Post by Blake Bowman on Jun 26, 2013 22:00:48 GMT
Insider Interview with Glenn Robinson
With so many good, young pieces, who is the "face" of Milwaukee's future? Or is he not here yet?
The face of the Milwaukee Bucks organization is Anthony Davis. Anytime you have a number 1 overall pick, they typically are the savior of the franchise. Before I arrived to Milwaukee, the roster was in a state of flux. There was a lot of big contracts for players that I felt didn't deserve them. I wanted to start completely fresh and was able to get lucky in the lottery to select Anthony Davis. He will be the face of this franchise for years to come.
Do you have anybody in your sights this Free Agency? You only have ~$20 Mil in cap being taken up, so you can get a great talent or two, maybe the superstar you need to win it all? Or are you holding off for next year?
I'm not a big proponent of free agency. I'm a small market team and feel that it's best to work through the draft to build your franchise. With that said, there are a few players I have on a short list of who I might go after. Free agency is a gamble and anytime you're throwing around big contracts, you better hope that you get the production out of that player. For the most part I'll just continue to build through the draft and make sure I'm in a position to re-sign my own free agents before I look elsewhere.
What are your plans for the off-season? With the projected eighth pick, you have what looks like a fun time ahead of you.
I'm hoping the lottery sways in my favor once again. I love scouting players from the collegiate level and it's always fun to make a big board of potential targets. This year's draft isn't very top heavy but I think you can still get a nice starter/rotational guy anywhere from the 1st pick all the way down to the late 1st. I do need a PG and some wing players, so hopefully I'll be able to pick up a nice player for my future.
What is your favorite deal you made this season as GM of the Bucks?
That's a tough question. I am very happy with most of the deals I have made this season. I guess I would have to say the deal where I shipped off a couple of 1st round picks for Andre Drummond. I was very pleased with the production Drummond gave us this year. He averaged a double double the entire season and even tied the record for most rebounds in a game. I have a very promising front court with Davis and Drummond for years to come. I also liked the late season acquisition of Chandler Parsons. I think when Parsons gets his ratings boost, he is going to be a very good player in sim league.
What is one you would take back if you could?
I don't regret a single move I made. Some moves may have looked bad from my side from other peoples perspective, however I always had a contingent move lined up to get to where I needed to go as far as shaping my roster. I do regret not offering up more to get Kyrie Irving. Irving is a very good point guard in this league, but I didn't want to break the bank and felt I could get a point guard in the next few years.
What is a deal that another GM made that you really liked?
I really liked the move Portland made obtaining John Wall. He received an established point guard who could very well be a future superstar in this league. He later filled the void left by Rudy Gay and acquired Luol Deng.
What is a deal that another GM made that you didn't like for the team?
I thought Los Angeles could have gotten more back from Denver for Kyrie. I think he got a decent package of young players but to not have one Denvers top players like George or Harden coming back in the deal makes it tough to like the move for LA.
What is your plan for your future? How long until you make it back into the playoffs?
My future is just to keep finding players in the draft and build a strong core of young players that can grow together. If we are in the position to grab a free agent or two, we might entertain the idea but for the most part we will just let the young guys continue to mature and grow together. I was really hoping we could grab that 8th seed this year in the playoffs. I think with a year under the rookies belts, we are primed to make it to the playoffs this coming season. That's our goal for the year.
Is there anyone in the league that you would really like to have on your team?
I mentioned him earlier, Kyrie Irving. He is by far my favorite player in the league. He has all the tools to be a superstar. He also would fill a need on my team. I absolutely love his game and think he is a difference maker.
If you were presented with the offer, would you trade Davis for Irving?
It would be a tough decision because I feel you never trade a great big man for a great guard. It's very difficult to find someone with Anthony Davis potential. Knowing that I have Andre Drummond at center still, I think I would pull the trigger for the mere fact that Irving is my favorite player.
Is there anyone on your team that you have received some nice offers for lately?
Nobody in particular. I think more GM's are aware that I value my young core of players pretty highly. If I was going to move one of them, it would take an extremely good offer to entice me. I will be taking offers for my lottery pick to see what's out there.
Final questions, IRL time. What got you into sim leagues, how did you first discover them? (i.e. Google, word of mouth, etc.) How long have you been in them, and how long have you been into basketball, playing or watching?
I think the first time I heard about sim leagues was when I was reading a thread on RealGm. I never knew anything about them so I decided to check it out one day and it was amazing. I've been in leagues since I was about 16. I even ran a couple leagues back in the day when I was younger. Eventually I gave them up for awhile until this year. I can't remember how I stumbled across this league in particular, but I knew I wanted to get involved again. I first got involved with Basketball when I was in 5th grade or so. The Bucks were in the playoffs facing the Charlotte Hornets. I got to watch Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell duel Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn. It was such a thrilling series and it got me hooked. Eventually the Bucks lost in 7 to the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. After that, I was hooked. I played basketball in middle school and high school. I got to start a few games in high school which was really fun. Basketball will continue to be a life long passion of mine and I hope one day I can do something job related in the field.
