by CHARLES F. GARDNER, Staff, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Jefferson, acquired in a draft-day deal by Hammond last June, was sent to the Spurs in exchange for 38-year-old forward Bruce Bowen and veteran forward Kurt Thomas, and the Bucks also obtained forward Amir Johnson from Detroit while the Spurs sent forward-center Fabricio Oberto to the Pistons.

The deal took nearly all day to complete, finally becoming official around 9 p.m.

The move will result in some financial flexibility for the Bucks next season but will pay big dividends in 2010-'11, when Jefferson is due to be paid $15 million in the final year of his contract.

All three contracts the Bucks took back from San Antonio and Detroit are deals that expire after next season. The Bucks will have nearly $18 million worth of expiring deals in the 2010-'11 season, and they saved at least $3 million in salary for next season and possibly more, depending on the actions they take regarding Bowen and Thomas.

Johnson will be paid $3.66 million next season. Bowen has $4 million remaining on his contract, but only $2 million is guaranteed, and the 36-year-old Thomas is owed $3.8 million next season.

"What this trade is going to give us is options and opportunities going forward," Hammond said when reached Tuesday night after the deal was concluded.

He did not specifically address how the trades would affect the Bucks' approach to restricted free agents Charlie Villanueva and Ramon Sessions. The Bucks must make a $4.6 million qualifying offer to Villanueva by Tuesday or the 6-foot-11 forward will become an unrestricted free agent and Milwaukee will lose its right to match any offers by other teams.

Hammond saluted the efforts of Jefferson during his lone season with the Bucks .

"You could not ask for anything more than what he gave us for this last year," Hammond said. "From Day One, he was nothing but a class act and a real pro. He was a great competitor for us this season."

Jefferson started all 82 games for the Bucks last season and averaged 19.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and shot a career-best 39.7% from three-point range. Jefferson had spent his entire pro career with the New Jersey Nets before the Bucks acquired him in a draft-day deal a year ago that sent forwards Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons to the Nets.

The Spurs added another scorer to a lineup that includes Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. San Antonio is trying to keep pace in the Western Conference after being bounced in the first round of the playoffs by Dallas.

The Bucks added an interesting player in Johnson, a 22-year-old who already has been in the league for four seasons.

Johnson started 24 games for Detroit last season after winning the spot in training camp. But he eventually was replaced in the Pistons lineup by Kwame Brown and then by Antonio McDyess.

"He brings to the table some of what we don't have on the roster right now," said Hammond, who knew Johnson when the Bucks' general manager worked in the Detroit front office. "He rebounds above the rim; he finishes above the rim. He's an excellent shot-blocker."

Hammond said Johnson often had to guard opposing centers in Detroit because the Pistons were so stocked at power forward with Rasheed Wallace, Jason Maxiell and McDyess. The Bucks' general manager said he talked to Johnson on Tuesday night and he was excited about having a chance to play with center Andrew Bogut.

Johnson averaged 3.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 62 games for Detroit last season, while playing 14.7 minutes per game. He shot 59.5% from the field and 65.7% from the free-throw line.

"Amir is still a talented young player, and I'm sure he will have a great opportunity in Milwaukee," said Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of Basketball operations.

Bowen, an eight-time NBA all-defensive team selection, had played for the Spurs since the 2001-'02 season. He had a streak of 500 consecutive games played before it ended in March 2008 when he served a league-mandated suspension against Detroit.

The Bucks might decide to keep Bowen or could gain further financial flexibility by releasing him.

Milwaukee was able to make its moves Tuesday without touching its two selections in the draft Thursday, the 10th and 41st overall picks.

"Our plan is on keeping both at this time," Hammond said.

