The Bratwurst – Milwaukee Bucks Blog

ESPN’s Ric Bucher has broken the groundbreaking story that in the Yi negotiations, Herb Kohl guaranteed Yi’s camp that he would get 20 minutes a game.

And this is news how?

Yi is the only backup power forward on the roster! Who knows what Kohl may have actually said, or in what context. However, there was clearly some confusion within Yi’s camp about the composition of the Bucks’ roster, and simply reassuring Yi that there was 20 minutes a night for him or telling him that he will get 20 minutes is pretty much the same thing.

Of course, Bucher, with the wisdom typical of so many NBA writers (honestly, it seems like most of them have no clue whatsoever most of the time) seems to think that this promise is a problem because the Bucks are already stacked at power forward:

Harris has to be hoping that Bobby Simmons and Dan Gadzuric will warrant their fat, long contracts and that Charlie Villanueva will justify he was worth acquiring from Toronto for T.J. Ford (Harris did not immediately return a phone call asking for comment). All three are capable of playing power forward in the Bucks’ small-ball style. And Krystkowiak, an unexpected choice to get his first crack at an NBA head coaching job, has to feel beholden to Harris and eager to win.

Well, Gadzuric barely seemed like an NBA player at any position last year and Bucher seems to have forgotten that Simmons was hurt. But neither Danny G or Simmons have actually ever played much power forward (each player manned the 4 for less than 5% of the teams’ minutes in the past 2 years, according to 82games.com.) So what’s the big deal here?

The Bucks need Yi to give them a solid 20 minutes a game. If he can’t do it then the season is pretty much sunk anyway.