# Bobby Simmons has agreed to a deal from the Bucks...



## HKF

5 years/47 million dollars. Wow, pretty steep for him, but god bless him. He's finally made it. 

Oh and btw, Milwaukee is officially a playoff team now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2103984

PG - TJ Ford/Maurice Williams
SG - Michael Redd/Jiri Welsch/Reece Gaines
SF - Bobby Simmons/Desmond Mason/Ersan Ilyasova
PF - Joe Smith/Zaza Pachulia (?)
C - Andrew Bogut/Dan Gadzuric (?)/Calvin Booth

Still need to take care of Zaza Pachulia and Dan Gadzuric. Now they fired Terry Porter and brought in Terry Stotts, no excuse for the Bucks not making the playoffs. Wow, the Eastern Conference is back in a big way. Pretty amazng. The Central could have 5 playoff teams.


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## Blazer Freak

My god, steep is an understatement. Yeah, Bucks are definitely a playoff team, they have the start of a good bench now.


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## DHarris34Phan

THANKS FOR THE NEWS HKF!!! THIS IS FRICKIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :banana: :banana: :banana: :clap: :clap: :clap:


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## GNG

This guy was struggling to stay in the league a couple seasons ago. Now he's got himself 47 million bucks. Way to go, Bobby. :banana:

Even though the signing doesn't make much sense. What becomes of Desmond Mason?


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## RP McMurphy

Well I told you guys the free agent market this summer would be steep, and it's happening. Lots of posters will complain that he's being "overpaid," but when everyone is getting that kind of money, it's not really overpaying and the only alternative is to be the Clippers and not pay anybody.

This is a good signing by the Bucks, because they are now a very deep team and don't have to give minutes to scrubs like Toni Kukoc and Erick Strickland. Desmond Mason will go back to contending for sixth man of the year unless he gets traded. Now the Central Division is the best division in basketball and IMO Chicago will be the worst team in the division next year with around a .500 record (and being in the lottery).


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## DHarris34Phan

Rawse said:


> Even though the signing doesn't make much sense. What becomes of Desmond Mason?


He moves to his natural role....one of the best 6th men in the league.....its going to be a great season in Milwaukee...I can feel it.



> Former Clippers swingman Bobby Simmons agreed to a five year, $47 million deal with the Bucks on Friday, his agent Mark Bartelstein said.
> 
> "Bobby intends to sign with the Bucks when the moratorium ends," Bartelstein told ESPN.com. "He was very appreciative of the opportunity that the Clippers gave him but felt like this was the best opportunity for him."
> 
> The move is the clearest signal yet that the Bucks are serious about competiting for a championship this year. In the past week, they signed the No. 1 pick in the draft, Andrew Bogut, agreed to a six-year, $90 million dollar deal with Michael Redd and began the on the court rehab for point guard T.J. Ford.
> 
> The Bucks have two more significant free agents, Dan Gadzuric and Zaza Pachulia, that they are also trying to re-sign.
> 
> Simmons will join Desmond Mason, Jiri Welsch and Redd to form a pretty potent combination at the shooting guard and small forward positions. Mo Williams and hopefully Ford will take care of the point. Their only area of weakness now is at the four where Joe Smith is the only big guy holding down the fort.


*Link *


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## netsgiants

Congrats, and you help the Nets because we have their unprotected pick next season. Win/Win.


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## TheChampion

:jawdrop: wow nice pick-up for the bucks. :biggrin: i didn't even see that coming. it's good news though. i'm looking forward to next season. go bucks! :vbanana: :gbanana: hope to see everyone in the playoffs. :razz:


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## BG7

Is 47 over 5 the MLE this year?

Btw, nice pickup for the Bucks. Now I think, the Central is clearly the best division in basketball. They might have 5 playoff teams next year. 

Pistons, Heat, Bulls, Pacers, Cavs, Wizards, Bucks, and Nets.

That is my playoff picks for next year.


