Who Gets The Ball In Milwaukee?

I’m sounding the alarm, officially, on a very speculative add. Michael Redd is done for the season, minutes are opening up in Milwaukee and more importantly points are opening up. I think the speculative adds here, and let me emphasize the word: speculative, are Hakim Warrick and Luke Ridnour. Chances are fairly high that they’re both available on your FA wire right now. Before we get into the numbers, these are the kinds of guys you add only if you’re already asking yourself, who should I add from the FA wire so I can dump so and so. You do not want to add these guys if the question you’re asking yourself is: who should I drop to get one. Ya feel me? Ok, numbers time.

First up: Hakim Warrick – F – Milwaukee Bucks

There’s really two Hakim Warricks, there’s the Hakim when he plays 30 minutes a game, and the Hakim when he plays less. Some players just need to be on the court, to get a feel for the game, to get sufficiently warmed up before they go on a little run and grab a few boards or score consecutively. That’s Hakim. Take a look over his history, he’s got 20 and 10 potential when he gets the minutes, and he’s waiver wire fodder when he doesn’t. Last night at Phoenix he got 31 minutes and dropped 20 points, 11 rebounds. Hakim was pretty highly touted in college, but came out playing for the lowly grizzlies, tough for anyone not names Pau Gasol to succeed there. Hakim won’t get you a rounded stat line, doesn’t offer many blocks, doesn’t offer 3’s, doesn’t offer many steals, but what he does give is points, boards, fg% and a decent ft%, all with low turnovers.

Ya gotta have a projectable rationale for why thing’s have changed materially enough for a player to begin succeeded now when he couldn’t before. Here’s mine: Hakim is the type of guy who needs to have the ball fed to him by a competent point guard in order to score. He’s not like a Zach Randolph or Caron Butler or Rudy Gay who can work the one on one, be it in the post or from outside. Mike Conley was not that guy, and Conley is the best point guard Memphis had while Warrick was there. Brandon Jennings, and more importantly Luke Ridnour, are those guys.

Which brings me to: Luke Ridnour – G – Milwaukee Bucks

Looking for a cheap source of assists while getting solid numbers elsewhere? Look no further than Luke Ridnour. I love the position he and Warrick are in right now and I hope it continues. Neither are starters, they both come off the bench with the second unit sometime toward the end of the first quarter. Make no mistake, when they come in, they are the focal point of the offense. While there’s an argument going forward of how many minutes Warrick will continue to get, I don’t think there’s any doubt that Luke will be seeing 30+ minutes on the floor (especially with Jennings slump). He’s another guy that performs when he gets the minutes. I expect double digit scoring coupled with 5-6 dimes on average. He’s also a good shooter from beyond the arc. With Redd on the sidelines, their options for guard are Jennings, Bell, Ridnour, and somewhat Delfino. Of this group, I fully expect Ridnour to see the most or second most minutes.

Of the two guys here, I think Ridnour is the better add, and is the one I’ll be shooting for (dropping Dunleavy if I can’t get a trade off). But the final decision should rest on your need for 3’s and dimes or points and boards.