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Update: Bucks swap Yi, Simmons for Nets' Jefferson
ST. FRANCIS -- Nothing changed in John Hammond's goal to rebuild the Milwaukee Bucks into a winning team when he traded for Richard Jefferson Thursday afternoon.
"I don't know if it says anything more than we said before,'' said the Bucks' new general manager after he traded 7-foot forward Yi Jianlian, the team's No. 1 pick last year, and reserve forward Bobby Simmons to the New Jersey Nets for the veteran all-star small forward.
"Our goal is to simply get better,'' added Hammond.
The Bucks certainly have a different look after trading for the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Jefferson and then selecting 6-foot-8, 230-pound West Virginia forward Joe Alexander with the No. 8 pick of the first round of the National Basketball Association draft Thursday night.
Jefferson, who just finished his seventh year in the NBA, gives the Bucks a second player who averaged better than 20 points a game this past season. Jefferson, who finished 10th in the NBA in scoring with a career-high 22.6 average, joins Bucks leading scorer Michael Redd, who finished ninth with a 22.7 average.
"The more the merrier,'' said Hammond, who talked about a recent discussion he had with Redd when he mentioned that he wanted to put more quality players and winning players around the scoring guard.
"One thing about Richard, he has won. He has a lot of experience. He has played in playoffs, he has won a lot of games,'' said Hammond. "To put a piece like Jefferson on the floor with him, I think, it only makes Michael better. I don't think you can ever have too many good players.''
Jefferson started every game for the Nets last season and set the all-time team record for free throws made (562) and attempted (679). His scoring average was the sixth-highest single-season average in New Jersey history.
A six-time playoff performer with the Nets, including consecutive trips to the NBA finals in 2002 and 2003, Jefferson has playoff averages of 15.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 78 games.
He will join a starting five in Milwaukee that, as of today, will also include guards Mo Williams, forward Charlie Villanueva and center Andrew Bogut. But it won't be a surprise if Hammond makes more deals.
"We talked about trying to change our team a little bit and adding some athleticism and some energy and adding quality pieces to our team with quality players. We think we accomplished all that with the Jefferson trade,'' said Hammond, who added he was in discussions with the Nets about the trade for the past couple days.
The nasty salary predicament that Hammond inherited with the Bucks did not change with the trade since Jefferson still has three years and $42 million left on his contract. But Hammond said, three years from now, the Bucks will have more room to maneuver.
Hammond also said the team was under no pressure from Yi's agents to trade him to a team with a bigger market.
"Moving Yi was not easy, but we acquired, I think, maybe one of the best small forwards in the NBA,'' Hammond said. "Simply put, to acquire talent you have to give up talent and we gave up a very talented piece with a tremendous upside. I think New Jersey will be a great place for him and I think he has a bright, bright future.''
Yi finished last season averaging 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds for the Bucks. The native of Shenzhen, China, the 20-year-old Yi will compete in the Beijing Olympics this summer for the Chinese National team.
Simmons played three seasons for the Bucks and averaged 10.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 145 games.
Bill Kostroun/Associated Press
Seven-year NBA veteran Richard Jefferson (24) is on his way to Milwaukee after being acquired in a draft-day trade for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons.