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## Drk Element

I think their going to trade D.Mase, for a power forward.


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## PAIDNFULL23

I'm a huge Clipper fan and you guys got a pretty good player in simmons, overpriced but still a good player. I was wondering how much cap space do you guys have, didn't Redd take up about $16 million a year just by himself and you throw on top of that $10mil a year for Simmons, how much cap do the Bucks have?


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## TheChampion

Drk Element said:


> I think their going to trade D.Mase, for a power forward.


where would he go? any idea on who the bucks could potentially be looking at? the bucks picked up two wings in welsch and now simmons in the offseason. there is definitely some depth there. the bucks have room to make a trade, but why trade mason? he's probably the most loved player on the team. hustle guy and a team player.. off the court, a great guy and class act... good role model for the kids in milwaukee... same situation in seattle for him though and he didn't last long there. the sonics got a chance to pick up ray and pulled the trigger... but i wouldn't be THAT suprised if he is moved. especially now that they spent 47 mil on simmons.. the bucks are trying to turn their franchise around. it will be interesting to see how this plays out.


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## HKF

PAIDNFULL23 said:


> I'm a huge Clipper fan and you guys got a pretty good player in simmons, overpriced but still a good player. I was wondering how much cap space do you guys have, didn't Redd take up about $16 million a year just by himself and you throw on top of that $10mil a year for Simmons, how much cap do the Bucks have?


Salaries don't work like that. Redd has a salary that has raises in it. More than likely he is getting 12 or 13+ his first year, then annual raises. As for Simmons, he probably got 7+ with annual raises. So the Bucks had 20 million in cap room so they could sign both Redd and Simmons.

Now here's the kicker with Gadzuric and Pachulia. Remember that Gilbert Arenas rule? Well, 2nd round picks can't get more than the MLE if a team is capped out for the first year. Which means, if a team didn't want the Bucks to match, they would offer Gadzuric and Pachulia 5.18 million each and then like 7-8 million per for the preceding years after that (provided they are over the cap to offer it). The Bucks would not invest that much money into those players.

However, it seems very unlikely that Pachulia or Gadzuric (he tires easily) get over 3 million at all. So if anyone offers them a deal, the Bucks will match.

That's exactly why they went out and signed FA, because the new Gilbert Arenas rule, basically gives the team a chance to retain their FA's. So if Dan and Zaza want to have the chance at unrestricted Free Agency, they will sign the offer sheets that the Bucks gave them. I expect the Bucks to sign them to 2 year deals at about 2.5-3 million each.

Edit: TheChampion, Desmond is not going to be traded. As a bench player, he's one of the top 6th men in this league. Bucks will not deal him.


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## TheChampion

HKF said:


> Salaries don't work like that. Redd has a salary that has raises in it. More than likely he is getting 12 or 13+ his first year, then annual raises. As for Simmons, he probably got 7+ with annual raises. So the Bucks had 20 million in cap room so they could sign both Redd and Simmons.
> 
> Now here's the kicker with Gadzuric and Pachulia. Remember that Gilbert Arenas rule? Well, 2nd round picks can't get more than the MLE if a team is capped out for the first year. Which means, if a team didn't want the Bucks to match, they would offer Gadzuric and Pachulia 5.18 million each and then like 7-8 million per for the preceding years after that (provided they are over the cap to offer it). The Bucks would not invest that much money into those players.
> 
> However, it seems very unlikely that Pachulia or Gadzuric (he tires easily) get over 3 million at all. So if anyone offers them a deal, the Bucks will match.
> 
> That's exactly why they went out and signed FA, because the new Gilbert Arenas rule, basically gives the team a chance to retain their FA's. So if Dan and Zaza want to have the chance at unrestricted Free Agency, they will sign the offer sheets that the Bucks gave them. I expect the Bucks to sign them to 2 year deals at about 2.5-3 million each.
> 
> Edit: TheChampion, Desmond is not going to be traded. As a bench player, he's one of the top 6th men in this league. Bucks will not deal him.


