Two major roster moves have happened now this week for the Milwaukee Bucks – neither of which involved the guard position.

They involved jettisoning two forwards, Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons, and adding two new ones – All-Star Richard Jefferson and rookie Joe Alexander.

The Bucks chose that route in the face of rumors that Michael Redd and Mo Williams stood as candidates for draft-day trades.

And with those moves, Bucks coach Scott Skiles says he knows enough with the moves his boss John Hammond has made that he’s happy with what Milwaukee’s cupboard has now been stocked.

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 “Right now, it's on paper.  I understand it, and John has talked about it several times.  Our team on paper looks a certain way today.  We'll constantly go the rest of the summer to improve our team.”

According to Hammond, there’s no plan to do that by removing Redd, the newest Olympian, but as he described, “anything can happen.

“It's our intention not to trade anybody.  I don't think we'd make promises about any such thing.  He knows the position we're in as a team, he knows where he stands at this point in his career.  Nothing has changed.  We're going to see how we can improve this team. 

“We have no intentions of moving a guy like Michael Redd, but as we sit here today, many, many great players have been moved.”

Faith Without Seeing His Team

It’s a team that Skiles’ eyes don’t have experience viewing, let alone coaching.

“I haven't coached this team, so I don't want to put anyone in any categories.  When the team forms, and everyone comes together, we'll try to get better the rest of the summer.  We'll get a style of play, with whatever team it is that we'll have success with.”

“I know the players on this team from afar, and I know from talking to them now.  I don't know them in this gym everyday, on a West Coast trip. 

“Those are things that I really believe I would just be premature in commenting on.”

Comments on Skiles: “Tough”

That word, tough, has become a label that has followed Skiles in his entire coaching career, through Phoenix and his latest stint with the Bulls, to Milwaukee.  It somewhat rankles him to receive that label, but he takes pride in the truth of it.

“I always feel like I'm supposed to apologize for that,” says Skiles. 

“If I didn't have some sort of toughness at my size, I wouldn't have been a great college player, played in the NBA.

“You'll find the people that played for me will say, "yeah, you know, he's kind of tough, but it's not what it's cracked up to be.  The perception isn't necessarily true.

“There's tough and crazy, and there's tough and fair.  Hopefully I'm the latter.”