Bucks general manager John Hammond fielded a few questions from the media at a season-ending gathering Monday at the Bradley Center.
He had a number of interesting things to say, indicating that no one in the organization could be happy with team's recently completed 34-48 season.
And Hammond did not downplay the importance of the June draft. The Bucks have the No. 10 slot in the draft lottery and an 87% chance of staying in that position for the June 25 draft. They also have their own second-round pick, the 41st overall selection.
Hammond said he and his staff - including assistant general manager Jeff Weltman, director of player personnel Dave Babcock and scouting director Billy McKinney - will have a better feel for the team's needs now that they have worked together in Milwaukee for a year.
"We'll get someone good there," Hammond said of the 10th spot. "I think we'll do a better job in this draft. Having Scott Skiles as our coach now for a year, I think he knows more about us; we know more about him even.
"We want him to be a part of this process. It's a player we want him to like, along with us. It's a player that needs to be on the floor and helping us to win games next year."
Hammond spoke about his first draft with the Bucks last June, which brought forward Joe Alexander with the eighth overall pick and forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute at No. 37. Mbah a Moute made a major contribution to the team, while Alexander struggled to get playing time.
"We appreciate what Luc Mbah a Moute did; he had a great year for us," Hammond said. "Joe Alexander has to get better. It was a little difficult for us with the Joe situation. We drafted Joe, and we knew he was very raw as a player.
"We knew we were going to have patience in dealing with him. When injuries occurred, we needed him to step up and play a little bit better, earlier than we thought. We became a little bit impatient with him.
"A guy like Joe has a little bit of a obsessive-compulsive personality, and he works so hard. There's more self-inflicted pressure on him; he wants it so bad. We have to get more out of our first-round pick this year than we did out of Joe this season."
Hammond said the Bucks would explore all avenues to improve the team, but he stressed that the team's payroll position would limit flexibility in the near term and that he did not want to hurt the franchise's position for the long term.
"It will be very important to have discipline as we move forward," Hammond said. "In a couple years we could have some very significant (financial) relief, and we want to be in position where we can be that kind of team.
"We like our team, but we do not like the fact that we have very little flexibility. We’re restricted in what we can do this summer in adding players to our roster and how we can add them. When we get the reins off of us in that regard, we want to keep them off."
He repeated that he hoped to be able to re-sign restricted free agents Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions but said it would be difficult. And Hammond expressed confidence that injured regulars Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd would be able to return at full strength for next season.
"With Redd, Bogut and (Richard) Jefferson, with that three-pronged attack, those guys can win games," Hammond said.