nice analysis... and i hope you're right. i'd hate to see him go anywhere else. i'd like to see him retire as a buck... i'm glad the bucks are going out and making an effort to improve their team. we are definitely making progress... we lucked out of the lottery with the number one pick. we got our big man... now we are adding solid depth to our team. t.j. is coming back... he's been working out in houston with john lucas II i believe... i'm really pumped about next season... :cheers:


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## Darth Bryant

Just wanted to say congrats on a good decision on picking up Simmons. My team was to retarded to resign him, and went after prospects that they had no chance of getting. Simmons has been my favorite player to watch this season, and I promise you guys wont be disipointed. Congrats, and good luck next year.


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## DHarris34Phan

Drk Element said:


> I think their going to trade D.Mase, for a power forward.


I don't know what his reputation is around the league really is like, but it seems that Joe Smith is getting underrated...with Ford, Redd, Simmons, and Bogut around him, it is realistic to see him average around 15 and 8, which is very good for a 4th option. At 30, Joe is obviously not the longterm answer, but he is VERY serviceable for a young and developing team, plus he is a great team player and is very coachable....


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## Greg Ostertag!

15/8, let's not go overboard, if you can get 8/8 and a block or two out of him that will be entirely satisfactory, considering the firepower you have elsewhere.

I love the Bucks line-up now. This team is way better than the one that went to the playoffs a couple of years ago. Of course, the East is way better too, but it is good to see that the Bucks are keeping up.


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## DHarris34Phan

Greg Ostertag! said:


> 15/8, let's not go overboard, if you can get 8/8 and a block or two out of him that will be entirely satisfactory, considering the firepower you have elsewhere.


Yeah...15/8 is pushing it...12/7 is more of a realistic expectation, which will be fine!

I love Joe Smith!


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## Dez24

TheChampion said:


> why trade mason? he's probably the most loved player on the team. hustle guy and a team player.. off the court, a great guy and class act... good role model for the kids in milwaukee... same situation in seattle for him though and he didn't last long there. the sonics got a chance to pick up ray and pulled the trigger... but i wouldn't be THAT suprised if he is moved. especially now that they spent 47 mil on simmons.. the bucks are trying to turn their franchise around. it will be interesting to see how this plays out.


If Larry Harris sticks to his word, Redd and Mason are the cornerstones of the franchise. We better not make the mistake we did with Ray Allen and trade Desmond Mason away! 
Back to topic: I like picking up Simmons and as for his contract I'll trust in Larry Harris. Who knows what amount we had to get to to attract Simmons.


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## Jermaniac Fan

Awesome move by Bucks!! I like your roster now! I will keep posting here in the Bucks forum...


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## Jamel Irief

HKF said:


> Salaries don't work like that. Redd has a salary that has raises in it. More than likely he is getting 12 or 13+ his first year, then annual raises. As for Simmons, he probably got 7+ with annual raises. So the Bucks had 20 million in cap room so they could sign both Redd and Simmons.
> 
> Now here's the kicker with Gadzuric and Pachulia. Remember that Gilbert Arenas rule? Well, 2nd round picks can't get more than the MLE if a team is capped out for the first year. Which means, if a team didn't want the Bucks to match, they would offer Gadzuric and Pachulia 5.18 million each and then like 7-8 million per for the preceding years after that (provided they are over the cap to offer it). The Bucks would not invest that much money into those players.
> 
> However, it seems very unlikely that Pachulia or Gadzuric (he tires easily) get over 3 million at all. So if anyone offers them a deal, the Bucks will match.
> 
> That's exactly why they went out and signed FA, because the new Gilbert Arenas rule, basically gives the team a chance to retain their FA's. So if Dan and Zaza want to have the chance at unrestricted Free Agency, they will sign the offer sheets that the Bucks gave them. I expect the Bucks to sign them to 2 year deals at about 2.5-3 million each.
> 
> Edit: TheChampion, Desmond is not going to be traded. As a bench player, he's one of the top 6th men in this league. Bucks will not deal him.