Richard Jefferson'S STATISTICS

Year Team G FG% 3% FT% AST ST R PTS

2001-'02 New Jersey 79 45.7 23.2 71.3 1.8 0.8 3.7 9.4

2002-'03 New Jersey 80 50.1 25.0 74.3 2.5 1.0 6.4 15.5

2003-'04 New Jersey 82 49.8 36.4 76.3 3.8 1.1 5.7 18.5

2004-'05 New Jersey 33 42.2 33.7 84.4 4.0 1.0 7.3 22.2

2005-'06 New Jersey 78 49.3 31.9 81.2 3.8 0.8 6.8 19.5

2006-'07 New Jersey 55 45.6 35.9 73.3 2.7 0.6 4.4 16.3

2007-'08 New Jersey 82 46.6 36.2 79.8 3.1 0.9 4.2 22.6

2008-'09 Milwaukee 82 43.9 39.7 80.5 2.4 0.8 4.6 19.6

Totals 571 46.9 35.3 78.1 3.0 0.9 5.3 17.7

Bruce Bowen

Year Team G FG% 3% FT% AST ST R PTS

1996-'97 Miami 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

1997-'98 Boston 61 40.9 33.9 62.3 1.3 1.4 2.9 5.6

1998-'99 Boston 30 28.0 26.9 45.8 0.9 0.7 1.7 2.3

1999-2000 Philadelphia 42 35.6 50.0 50.0 0.4 0.2 0.9 1.4

1999-2000 Miami 27 38.0 46.4 61.3 0.7 0.5 2.2 5.1

2000-'01 Miami 82 36.3 33.6 60.9 1.6 1.0 3.0 7.6

2001-'02 San Antonio 59 38.9 37.8 47.9 1.5 1.0 2.7 7.0

2002-'03 San Antonio 82 46.6 44.1 40.4 1.4 0.8 2.9 7.1

2003-'04 San Antonio 82 42.0 36.3 57.9 1.4 1.0 3.1 6.9

2004-'05 San Antonio 82 42.0 40.3 63.4 1.5 0.7 3.5 8.2

2005-'06 San Antonio 82 43.3 42.4 60.7 1.5 1.0 3.9 7.5

2006-'07 San Antonio 82 40.5 38.4 58.9 1.4 0.8 2.7 6.2

2007-'08 San Antonio 81 40.7 41.9 65.2 1.1 0.7 2.9 6.0

2008-'09 San Antonio 80 42.2 42.9 53.8 0.5 0.4 1.8 2.7

Totals 873 40.9 39.3 57.5 1.2 0.8 2.8 6.1

Kurt Thomas

Year Team G FG% 3% FT% AST ST R PTS

1995-'96 Miami 74 50.1 0.0 66.3 0.6 0.6 5.9 9.0

1996-'97 Miami 18 37.1 0.0 76.1 0.5 0.7 5.9 6.3

1997-'98 Dallas 5 37.8 - 100.0 0.6 0.2 4.8 7.4

1998-'99 New York 50 46.2 0.0 61.1 1.1 0.9 5.7 8.1

1999-2000 New York 80 50.5 33.3 78.1 1.0 0.6 6.3 8.0

2000-'01 New York 77 51.1 33.3 81.4 0.8 0.8 6.7 10.4

2001-'02 New York 82 49.4 16.7 81.5 1.1 0.9 9.1 13.9

2002-'03 New York 81 48.3 66.7 75.0 2.0 1.0 7.9 14.0

2003-'04 New York 80 47.3 0.0 83.5 1.9 0.7 8.3 11.1

2004-'05 New York 80 47.1 50.0 78.6 2.0 0.9 10.4 11.5

2005-'06 Phoenix 53 48.6 - 81.5 1.1 0.4 7.8 8.6

2006-'07 Phoenix 67 48.6 0.0 78.9 0.4 0.4 5.7 4.6

2007-'08 Seattle 42 51.3 - 69.6 1.3 0.8 8.8 7.5

2007-'08 San Antonio 28 44.8 0.0 58.3 0.5 0.8 4.9 4.5

2008-'09 San Antonio 79 50.3 0.0 82.2 0.8 0.4 5.1 4.3

Totals 896 48.5 23.3 76.5 1.1 0.7 7.2 9.3

Amir Johnson

Year Team G FG% 3% FT% AST ST R PTS

2005-'06 Detroit 3 70.0 66.7 100.0 1.0 0.0 1.3 6.7

2006-'07 Detroit 8 54.5 0.0 78.6 0.4 0.6 4.6 5.9

2007-'08 Detroit 62 55.8 - 67.3 0.5 0.4 3.8 3.6

2008-'09 Detroit 62 59.5 - 65.7 0.3 0.3 3.7 3.5

Totals 135 57.7 33.3 69.4 0.4 0.4 3.8 3.7

Copyright 2009, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Copyright 2009 Journal Sentinel Inc.
	Terms & Conditions     Privacy Copyright © 2009 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.