Bucks GM John Hammond should have summed up his thoughts of yesterday by shouting out "Cannonball!"  The new GM made the splash he needed to perk up some ears in this town.  Landing Richard Jefferson proved that Hammond is serious about cleaning up the mess that Larry Harris left him.  More importantly, he is showing that he has a plan which is something Larry Harris never seem to have.  It looks like Hammond's plan is get a lot of small forwards.  Actually, in all seriousness, he showed his plan is a lot like the one he learned from Pistons' GM Joe Dumars.  You build a winner around guys that can play defense and have high motors.  Last time I checked that plan yielded a NBA Championship and ruling the Central Division with an iron fist.

Giving up Yi is not the same as giving up on him either.  It is getting max value for a guy that was probably going to get out of town the first chance he could get.  You know what you are getting in Richard Jefferson.  You have no clue what are you getting in Yi.  Yi could be the next Dirk but he also could be the next Keith Van Horn.  Either way, with Yi's playing schedule, you probably were not going to see his true potential and impact on this team until his third year in the league (just look at Andrew Bogut's career for an example).  John Hammond does not seem to be the time type of guy that wants to sit around and just wait.  Anytime you can find someone willing to take on Bobby Simmons and let you keep your draft pick, you make the move.  Plus, this saves Herb Kohl the trouble of filing charges for all the money Simmons stole from the Senator.

Hammond may have created a glut at the three spot but he was right to go with Alexander.  You go with the best player available at the eight spot.  Alexander was probably the best player available at that spot and the most likely player who can step in and help right away.  Alexander can already fill a role with his willingness to play defense and his shooting ability.  Also it does not hurt that he is another guy that can slash to the rim from the wing which is something that Milwaukee has not seen since 2001.  He is not going to bring a lot of drama.  He has the psyche to handle playing for Scott Skiles.  If you can survive playing for Bob Huggins, you can survive anything.  Plus, I'm not so sure Charlie Villanueva will be on this team next season.  He is the perfect player to pair with either Michael Redd or Mo Williams in a trade to yield another impact player in Hammond's makeover agenda.

I don't know if Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will ever see the Bradley Center court.  Heck, I don't know if the Bucks actually drafted a player or a combination of a Star Trek character and the newest Ben and Jerry's flavor.  I hear he plays defense and he is a winner.  Playing defense and wanting to win is something a Bucks' roster has been lacking since 2001.

The point is John Hammond felt the Bucks became a better team after the draft was done.  It looks like for the moment the team is better by eight wins.  That could be enough to get the Bucks into the playoffs next season with the East being what it is.

Hammond looked tired and worn out after the draft.  Doing cannonballs can have that effect on a person.  At least he was not in pain like you get when doing belly flops because so far his moves have the Bucks positioned to avoid doing a lot of those in the standings.