Bucks need to pull out if they want to compete for a playoff spot.