FanHouse Herb Kohl

Bill Simmons dream of running an NBA franchise may have hit a little speed bump today. And by "speed bump" I mean it has been totally derailed. The Milwaukee Bucks, according to Marc Stein, have reached an agreement to "lure" John Hammond away from the Detroit Pistons to run their front office.

Hammond's first task in Milwaukee, according to sources, will be hiring a veteran coach to help the Bucks make a firm assessment of their talent after a group expected to compete for a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference woefully underachieved in Larry Krystkowiak's first full season on the bench.

Sources say Hammond is expected to make a strong push to hire former Pistons coach Rick Carlisle. Working as an ESPN analyst this season after leaving the Indiana Pacers, Carlisle is also widely considered as a strong candidate to coach the Chicago Bulls next season.

If you are a Bucks fan -- even one that was staunchly behind the potential of the Sports Guy experiment -- you have to be thrilled right now. Hammond has resisted overtures for quite a while now -- and it appeared he was resisting Milwaukee's as well -- and in case you don't watch basketball, he and Joe Dumars put together a decent team in Detroit for the past few years.

Maybe it's just me, but assuming that nothing else changes (which it probably will) and Hammond and Carlisle get hired (I don't see why not) but the Bucks are immediately about 10 times more respectable than they were yesterday. Or would have been if they'd let the Sports Guy run the team. It will be interesting, of course, to see how much leeway Herb Kohl will give Hammond, but you have to think that if he agreed to move to a rebuilding project of his own, he's at least getting more or less carte-b to make the Bucks decent again.

HT: JCM, Esq.

After dismissing Larry Harris from the role of general manager yesterday, Herb Kohl spoke to the press about Harris' limitations, or at least the implied notion that Kohl did not give Harris much leeway for making roster related transactional moves. Specifically, Kohl stated that he did veto a Zach Randolph to Milwaukee deal; but also said that he and Harris were on the same page all along.

"Larry has no difficulty or animosity with me over the right I had to say, 'Let's not do the Zach Randolph trade,' " Kohl said. "He would not bring that up to you as any point of contention. He would say, 'Yes, he had the right to do that, whether I agree or not.' "

Nothing smells finer on an early Thursday morning than a little politician double talk. Am I right? What Kohl essentially is saying, at least to me, is that he told Harris he was not going to trade for Randolph (purportedly for Charlie Bell, Dan Gadzuric and Bobby Simmons). And Harris won't contend that Kohl's veto power was outside any scope of normal behavior. Go figure.

Kohl's also discussed his reasoning for not wanting Z-Bo, which, not so shockingly, came down to character issues. Bear in mind that Randolph has a large contract and has had personal issues on/off court, but at least he's better than Gadzuric and Simmons combined.

The Bucks are on their way to the fourth straight finish in the Central Division basement, and considering GM Larry Harris entered the season as a lame duck general manager, the players weren't shocked at all when he was given his pink slip yesterday afternoon. In fact, the opposite was true: they were actually expecting it to happen sometime soon. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

"It wasn't surprising," [Bobby] Simmons said during a phone interview on Wednesday. "We pretty much figured something was going to happen the way things were going. Usually you would see him (Harris) at games, but after a while, you didn't see him at all.

It's obvious the team has been contemplating this move for a while -- owner Herb Kohl basically cut Harris off at the knees when he vetoed a proposed deal at the deadline that would have sent Simmons, Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell to the Knicks for Zach Randolph and Fred Jones. For what it's worth, though, Kohl hates the idea that he might be considered a "meddling" owner:

"You know, quote, meddling owner. Mark Cuban," Kohl said. "I'm not Mark Cuban. I honestly believe I'm not a meddling type of a manager, whether it be in basketball or whether it was in the food stores or department stores or as a senator. Most everybody who has worked for me over the years has said - while there were things about me they don't like - it wouldn't be they didn't have the latitude to do their jobs."

Most everybody, of course, but those whom he'd already decided to fire months ago.

Well, the earlier posts I made about Donnie Walsh certainly seem more relevant now, don't they? Larry Harris has been fired by the Milwaukee Bucks as general manager in a move that shouldn't shock anyone, unless you just assumed they would let him ride out the season until his contract expired.

The team said it accommodated Harris's recent request for an early decision on his status and, under a mutual agreement, he is being relieved of his responsibilities so that he can pursue other opportunities.

Harris's contract expires June 30, 2008.

'Larry Harris has served the Milwaukee Bucks since 1990 with complete dedication and loyalty,' Bucks president and owner U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl said in a statement. 'The commitment and effort he provided the organization has resulted in many good outcomes. I believe at this time it is in the best interest of the Bucks to proceed in another direction. Larry's professional approach has been valued and appreciated by our organization and we wish him the best in future endeavors.'

That's such a nice way to handle running the same guy that signed Dan Gadzuric out of town politely. However, the bigger issue is finding out his replacement. It is reasonably unlikely that anyone will be hired immediately, unless the Bucks have reached some sort of agreement with Donnie Walsh already. That in and of itself would not be shocking; Walsh is a hot commodity right now, and letting him sit out there as an available "free agent", or soon to be hirable executive is only going to cost the Bucks. It seems unlikely that they have already reached a deal with Bill Simmons, seeing as how he would have awkwardly stopped promoting himself already if that was the case. And, of course, he hasn't. I wonder if the Sports Gal likes New York? Your move, Mr. Dolan.

There's nothing more ridiculous (- ly funny) and time honored than fans putting brown paper sacks on their heads and heading into their teams arena, sitting down and watching their team play as a show of total shame for said team's inability to prosper. Now, via Brew Hoop, comes the Milwaukee Bucks fans who are sick and tired of the way that their franchise is being run.

UPDATE: After the jump, courtesy of Kurt Leitinger, first hand photos. That's right, folks. FanHouse semi-exclusive!

Milwaukee's long, international nightmare is over: Yi Jianlian ended his standoff with the Bucks and signed his rookie contract. From the team's press release:

The Bucks 6th overall selection in the 2007 NBA Draft, Yi Jianlian signed his contract in Hong Kong following a negotiating session with Mr. Chen Haitao, owner of the Guangdong Tigers. Bucks owner and team president Senator Herb Kohl, General Manager Larry Harris and Bucks Vice President Ron Walter were able to meet with Mr. Chen, as well as Yi and his family, as part of the process.

[...] "There has been a genuine excitement throughout our city and state, as well as internationally, following our selection of Yi in the NBA Draft," said Senator Herb Kohl. "We all anticipate Yi's arrival and welcome him and his family to Milwaukee. We look forward to a successful relationship for many years to come."

"We would be remiss if we didn't acknowledge and thank Mr. Chen for his assistance and support in the negotiating process," Kohl added.

I'm curious to find out what exactly transpired to make the deal happen -- NBA rookie contracts are traditionally cookie-cutter affairs considering the salaries are almost entirely determined by the draft slot. Did the Bucks agree to make some sort of payment to Yi's former team? (Would such a tactic even be allowed under NBA rules?) Or did Yi's camp simply need personal assurances that Milwaukee was committed to making Yi's life comfortable and showcasing him in a featured role? I have no clue, but I'm guessing we'll find out the answer sometime in the near future.

Previously on FanHouse:
Chinese Paper Says Guandong Will Prevent Yi From Joining Milwaukee
Yi Jianlian Cannot Hear You, Milwaukee