It was made to hold their place until they can finally get control of their payroll and maybe find the right pieces to get them out of this NBA no-man’s land.

That, of course, is not to discount the (Monta) Ellis deal. It put them in a position to make the postseason, which certainly beats the alternative for all the right reasons. They got two guys who went straight in the rotation for two who were not playing. It was the right thing to do in the moment.

Still, it left the Bucks very small. Their headlining act, Ellis and Brandon Jennings, are two undersized guards who need the ball. They don’t have a defensive answer for the bigger teams they cannot beat.

They went the shot-blocker route with Andrew Bogut on another of those occasions they didn’t make the playoffs; you saw where that got them.

Even at the end against the Knicks, it wasn’t as if the Bucks could put their heads down and barrel in against those guys even if they could make free throws. The Knicks might be down Amar’e Stoudemire and Jeremy Lin, but they still have Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler.

via Michael Hunt of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel