The Bratwurst – Milwaukee Bucks Blog

From SI.com:

“They told me they were going to take care of Mo Williams and that they would take care of me, but they haven’t,” Bell said during a telephone interview with The Associated Press. “I’m either going to sign an offer sheet with another NBA team, or I’m going to accept a great deal to play in Greece.

“I don’t want to go back to Milwaukee. I’m really disappointed in how this has turned out, but I don’t see any way I could play for the Bucks again because my heart just won’t be in it.”

What’s next; does he have a family to feed?

In an interview with the Journal-Sentinel, Bell keeps whining:

“I don’t know if I can go out there and play the best I can for Milwaukee, knowing everything that’s happened. Inside my heart, I just won’t be there. I won’t feel the same toward the organization. I just don’t have the passion to go ahead and play again.”

You’ve been offered 3 years/$9 million.  You aren’t worth even that much.  You are a completely replaceable, journeyman basketball player.

Let’s look at this logically.  He has been offered 3 yrs/$9 million by the Bucks and 2 yrs/5 million Euros ($7 million, tax free) by Olympiakos.  He and his agent keep claiming that an “unnamed NBA team” wants to write an offer sheet.  His agent, Mark Bartelstein, was making noise about a max midlevel contract similar to Jason Kapono’s, but nobody will be as dumb as Toronto was to go that far.

So maybe Bell is holding out for an offer from an NBA team that is closer to winning than the Bucks but isn’t willing/able to exceed the contract that the Bucks have already offered?  So now he is trying to poison his relationship with Milwaukee, trying to ensure that when someone else brings an offer the Bucks won’t match it.

Who could that be?  The obvious contender is Boston.  They need a point guard with Bell’s skills and have already used up a chunk of their midlevel.  I don’t think they could offer Bell a deal with a starting salary much over $2 million, so the total deal couldn’t be much more than what the Bucks contract would be (but if Boston offered a 5 year deal, I doubt the Bucks would match that committment).

The other team that jumps to mind is Cleveland.  Obviously they have a winning team, and they desperately need a point guard who can hit open shots and play decent defense.  Whether or not Bell’s defense is really up to the task is another question, but Eric Snow is just killing the Cavs and Bell would be a huge upgrade.  Also, if Daniel Gibson turns out to be ready to be the starting point guard, then Bell would be a nice backup for both him and Larry Hughes, and Cleveland would be free to let Pavlovic walk.  Cleveland’s silence this offseason has been deafening — at some point they have to make a move, and maybe Bell is the one they have been waiting for.

Cleveland has a ton of bad contracts that expire after next season, which sets them up to try and remake their roster in 2009-10 before LeBron hits free agency again.  My guess is that they are the mystery team interested in Charlie Bell, and are offering something like 2 years/$9 million.  But they aren’t presenting the offer because they are afraid that the Bucks would match almost anything to keep Bell from defecting to a division rival.  And so that means that Bell has to take matters into his own hands and make himself persona non grata in Larry Harris and Herb Kohl’s eyes.

But saying that he doesn’t have the passion to play here for 3/$9 mil is a dangerous game.  Seems like Sprewell tried that power play a few years ago and now he’s out of the league, getting his yacht reposessed. Enjoy Greece, Charlie.