Jason Kidd, a Do or Die Decision for Milwaukee's New Owners

Milwaukee Bucks seems to have some momentum building in the last couple of months. They had new ownership. They added a top draft pick with Jabari Parker whom received standing ovations all over the city of Milwaukee over the weekend. Everyone really liked what Milwaukee was doing, but then they went for the remix by trading for Jason Kidd as their head coach. Larry Drew is now out as the head coach something he just found out today which is not the way to do things in coaching circles. Kidd made a power move and it worked, but at the same time, there are a great deal of consequences if this doesn't play out in Milwaukee's favor although there is always a chance this will work out for everyone.

Many people are wondering why people are coming to the defense of Drew, a head coach whom won only 15 games, the answer is simple. Drew got taken out back and drilled in the back of the head instead of being done the right way. It was a ruthless decision. Sure, it happens all the time in the business world, but Milwaukee flexed its muscles like the 5'6 bro tank-wearing guy at an O.A.R. concert wanting to start a fight with a 6'6 mountain of a man. Bucks have zero muscles to flex with their owners, General Manager and everyone else involved. That's why the furor is there from people. It's not what the Bucks did, rather how they handled the situation given the position they are currently in.

Bucks are not one of the best five organizations in the NBA. They are an organization with an arena and attendance problems. Some could argue they belong in the bottom five. If this thing blows up in their faces, Milwaukee could be left in the dust. What coach wants to come to Milwaukee if this is how they treat people? Not many will see the job alluring if you combine the lack of winning, the arena issues and the mob mentality of the organization. Sure, two out of those three could be fixed, but at the same time having people live in a perpetual state of fear isn't always the best business practice. Many people can make the argument Drew deserved to be fired given only winning 15 games out of 82, but at the same time, he is at least owed some respect instead of looking like a complete clown.

 If Milwaukee's owners knew this was going to happen, they should have told Drew to skip everything involved with Parker. The fact the Bucks trotted him out with their owners talking to Kidd without his knowledge makes him look like a puppet in a scheme. Some can say Drew looked like it was coming but there is not a chance in hell he realized his new boss was the Frank Underwood of the NBA. Anything to get what he wanted and attempt to take this team to the top. Marc Lasry was Kidd's financial advisor and now he's Kidd's boss, the head coach will have more protection than the President of the United States. Even though this thing went down in the dirtiest way imaginable, there is a chance it works out for Milwaukee and their ownership.

Kidd is not a bad coach based off one year. That's unfair. People cannot immediately claim he is terrible. Further, a first-year coach dealing with a team full of guys like Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, Deron Williams were all his peers at some point in his career. Kidd is coming to a Bucks organization where most of the guys watched him play throughout his career and may have looked up to him. He could do wonders for a guy like Brandon Knight. And most of these players are going to listen to Kidd and instill his beliefs as a coach even if many people from outside Milwaukee will want to see this Bucks team fail given what happened this weekend. Kidd gets a team full of young guys which I have always argued is easier on new coaches.

If Kidd brings the Bucks a Central Division title in the next three years, all will be forgotten. Even if Kidd leads the Bucks to consistent playoff appearances where they are higher than the seventh seed, I think people will be happy. No one will remember this little incident if the Bucks are winning basketball games. I don't know if Drew would have been better with this crop of talent or would have gotten fired mid-season if Milwaukee struggled again. If the latter would have happen, maybe it's better this way even if it did not happen in the greatest of circumstances.

The last concern for all Milwaukee basketball fans is Jason Kidd does whatever Jason Kidd wants. He has one of the biggest egos in the NBA and really does not give one damn about whom he hurts on the way. Kidd could easily find a better job in two months and tell the Bucks, he is moving forward. The man has consistently burned bridges throughout this entire career, both playing and now coaching. Hopefully, Milwaukee doesn't give him a need for gasoline and matches.

Charlie.

Kohl's Cronies Begin to Fall: Walter and Burr Step Down

Two of former owner Herb Kohl's henchmen have taken their golden parachute in as many days.

It was announced on Tuesday that Ron Walter was stepping down from the position of Executive Vice President of Business Administration that he'd held under Kohl since 1999. 

This is pretty much the first domino to fall in line of dominoes that need to fall. There's really no telling how much of the last 20 years of mediocrity and losing was tied directly to Walter and the rest of Kohl's inner-circle but there certainly wasn't much winning in that time.

According to the story by Don Walker of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Walter had been a law partner at Milwaukee law firm Foley & Lardner before coming to the Bucks and had worked with the Selig family (when they owned the Milwaukee Brewers) as far back as 1992. 

Incidentally, 1992 was the last winning season for the Brewers before they became the laughing-stock of Major League Baseball from '92 until 2007 when they finally saw another winning season. Remember when the Brewers would trot out a lineup that included the likes of Jack Voigt, Matt Mieske and Jesse Levis? When they had no one (outside of Jeff Cirillo) even sniff a .300 batting average? 

I'm not saying, I'm just saying, he might have been involved in some of those decisions.

Anyway, as a member of the Bucks' front office, he said his best accomplished was joining forces with Kohl to help enact a league-wide revenue sharing plan to help small market franchises compete with the larger markets.

That's really great, guys. However, how well did they end up using said revenue sharing plan? 

Who's next?

Gery Woelfel tweeted out on Tuesday that Mike Burr could be the next of Kohl's lap dogs to take his golden parachute.

As expected, VP Ron Walter is leaving Bucks. Is another long-time Herb Kohl crony, CFO Mike Burr, next?
— Gery Woelfel (@GeryWoelfel) June 17, 2014

Then, on Wednesday, Woelfel took a victory lap and confirmed that Burr will indeed be searching for greener pastures himself.

Yesterday, I hinted Mike Burr, Bucks CFO and Kohl crony, could be leaving Bucks? Told today, he is indeed moving on.
— Gery Woelfel (@GeryWoelfel) June 18, 2014

It would appear that there are two remaining "cronies" are John Steinmiller and Theodore Loehrke. However, Steinmiller's son, John Steinmiller, Jr. announced via Twitter that he and his wife took new jobs were moving to Arizona. Steinmiller, Jr. had worked in the Brewers' PR department for the last several years.

Does this mean that Steinmiller, Sr. could be joining him out in the desert? I wouldn't count on it but I also wouldn't rule out him being the next to go.

As far as the basketball side of the organization, Lasry and Edens have been fairly coy about their intentions especially when asked about the fates of GM John Hammond and head coach Larry Drew. 

They've been adamant that they're working with Hammond on the draft and not necessarily promising anything after that. However, the longer this drags on, it would appear that the basketball side might make it out to see next year. 

While I'd be disappointed to see Drew retained, I could talk myself into being bad again next year for another high draft pick.

P.S. As I'm writing this, news breaks that Joel Embiid might have broken his foot. I'm glad the Bucks have the #2 pick so we're at least guaranteed one of Wiggins or Parker. We'll see what happens next Thursday night when the draft gets underway.