You know, I’m not even mad that the Bucks pulled the trigger on an Andrew Bogut-Monta Ellis swap a few years ago. It looks pretty lame now but at the time, I wasn’t even mad then and I’m not even mad now. Not even. Bogut was coming off a coordinated assassination attempt undertaken by Amar””e Stoudemire, and his once-flourishing offensive game was unlikely to ever return (DTB’s internetip of the day: don’t watch Bogut’s college highlights or you will find that somebody has placed onions in your desk). Meanwhile, Monta Ellis was a proven scorer, and the Bucks needed scoring. This “needs scoring” theme would also prompt them to acquire future hall-of-famers Corey Maggette and Stephen Jackson.
I’m convinced to this day that the Warriors only acquired Bogut because they wanted to get Ellis away from Steph Curry. Any production they squeezed out of Bogut was just a bonus.
It didn’t work out for the Bucks. A backcourt of Jennings-Ellis-Redick turned out to suck and it was broken up almost as soon as it was assembled. Meanwhile, Bogut got his championship ring fitted for his middle finger, as a gesture of displeasure towards the coach that benched him in the finals. But rings are rings, and to be fair to the big Aussie, he WAS a major part of that team’s regular season success.
Hey, at least the Bucks got Ekpe Udoh in the deal, right? That dude was not a bust at all. I think he’s still putting up 12 and 9 for us.
Sob.