Milwaukee Bucks 2016-17 Season Review: John Hammond
Summer Focus and Final Grade
John Hammond can hang his hat on one of his best seasons as an NBA executive. His team navigated devastating injuries, he swindled his peers and the team exceeded expectations. Short of a title, there can’t be a much better feeling as an NBA general manager.
But like all careers in the NBA, the job doesn’t stop when the last game is played. In fact, you could argue that an NBA GM’s job begins when the rest of the team has packed up and went on vacation. And Hammond has a lot of work to do.
Re-signing Tony Snell will be a top priority for Hammond, but he must stay grounded. He can’t get into a bidding war over a replacement level player. If a team like the Nets or Sixers signs Snell to a massive offer sheet, he will need to play it smart. Hammond has the tape on Snell and has the goodwill but he can’t have another Plumlee situation on his hands and he probably won’t be able to trick another team into cleaning up his mistake. Probably.
The future of Greg Monroe will loom over the early part of the summer. We will know soon whether or not Moose will opt out and the decision will have a huge impact on next season. If he opts in, great. Pay him the same amount in the same role and hope to improve with the players you have in place. If he opts out, decide if you want to bring him back at a lower number or decide to spend your money elsewhere.
Hammond will need to seriously consider moving a contract of an under-performing veteran to help re-sign his long-term players. John Henson will be a likely target but the market for defensive-minded big men is at its lowest point ever. Teletovic did himself no favors as a three-point specialist who can’t make his threes, but some team might take a risk on the Bosnian. Mirza is not afraid to pull the trigger and defenses still respect his shot. That added attention could help out a team desperate for spacing.
Decisions will need to be made regarding Michael Beasley, Jason Terry and a possible extension for the highly promising but oft-injured Jabari Parker. It’s not an enviable position.
With a contingency plan in place to transition Justin Zanik into the general manager role and phase out Hammond after next year, Hammond’s future is the most unclear it has been in years. If Hammond feels like he still has something to prove in the league it will likely be easy for him to find another employer. As Marc Stein reported, the Orlando Magic will take a long, hard look at John Hammond as the team looks to replace Rob Hennigan.
Important decisions are on the horizon for John Hammond.
A decent crop of free agent additions, a number of favorable trades and the season’s best rookie class is not something to sneeze at. A few more years like this and we might be looking at something really, really special.
BTBP Final Grade: A
Next: Milwaukee Bucks: Analyzing Khris Middleton’s late season return
Make sure you stick with us over the coming days and weeks as we review the rest of the Bucks’ seasons individually.