Mistakes happen. We sleep in a little too late or we forget to do a project. But for us, mistakes are simply, just that – mistakes. For the thirty NBA teams, mistakes cost them, potentially, tens of millions of dollars, a playoff appearance, or even a championship. They have been riddled throughout history. It can be draft picks (Blazer fans know what this is like), it can be free agency (can I get an amen from Knicks fans?), or it can be virtually anything else (in the case of the Kings, EVERYTHING ELSE). Thus, we present the worst mistakes from each NBA team over the past ten years.
It’s not out of the question that in an alternate universe, the Milwaukee Bucks could have been one of the NBA’s super-teams. They are obviously not that, however. When it comes to mistakes in Milwaukee, there are two noteworthy issues that lie in the Bucks past that deserve mentioning in this space.
The Milwaukee Bucks Biggest Mistake in the Past Ten Years
First, when the Bucks traded Andrew Bogut to the Golden State Warriors in March of 2012, there were (and have since been) rumors that the Warriors gave the Bucks their choice of Monta Ellis (who ended up in Milwaukee) or Stephen Curry. At the time, the Warriors saw the two as incompatible in the same backcourt, and Curry was struggling to stay on the floor. Maybe there is some merit to it, maybe not. Maybe the Bucks could have pried Curry away had they given up more than Bogut. Who knows? But with the benefit of hindsight, if Curry was available in the trade, it would not only be the Milwaukee Bucks biggest mistake of the past decade, but the biggest mistake of the last ten years in the NBA, period.
The New Owner That Wasn’t
The second issue is more more directly tied into the topic at hand. Although it specifically is disqualified from consideration for “Biggest Mistake of the Last Ten Years” because it occurred in 2003. Three years before the timeline of this exercise is extended. That being the fact that Michael Jordan almost, almost became owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. And that’s where the Bucks biggest mistake of the last decade begins …
Need for New Direction
The Milwaukee Bucks haven’t been out of the first round of the playoffs since the 2000-01 Playoffs, when the NBA conspired against the Bucks Milwaukee lost to Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
From that point on, the goal was not necessarily to get back to the conference finals, per se. It was to field a playoff team. It was faulty logic. And the orders were coming down from then-owner Herb Kohl. Because of the flirtation with selling to Jordan in 2003, it was no secret Kohl was looking into selling the team. But he understandably wanted to win on his way out the door. That led to a string of short-sighted draft picks, trades, and signings. All together, that kept holding the team back.
That kept them stuck in mediocrity. It kept Milwaukee from the inevitable reality that it needed a total rebuild, to bottom out.
The Milwaukee Bucks biggest mistake of the past decade was that the ownership didn’t change hands until 2014. There should have been turnover at the top at any point along the way since the Jordan negotiations.
The Worst Pick
They weren’t good enough to contend, but they wanted to (doesn’t every team?), but the Bucks management wasn’t realistic with themselves about who they were. They constantly changed players just for the sake of change. They drafted Joe Alexander with the eighth pick in the 2008 (a move that could singularly be considered for biggest mistake of the last ten years). Alexander played one season with the Bucks, then sent to the D-League, traded to the Chicago Bulls, and has since been playing overseas.
To recap: The Bucks took a prospect they knew was raw and needed development. And they gave up on developing him in less than two years.
In January of 2015, Basketball Insiders published an interview with Alexander. In it, Alexander hits the nail on the head, although he does come across as bitter (perhaps understandably, though). Among the quotes from Alexander was this:
“The biggest change in that organization now, and the reason for its success, is the new ownership … organizations function from the top down. When the guys at the top of the pyramid are changed, the whole culture of the organization changes. Having been real close to situation, I know that it was very dysfunctional when I was at Milwaukee.”
All the Wrong Moves
The one other monstrosity of a move the Bucks made – and the one that most accurately symbolizes the problem – came at the 2013 trade deadline. Milwaukee traded 20-year old scoring forward Tobias Harris (who was still contractually under team control for at least two more seasons) to the Orlando Magic for 32 games worth of a 28-year old J.J. Redick. At the time, Redick was seen as the additional scoring threat and shooter the Bucks needed to make the playoffs. They did make the playoffs, but lasted just four games. By making the playoffs, one could say Milwaukee met their goal. But it was the wrong goal at the wrong time for a young team desperately in need of a rebuild.
The Milwaukee Bucks biggest mistake of the last decade in Milwaukee led to a string of other mistakes. Year after year, impatient ownership came to a fork in the road. And season after season, they chose the dead end cul de sac over the bumpy path that bottomed out before returning to the highland. With new ownership entering its third season in charge, a new arena coming soon, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jabari Parker and Co. aboard, the Milwaukee Bucks biggest mistake may finally be behind them for good.
Main Photo
Orlando Magic’s Tobias Harris makes an uncontested dunk during the final seconds of overtime in an NBA basketball game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, in Orlando, Fla. Orlando won 113-103. (AP Photo/John Raoux) ORG XMIT: DOA108