Don't you get Bird rights on 2nd rounders that have been with you for 3 years or more, such as Gadzurich? It's why the Cavs signed Boozer for 3 years and couldn't match when they didn't pick his option after year 2.


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## DHarris34Phan

Jamel Irief said:


> Don't you get Bird rights on 2nd rounders that have been with you for 3 years or more, such as Gadzurich? It's why the Cavs signed Boozer for 3 years and couldn't match when they didn't pick his option after year 2.


I don't know if it is always the case, but yes we do have Gadz's Bird Rights.


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## Ballin101

Bobby Simmons is a solid player, so in that sense, this was a good move for the Bucks. But giving the guy $9-10 million for five years? That's going a little overboard. Everyone's getting overpaid this year, but I still would have saved my $50 million and picked up a veteran stop-gap instead. I just don't think its smart to a give a guy who's had one good year that kind of money.


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## HKF

Jamel Irief said:


> Don't you get Bird rights on 2nd rounders that have been with you for 3 years or more, such as Gadzurich? It's why the Cavs signed Boozer for 3 years and couldn't match when they didn't pick his option after year 2.


The Gilbert Arenas rule, just added in the new CBA. No team can offer a player more than the MLE (5.18 million this year) for the first year to a 2nd round pick, if they were signed for under 3 years. Milwaukee will have every opportunity to match for Gadzuric under this scenario. 

Now someone could make Gadzuric's deal like this:

5.18 mil (first year), 7 mil, 7.5 mil, 8.2 mil 

If that happened, that would probably be too steep of a price for the Bucks to pay, but if someone is dumb enough to do that for Gadzuric, so be it. That's how this new rule works.

If the new CBA was in place last year, the Cavs could have just matched for Boozer, rather than lose him. Boozer would have got the MLE the first year and then much higher salary the rest of the deals' duration.


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## Nimreitz

I'm a little late to the forum on this one, but FANTASTIC MOVE!! After the Smith/Mason/Booth contracts come off the books we can sign an elite power forward and be legit title contenders, even if we resign Mason we'd still have something like 10-12 million to spend. FANTASTIC! And to think that right now there are idiots on AM 620 WTMJ talk radio bashing Larry Harris and his qualifications. He hasn't made a bad move yet in my opinion, all he's done is trade two second rounders for Welsch and Zaza, sign Simmons and Redd, and draft Bogut. Sounds fine to me.


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## Zuca

Drk Element said:


> I think their going to trade D.Mase, for a power forward.


Try to work a Desmond Mason-Joe Smith for Tony Delk and Al Harrington swap


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## HKF

Zuca said:


> Try to work a Desmond Mason-Joe Smith for Tony Delk and Al Harrington swap


Why would they do that? Desmond is one of the best 3 6th men in the league (along with Vladimir Radmanovic and a healthy Bobby Jackson)


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## Zuca

HKF said:


> Why would they do that? Desmond is one of the best 3 6th men in the league (along with Vladimir Radmanovic and a healthy Bobby Jackson)


Why? They have a lot of good options at 2-3 and can get rid of some salaries... Al Harrington can play both PF and SF, and Tony Delk, SG and PG. And both have expiring contracts... Simmons is the replacement for Desmond. And they have now Jiri Welsch too...


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## HKF

You don't just make trades to make trades. That makes them worse. Jiri Welsch is not better than Mason and Desmond only has 2 years left on his deal (as does Joe Smith and Calvin Booth). They aren't going to do deals just to do them.


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## Nimreitz

I don't want Al Harrington, I don't think he's really ever justified his salary or even a starting spot. And what would the Hawks do with Dez? Don't you have enough small forwards yet?!?!?!


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## HKF

He just likes making trades for the most part. That's all I ever see him post.


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## Zuca

Nimreitz: Yes, but I'd rather have Des Mason than sign Joe Johnson, and use the money to sign some other C and PG.

