John Hammond leaves Bucks to become GM for Orlando Magic

[IWB]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Bucks Press Office


STATEMENT FROM BUCKS OWNERSHIP ON JOHN HAMMOND

“John Hammond has been an incredible asset to the Bucks organization these last nine years and a true professional in every sense of the word. His keen eye for talent and relentless drive to build one of the finest teams in the league has helped the Bucks become a championship-caliber organization on and off the court. We wish John and his family nothing but the best in Orlando.

“We remain very excited about the prospects of our team and anticipate further announcements about the front office staff to be made in the near future.”

[Goose85]

With the position the Bucks are currently in, I was initially surprised by this move until I read the following article.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-bucks-john-hammond-agrees-five-year-deal-become-magic-gm-193512855.html

[mufan2003]

With the position the Bucks are currently in, I was initially surprised by this move until I read the following article.

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-bucks-john-hammond-agrees-five-year-deal-become-magic-gm-193512855.html

This article sums it up well. Justin Zanik was brought in for a reason. Interesting that the press release mentions "anticipating other front office announcements." Hammond did a nice job, Antetokounmpo being a home run draft pick. I am interested to see what else develops, given that the Bucks are moving on from a good GM (IMO).

[Goose85]

This article sums it up well. Justin Zanik was brought in for a reason. Interesting that the press release mentions "anticipating other front office announcements." Hammond did a nice job, Antetokounmpo being a home run draft pick. I am interested to see what else develops, given that the Bucks are moving on from a good GM (IMO).

I too thought Hammonds did a good job. Dealt well with behind the scenes challenges and made some good deals.
The NBA is so unlike other sports. You need a couple stars to win, and if you have Lebron everyone in the East is playing for second. He has found some stars for the Bucks, and added some good pieces too. Hope the new guy takes it up to the next level.

[mufan2003]

It was reported that Zanik would likely take over as GM in a year or two. If that was the case, why wouldn't the organization have made that announcement in the press release on Hammond? I wonder if the organization is going after a "bigger fish" to be GM and Zanik would remain assistant GM. Will Zanik be pissed, thinking he was in line to get the GM job?

These owners certainly march to the beat of their own drum. They quickly removed Larry Drew and brought in Kidd (with Hammond unaware). They even replaced Paschke and McGlocklin with Gus Johnson and Marques Johnson as their #1 broadcast team.

[mufan2003]

Sounds like Justin Zanik will simply be a candidate and the Bucks will conduct a broad search lead by Rod Thorn.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2017/05/24/report-bucks-open-search-next-gm/340682001/

[mufansince72]

Sounds like Bucks are interested in Cleveland's GM.

[Goose85]

Sounds like Justin Zanik will simply be a candidate and the Bucks will conduct a broad search lead by Rod Thorn.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2017/05/24/report-bucks-open-search-next-gm/340682001/

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/report-bucks-justin-zanik-interim-202834619.html

[mufan2003]

Sounds like Bucks are interested in Cleveland's GM.

I am not sure how great of a GM he is. Look at how the Cavs roster was formed. Cavs were awful until LeBron decided to come home. Hammond much more impressive with Giannis at #15, trading Brandon Jennings for Khris Middleton, Maker at #10 and Brogdon in the 2nd round. I would have kept Hammond:

#1 Pick 2011: Kyrie Irving
#4 Pick 2011: Tristan Thompson
#1 pick 2014: Andrew Wiggins, then traded to Minnesota for Kevin Love
Free Agency 2014: LeBron decides he wants to come home, would have happened regardless of the GM

I personally like Sam Presti at OKC better, but even he did it with high draft picks as well (although he sure made the right picks). I would take him over Griffin if you could get him to leave OKC:

#2 pick 2007: Kevin Durant
#4 pick 2008: Russell Westbrook
#3 pick 2009: James Harden

[mufan2003]

GM search update:

"Among those expected to formally interview for the opening, league sources told The Vertical, include: Bucks assistant GM Justin Zanik, Minnesota assistant GM Noah Croom, Indiana vice president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie, Detroit assistant GM Pat Garrity, Denver assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas and Memphis VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski."

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-bucks-finalizing-list-gm-candidates-192114944.html

[MU/Panther]

http://deadspin.com/the-bucks-gm-search-was-a-big-mess-1796173100

[mufan2003]

http://deadspin.com/the-bucks-gm-search-was-a-big-mess-1796173100

Difficult to understand this move. IMO, should have just given Hammond a new contract. I hope they can keep Zanik to work alongside Horst (who is only 34). If not Zanik, then someone else who is experienced. Sounds like that is the plan.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nba/bucks/2017/06/16/jon-horst-makes-late-serious-entrance-into-bucks-gm-race/402075001/

[mufan2003]

Would the Bucks try to bring David Griffin in to work with Jon Horst? He parted ways with the Cavs today. There were plenty of reports, after Hammond left, indicating the Bucks were interested in Griffin.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19683141/cleveland-cavaliers-part-ways-general-manager-david-griffin

[mufan2003]

https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine/status/876984671547949056

[Goose85]

Would the Bucks try to bring David Griffin in to work with Jon Horst? He parted ways with the Cavs today. There were plenty of reports, after Hammond left, indicating the Bucks were interested in Griffin.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/19683141/cleveland-cavaliers-part-ways-general-manager-david-griffin

Now that would make sense. Pay an experienced guy to come in and show him the ropes. Also, help out with making contacts and getting a feel for the other GMs in the league.

[mufan2003]

Now that would make sense. Pay an experienced guy to come in and show him the ropes. Also, help out with making contacts and getting a feel for the other GMs in the league.

And this.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What is very surprising: Cavs assistant GM Trent Redden, very highly respected around the league, is also out. Wow. Total house cleaning.</p>&mdash; David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) <a href="https://twitter.com/daldridgetnt/status/876950748168376320">June 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Kidd Karma]

And this.

<twitterwidget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" style="position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;" data-tweet-id="876950748168376320"></twitterwidget>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Heard that Gilbert wanted "his" share of the credit in bringing Cleveland out of the lottery....I guess he'll get the credit when they head back after Lebron leaves. <iframe id="rufous-sandbox" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: absolute; visibility: hidden; display: none; width: 0px; height: 0px; padding: 0px; border: none;" title="Twitter analytics iframe"></iframe>