BUCKS James in, Jones out of Bucks' game plan James in, Jones out of Bucks' game plan By Gery Woelfel While Mike James will officially be in the Milwaukee Bucks' fold soon, Damon Jones will officially be leaving it shortly. The Bucks have reached a verbal agreement with James, who was a backup guard on the champion Detroit Pistons, and should have him under contract as soon as today. "Right now, it's just a technicality of having Etan Thomas pass his physical,'' Bucks general manger Larry Harris said Thursday. "Once he does that, we can move forward.'' Thomas, a power forward-center for the Washington Wizards, signed a six-year, $37 million offer sheet with the Bucks on July 14. The Wizards matched the offer Wednesday to retain his services. Because of a collective bargaining agreement stipulation, Thomas is still technically the property of the Bucks - until he passes his physical. When he does, the Bucks will be allowed to use money they had offered Thomas for James. James, 29, played in 81 regular-season games last season with Boston and Detroit. He averaged 9.3 points and 4.2 assists in 27.1 minutes a game. The 6-foot-2 James was courted throughout free agency by nearly a dozen teams. He narrowed his final list to Houston, Seattle, Miami and Milwaukee. "I like his game,'' Cleveland Cavaliers coach Paul Silas said of James. "He can push it up the court, and he's a very good long-range shooter. I think he's just exploring his game, just scratching the surface. "He's athletic enough and has the talent to be a very good point guard. I like him a lot.'' While Jones came off the bench for the Pistons, he may wind up starting for the Bucks, especially with T.J. Ford's status uncertain. Ford underwent cervical spine surgery after last season. There are concerns Ford won't be fully recovered for the start of the 2004-2005 regular season. Jones, who moved into the starting lineup and played admirably after Ford was injured, confirmed he won't be returning to the Bucks. Jones was one of only three Bucks - the others were Desmond Mason and Michael Redd - to play in all 82 regular-season games last season. Jones averaged only seven points a game, but had an outstanding 4.64 turnover-to-assist ratio. The only player in the NBA to have a better ratio was Antonio Daniels of the Seattle SuperSonics at 4.89. Jones may end up in Seattle. Sonics officials have talked to some teams about Jones as a player and person and are strongly considering him to replace Brent Barry, who has signed with San Antonio. Neither Jones nor his agent, Mark Termini, would acknowledge Seattle is the front-runner to sign the player. Nor did they reveal what other teams are pursuing Jones, although it's widely known Houston, Miami and New Jersey are interested in him. Jones said he was saddened about leaving the Bucks. "I'm going to miss those guys,'' Jones said. "Desmond, Michael Redd, Joe Smith, they all took a liking to me and helped me to become such a commodity in free agency. "I sincerely wish those guys the best. There are a lot of great guys on that team.'' Jones said it became apparent he wouldn't be back with the Bucks when they decided to expend most of their money on Thomas and other teams began extending him serious offers and the opportunity to start. Jones said he was pleased James would be afforded a chance to showcase his abilities and make substantially more money. "I'm happy for him because he's been on a long journey, kind of like me,'' Jones said. "I'm happy he's finally getting a chance to get some security.'' Once the Bucks sign James, they are expected to re-sign veteran forward Toni Kukoc. Harris and Herb Rudoy, Kukoc's agent, have stayed in touch throughout free agency and appear to be on the same page. Kukoc has drawn interest from several teams, including San Antonio, Sacramento and the Los Angeles Lakers. With their remaining money, the Bucks are expected to sign two more free agents to minimum-wage contracts. One is likely to be a veteran frontcourt player to complement the Bucks two young centers - Dan Gadzuric and Dan Santiago - and the other free agent will likely be a young guard, although the Bucks haven't completely ruled out re-signing veteran guard Brevin Knight.
If the Sonics get Jones, we get Daniels. If they don't, then we get Jones. That's what it will come down to.
Maybe we should get the Professor. Damn. Nothing else left. Something is going on with Jones and Seattle. Crawford, maybe? I kind of see it's possible. Too bad he's not really a fit. Do we just do what's possible? Do nothing? Damn.
Jones will probably sign with Seattle very soon. That will leave them with 3 point guards. Daniels is our best option for a point guard. Do you really want a one hit wonder in Damon Jones? Jones had one decent season with the Bucks after Ford went down. James and Jones can cost us around 3 million per year for 4 years.
I also think Jones will go to the sonics. POssibly, it's down to Daniels or Ward... Any update clutch?
The story says that Houston was among the finalists on James' list. It's never been confirmed that James was on the Rockets' list. It's possible that the Rockets are looking in a different direction, and never cared about James, Jones, Fisher, etc. And didn't Doc Rocket once say he knew nothing about a possible Antonio Daniels deal? I'm starting to think our new point guard could be a big surprise.
Surprise! It's Ward.. joke! Ward could be a good fit. but I hope whoever that PG will be, hope he should be young, mature enough and a steady player..
We signed Eric Piatkowski on July 25. We signed Adrian Griffin on August 7. We signed Jimmy Jackson on September 30.
2 of those guys did nothing, and lets be real, they were lucky with Jim Jackson, that offseason would of been a complete waste if Jackson didn't turn into one of the biggest bargains in Rocket history.
RFA Steve Blake of the Washington Wizards would be a solid addition. He's not as good a choice as Kirk Hinrich, but then Hinrich is not within the grasp of the Rockets. Blake would be a much better choice than Mike James or Damon Jones. Also, he wouldn't cost much and would be great PG insurance.
That's not the point I was making. The point is, the Rockets signed player late in the offseason. The poster I was replying to said that the Rockets probably weren't going to sign anyone. By saying that offseason would be a complete waste if Jackson didn't turn into a bargain is like saying the number one overall pick would have been a complete waste if Yao didn't develop into an all-star center.
Well, the point I'm making is that they will more than likely get what they pay for in this waiting for the best bargain offseason. If not for Jackson that offseason woudln't of produced anything since the other 2 additions did nothing. Come on now, barring Jackson what good came out of last year's offseason? Saving some money in the Glen Rice trade, is all I could think of. Maybe not a waste but Yao would of been a bust, I mean, it's not hard to be an All-Star center now-a-days.
Blake has a nice little game, but I sure hope we pick up a bigger name at PG. The list is getting smaller and smaller by the week, and I sure hope that CD/Les have plan.
Yup, Mike James was going to make all the difference in the world. Might as well trade Yao and McGrady now. The offseason's a bust.