HKF: I usually just post trade ideas, because I think that most of my opinions are expressed by another posters (And I'm not good in english language, I'm brazilian)... And I don't like to post replys like... "I'd do this deal" or "I don't do this deal", "(any player) is a ****in bad player", "Join my (any player) fan club!"...


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## Damian Necronamous

Zuca said:


> Try to work a Desmond Mason-Joe Smith for Tony Delk and Al Harrington swap


I'm not sure if they'd do a Joe Smith for Harrington swap...let alone adding Mason and Delk into the mix.


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## hirschmanz

this is huge, although this moves jiri welsch to a role where he'll only get 10 or so minutes per game, and ilyasova might not play at all  

Still, if simmons cna put up anything like 14 and 7, I'm happy. And now, Mason will be going against scrubs that can't handle him. Oh, yes.


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## rebelsun

At first glance, it seems like they seriously overpaid, but it makes sense from the Bucks' POV. They added Bogut, may have TJ back, and are becoming a legit threat in the East. Simmons really only had one good year, but he seems to work hard, so you'd assume that he won't get any worse.

I haven't been sold as Mason as a starting 3. Acrobatic finishes aside, he's 6'5 and can't shoot. I think he's much better suited as a 6th-man wing off the bench to create a spark.

I really like this (potential) lineup...Ford/Redd/Simmons/Bogut/Gadzuric.

Anyway, rebuilding is over in Milwaukee. I think Larry Harris has done a great job putting this roster together. :greatjob:


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## FreeSpeech101

RebelSun said:


> At first glance, it seems like they seriously overpaid, but it makes sense from the Bucks' POV. They added Bogut, may have TJ back, and are becoming a legit threat in the East. Simmons really only had one good year, but he seems to work hard, so you'd assume that he won't get any worse.
> 
> I haven't been sold as Mason as a starting 3. Acrobatic finishes aside, he's 6'5 and can't shoot. I think he's much better suited as a 6th-man wing off the bench to create a spark.
> 
> I really like this (potential) lineup...Ford/Redd/Simmons/Bogut/Gadzuric.
> 
> Anyway, rebuilding is over in Milwaukee. I think Larry Harris has done a great job putting this roster together. :greatjob:


I like the move as well. The Bucks needed more firepower to compete in the best division the NBA has to offer. It is going to be a fun season.


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## hirschmanz

RebelSun said:


> I really like this (potential) lineup...Ford/Redd/Simmons/Bogut/Gadzuric.


I like Ford/Redd/Simmons/Smith/Bogut much better. Bogut is a shade too slow to start at forward, and smith is better than gadzuric anyways.

Then you get to desmond mason, jiri welsch, dan gadzuric, and zaza pachulia off the bench and everything looks up.

The only weakness I see is if tj ford cannot return to form, a lack of handles. Can Desmond or Michael run the point when mo williams runs out of energy?


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## HKF

hirschmanz said:


> The only weakness I see is if tj ford cannot return to form, a lack of handles. Can Desmond or Michael run the point when mo williams runs out of energy?


Probably not. They would just sign a backup PG. There are dozens of them out there.


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## hirschmanz

HKF said:


> Probably not. They would just sign a backup PG. There are dozens of them out there.


If they want to go deep into the playoffs, that won't cut it. Also, our cap situation was great before the offseason, but now they've spent big money on redd and simmons, and still have to re-sign either gadz or zaza (preferably both).

tj coming back and playing tj ford basketball solves the whole problem though.


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## DHarris34Phan

It's Official.



> MILWAUKEE -- Free agent forward Bobby Simmons officially signed with the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday.
> 
> The team did not disclose terms, but it was widely reported last month that the contract is a five-year deal worth $47 million.
> 
> Simmons was voted the NBA's most improved player last season. In 75 games with the Los Angeles Clippers, Simmons averaged 16.4 points per game, more than double his previous highest average


*Link *


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