Milwaukee Bucks happy to have Samuel Dalembert on board – NBA Update
The Milwaukee Bucks acquired veteran centre Samuel Dalembert in a complex move from the Houston Rockets, and the team’s management and coach are happy to have him. Dalembert will go a long way in helping Milwaukee fill the defensive gap left by the departure
of long-time centre Andrew Bogut.
The Bucks sent Jon Leuer, Jon Brockman and Shaun Livingston to the Houston Rockets in order to get their hands on Dalembert. They also exchanged draft picks with the Rockets, moving down on the draft. The reason for making such an effort was the need to
have a defensive anchor, as General Manager John Hammond explained.
“We needed help at that centre position,” Hammond said Monday. “Someone that can protect the basket, get that ‘need’ rebound down the stretch to help us close the game out. I think (Dalembert) can do that for us.”
And Dalembert, who had seen himself move down the pecking order at Houston after Marcus Camby went there, isn’t pencilled to play the role of a reserve.
“It’s hard to comment on a rotation and things like that in July but Sam was brought here to be the starting centre for the Milwaukee Bucks,” coach Scott Skiles said.
The Bucks are headed in a new direction. With the departure of Bogut they gained the arrival of Monta Ellis from the Golden State Warriors. Ellis leaves something to be desired at the defensive end, but he is as dangerous an offensive weapon as any in the
NBA.
So balancing the offense and defence was important. Another reason why Dalembert is important to Milwaukee is his injury record. With the persistent injuries Andrew Bogut suffered, Bucks had to play Drew Gooden at the centre position. With the more reliable
Dalembert in tow, they will be looking to revert that.
“Drew is a quality NBA player and hopefully, if we can get him back into a role he’s more comfortable with, hopefully it can help him individually and then help the roles of everybody else along the way.”
Samuel has been bounced around the NBA in recent years after starting his career at the Philadelphia 76ers when Allen Iverson was leading that side. He will be hoping he can find some stability in Milwaukee.
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