Bucks coach Jason Kidd said the franchise’s biggest need this offseason was to acquire outside shooters who can stretch the floor for the team’s big men, writes Charles F. Gardner of The Journal Sentinel. “In today’s game, two is not going to beat three,” Kidd said. “The three is so important. We didn’t have enough guys that could make the three. There’s no tricks. I’m not going to sit here and make up something that we’re going to have to shoot a higher percentage of twos. You’ve got to be able to shoot the three. Everybody is shooting them. You’ve got to have guys on the floor who can stretch the floor and are threats to make a three.”
GM John Hammond shot down the rumblings that he and Kidd don’t have a solid working relationship, Gardner notes. “We just finished our second season together, and I think we have a very good working relationship,” Hammond said. “We talk together, we spend time together. We have a business relationship; we have a social relationship. With what we do, the season ends but it stays busy. We jump right into the draft until the end of June, and then we begin free agency and summer league. You’re stuck together in the season and in the offseason. It’s part of what we do and we love it.”
Here’s more from the Central Division:
- Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said the team inked Lorenzo Brown in order to have enough bodies to practice heading into the playoffs with Reggie Jackson needing rest to recover from an abdominal injury, tweets Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press.
- Andre Drummond is pleased with how his relationship with Jackson is developing as well as what the point guard has brought to the Pistons franchise, David Aldridge of NBA.com relays. “You know, getting Reggie last season at the trade deadline, I didn’t know what to expect,” Drummond told Aldridge. “He came off the bench for OKC. I didn’t know what he’d be like as a starter. When he came, I spoke him, told him these are the different things that I’m going to need from a point guard. He embraced it. And he’s been playing great for us. He’s building, and we’re working together.”
- The Cavaliers have added Damon Jones to Tyronn Lue‘s coaching staff for the playoffs, relays Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group. The team believes it can benefit from Jones’ experience and rapport with players in its quest to return to the NBA finals, Haynes adds. Jones spent the season as an assistant with the Canton Charge, Cleveland’s D-League affiliate.