As we get closer to the point of something will happen with Sessions, I thought I would take a cynical look at what the Bucks have done this off-season.  Taking the draft out of the conversation, where I thought the Bucks added a potential star and solid contributor, if the Bucks do not match whatever offer comes in for Sessions nor negotiate a sign-and-trade for his services this is a not so postive look at the Bucks offseason.

The Bucks have traded Richard Jefferson to the Spurs and have ended up with Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas, and Amir Johnson from the Pistons.  Few people think Bowen will be on the opening day roster and it seems there is a mixed bag that Kurt Thomas will be around.

Richard Jefferson averaged, 19.6ppg 4.6 rpg

Amir Johnson averaged, 3.5 ppg 3.7 rpg

Kurt Thomas averaged, 4.3 ppg 5.1 rpg

The Bucks then let Charlie Villenueava go to Detroit in free agency(a move I agree with, but for the purposes of this shallow article, I will use against the Bucks) for no compensation.

Charlie V averaged 16.2 ppg 6.7 rpg

The Bucks have now just traded Malik Allen for Sonny Weems and Walter Sharpe.

 Malik Allen 3.2 ppg, 2.1rpg

Weems and Sharpe 2.6 ppg 1rpg

So far that totals up to 39 ppg 14.5 rpg and in return the Bucks received 10.4 ppg 9 rpg.  They have already lost 29 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game.  Yet, it is quite possible the Bucks are not finished yet.  If Ramon Sessions is lost for nothing, his stats can be added in with over 12 ppg and 3.4 rpg, giving the Bucks off season a 51 ppg deficit,  and 18 rpg. 

How many games can the Bucks expect to win while scoring 51 less point per game off of a season where they had the 10th worst record!

I don’t know how a struggling franchise can say to a fan base “We are not dumping salary” after the Jefferson trade, then follow it up with letting Charlie V and Sessions go.  If the contract given to Sessions is four years or less, the Bucks MUST match, there is no excuse.  If for 5, then I could at least understand letting him go.

There are some positives with the Bucks rookies and I understand that.  I am as hopeful as anyone that Jennings is a star, and that Meeks can be a scorer.  But these are rookies, Jennings is only 19, people have to have reasonable expectations for them in the first year.  I also understand that someone will have to get the minutes left open by Sessions, Chuckie V, and RJ, but no proven NBA player is slotted to fill in at those spots.

I was not too attached to Charlie V or Richard Jefferson.  Chuck’s D was very bad and although his PER was good for the PF spot, his D likely gave up more points than he scored.  RJ is very overrated as one of the top two scoring options on a team.  His PER at SF ranks him somewhere around 17.  When he was younger with the Nets, and was the third option behind Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, that was a good fit for him.  The best thing that could have happened to him was go to a contender like the Spurs and be the 4th option.  He will excel in that role.

My message now is,

Bring Sessions back!

Allow him to get the majority of the PG minutes at 25-30 minutes a game, give Jennings the rest at 20-25 minutes per game.  This will allow Jennings to beat up on 2nd team PGs, provide a spark of the bench along with Meeks, and maybe even give us an edge against a lot of teams.  If Sessions can hold his own against the starting PGs across the league, then Jennings comes in and wins his battles against the 2nd and 3rd pgs, that can be a huge advantage.  With the hand checking rules so strict now days it is a guard driven league, give the fans a reason for hope and keep both.

If the Bucks do not want the fan base that has stuck around to get overly cynical and pessimistic, give us some hope.