The management plan is finally in place.
Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond will continue in his current position through the 2017-’18 season, after receiving a one-year contract extension from team ownership on Thursday.
A league source confirmed Hammond’s extension and said the transition of Justin Zanik to the general manager position is planned for 2018. Hammond would remain as a consultant with the team at that point.
Zanik was hired to a multiyear contract as the team’s assistant general manager in June, with an assumption he eventually would move up to the general manager position. But no timetable was established initially while the owners finalized coach Jason Kidd’s contract extension and the team prepared for last week’s NBA draft.
The signing of the 61-year-old Hammond to an extension is his second in two years and completes the off-season moves for the top officials in the team’s basketball operations.
Kidd was signed to a three-year, $16.5 million contract extension earlier this month, a deal that will take him through the 2019-’20 season.
The Bucks will enter the third year under the ownership team of Wes Edens, Marc Lasry and Jamie Dinan in the fall and are hoping to improve after a 33-49 season. In the first season under the ownership group in 2014-’15 — and with Kidd as the franchise’s new coach — the Bucks finished 41-41 and as the sixth-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.
Hammond has served as Bucks general manager since 2008 and he was named the NBA’s executive of the year for the 2009-’10 season. The team has appeared in the playoffs three times under his watch. Milwaukee has not won a playoff series since 2001 when it reached the Eastern Conference finals.
The NBA free agency period opens at 11 p.m. Thursday, and the Bucks were expected to be active. Milwaukee is searching for veteran backcourt help and perimeter shooting.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was anointed as the Bucks point guard last season, but the 6-foot-11 Greek Freak defends forwards most of the time. That means the Bucks are searching for a strong defender to go against opposing point guards or shooting guards.
“Giannis is the point guard,” Hammond said. “But he’s going to be announced as starting at forward. We’re going to announce someone at that guard position.
“If you go by the theory you are what you guard, and I do believe in that, someone has to guard that point guard. Giannis has turned into a primary ball-handler for us and I thought it was a great move by Jason.
“It gave Giannis some great exposure and helped our team moving forward. I think it gave Giannis a lot of confidence. But I don’t think we can put that responsibility on him, totally. He’s going to need help doing that.”
Hammond said recently he thinks the franchise is heading in the right direction.
“I think we could do more than be good in the immediate, if we wanted to,” Hammond said. “But that’s in the short term.
“That’s taking a young asset on your team and maybe trading him for an older player that can help you be better for the next year or two.
“I’m so grateful to Marc and Wes and Jamie; that’s not the vision. The vision is that we’ve got a great young core of guys. Let’s stay with those guys; let’s build with those guys into a championship-contending team.”
Hammond said adding a few veterans to the mix this summer will help but he also wants the young players to take more responsibility.
“We talk about how we’re going to improve,” he said. “We’re going to improve through draft, free agency, trade, but more than anything we need to improve from within.
If Giannis comes back better, if Jabari (Parker) comes back better, if Michael Carter-Williams comes back better, Khris Middleton, John Henson go on down the list, that’s how we’re really going to get better.
“And leadership from within will be important for us. We’ll address it (additions to the roster).
“But you look around the league and some teams had these fantastic leaders on their team, the Kobe Bryants and the Kevin Garnetts, and their teams struggled. You still have to have the good players to go along with that kind of leadership.”
Hammond said he’s happy to be working with Zanik, who worked under Dennis Lindsey as assistant general manager of the Utah Jazz for the past three years.
“It’s great to have Justin Zanik here with us,” Hammond said. “I’m really excited about that and I think it’s a great fit for us.”
