To answer the question of how the woeful Milwaukee Bucks beat one of the best teams in the National Basketball Association this week, one could say that stuff like that happens in this league. It's like Keith Van Horn getting a payday simply for signing his name on the dotted line and agreeing to go to New Jersey, where he's not likely to step foot on the court.
The Bucks better not kid themselves with any grand delusions that they've come back from the All-Star break a different team. They are what they are: an organization with fatal flaws from the owner all the way down the trainers.
Which is why a certain question deserves asking after the expiration of the trading deadline: What was going on in the Bucks' war room, or more pressing, was there anything going on at all?
The best guess is that general manager Larry Harris was sitting by his phone, hands tied behind his back. With micromanaging owner Herb Kohl calling the shots, Harris likely had no choice but to stand pat without the go-ahead from the man in charge.
Either that or Larry Harris is totally incompetent. Something close to that is a possibility when you consider the state of this franchise. Besides the Knicks, no team can claim the mantle of aimlessness quite like the Bucks.
If anything, Milwaukee had to complete a trade just to galvanize the fan base - whatever remains of it. Otherwise, why should anyone go to the outmoded Bradley Center and watch? The numbers bear the story: The Bucks are 21st in the league in average percentage of home arena filled according to ESPN.
It's no question the Bucks are not in the catbird's seat when it comes to being in position to make a deal. In the NBA's value and salary-conscious environment, the organization would have to part with a better player to find any return interest.
I don't doubt Harris had a desire to make another headline-grabbing move, but the ones that he has made since the departure of Ernie Grunfeld have too often backfired. Kohl, as paymaster, must consider that track record.
The owner's mistake came when he invited Larry Harris back for the final year of his contract. There was never much possibility that the Bucks were going to have a strong year, even after calling the Chinese bluff over Yi, one of Harris's finer moves.
The roster is such that Kohl and Harris don't have much room to maneuver in the first place. That is both of their faults. The only deal prominently mentioned on Thursday involved the Bucks unloading the burdensome contracts of Bobby Simmons and Dan Gadzuric, as well as Charlie Bell, in exchange for Zach Randolph and an expiring contract. If it were almost any player other than Randolph, the Bucks would gratefully accept. But the Knicks forward illustrates the opposite of what the Bucks need.
What Milwaukee does need is wholesale change, beginning in ownership, something we know Kohl has considered before. The top priority is keeping the team in Milwaukee, where it was once a successful, relevant organization.
E-mail Jon at bortin@wisc.edu if you have an idea of how to fix the Bucks.