With so many good, young pieces, who is the "face" of Milwaukee's future? Or is he not here yet?
The face of the Milwaukee Bucks organization is Anthony Davis. Anytime you have a number 1 overall pick, they typically are the savior of the franchise. Before I arrived to Milwaukee, the roster was in a state of flux. There was a lot of big contracts for players that I felt didn't deserve them. I wanted to start completely fresh and was able to get lucky in the lottery to select Anthony Davis. He will be the face of this franchise for years to come.
Do you have anybody in your sights this Free Agency? You only have ~$20 Mil in cap being taken up, so you can get a great talent or two, maybe the superstar you need to win it all? Or are you holding off for next year?
I'm not a big proponent of free agency. I'm a small market team and feel that it's best to work through the draft to build your franchise. With that said, there are a few players I have on a short list of who I might go after. Free agency is a gamble and anytime you're throwing around big contracts, you better hope that you get the production out of that player. For the most part I'll just continue to build through the draft and make sure I'm in a position to re-sign my own free agents before I look elsewhere.
What are your plans for the off-season? With the projected eighth pick, you have what looks like a fun time ahead of you.
I'm hoping the lottery sways in my favor once again. I love scouting players from the collegiate level and it's always fun to make a big board of potential targets. This year's draft isn't very top heavy but I think you can still get a nice starter/rotational guy anywhere from the 1st pick all the way down to the late 1st. I do need a PG and some wing players, so hopefully I'll be able to pick up a nice player for my future.
What is your favorite deal you made this season as GM of the Bucks?
That's a tough question. I am very happy with most of the deals I have made this season. I guess I would have to say the deal where I shipped off a couple of 1st round picks for Andre Drummond. I was very pleased with the production Drummond gave us this year. He averaged a double double the entire season and even tied the record for most rebounds in a game. I have a very promising front court with Davis and Drummond for years to come. I also liked the late season acquisition of Chandler Parsons. I think when Parsons gets his ratings boost, he is going to be a very good player in sim league.
What is one you would take back if you could?
I don't regret a single move I made. Some moves may have looked bad from my side from other peoples perspective, however I always had a contingent move lined up to get to where I needed to go as far as shaping my roster. I do regret not offering up more to get Kyrie Irving. Irving is a very good point guard in this league, but I didn't want to break the bank and felt I could get a point guard in the next few years.
What is a deal that another GM made that you really liked?
I really liked the move Portland made obtaining John Wall. He received an established point guard who could very well be a future superstar in this league. He later filled the void left by Rudy Gay and acquired Luol Deng.
What is a deal that another GM made that you didn't like for the team?
I thought Los Angeles could have gotten more back from Denver for Kyrie. I think he got a decent package of young players but to not have one Denvers top players like George or Harden coming back in the deal makes it tough to like the move for LA.
What is your plan for your future? How long until you make it back into the playoffs?
My future is just to keep finding players in the draft and build a strong core of young players that can grow together. If we are in the position to grab a free agent or two, we might entertain the idea but for the most part we will just let the young guys continue to mature and grow together. I was really hoping we could grab that 8th seed this year in the playoffs. I think with a year under the rookies belts, we are primed to make it to the playoffs this coming season. That's our goal for the year.
Is there anyone in the league that you would really like to have on your team?
I mentioned him earlier, Kyrie Irving. He is by far my favorite player in the league. He has all the tools to be a superstar. He also would fill a need on my team. I absolutely love his game and think he is a difference maker.
If you were presented with the offer, would you trade Davis for Irving?
It would be a tough decision because I feel you never trade a great big man for a great guard. It's very difficult to find someone with Anthony Davis potential. Knowing that I have Andre Drummond at center still, I think I would pull the trigger for the mere fact that Irving is my favorite player.
Is there anyone on your team that you have received some nice offers for lately?
Nobody in particular. I think more GM's are aware that I value my young core of players pretty highly. If I was going to move one of them, it would take an extremely good offer to entice me. I will be taking offers for my lottery pick to see what's out there.
Final questions, IRL time. What got you into sim leagues, how did you first discover them? (i.e. Google, word of mouth, etc.) How long have you been in them, and how long have you been into basketball, playing or watching?
I think the first time I heard about sim leagues was when I was reading a thread on RealGm. I never knew anything about them so I decided to check it out one day and it was amazing. I've been in leagues since I was about 16. I even ran a couple leagues back in the day when I was younger. Eventually I gave them up for awhile until this year. I can't remember how I stumbled across this league in particular, but I knew I wanted to get involved again. I first got involved with Basketball when I was in 5th grade or so. The Bucks were in the playoffs facing the Charlotte Hornets. I got to watch Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell duel Baron Davis and Jamal Mashburn. It was such a thrilling series and it got me hooked. Eventually the Bucks lost in 7 to the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. After that, I was hooked. I played basketball in middle school and high school. I got to start a few games in high school which was really fun. Basketball will continue to be a life long passion of mine and I hope one day I can do something job related in the field.