Milwaukee Bucks Basketball Team

The Clippers, who seemed to have been on the right track toward ending a long playoff drought next season, were knocked off course Friday when the most prominent of their free agents decided he'd rather make his playoff push with Michael Redd, No. 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut and the Milwaukee Bucks.

Give that man a triple grande, extra-foam latte. He's going to need it. Starbucks magnate Howard Schultz, who made a fortune despite requiring customers to say "tall" when they want "small," started rebuilding his Seattle SuperSonics in a similarly curious way, shipping his franchise player, Gary Payton, to Milwaukee in the highlight of thin trading at Thursday's deadline. Going with Payton was guard Desmond Mason, a well-regarded prospect.

After five disappointing seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, General Manager Mike Dunleavy announced his resignation Saturday. "I am sorry that I did not get to accomplish what I and the organization wanted--to get back into the playoffs," Dunleavy said in a Buck news release. The Bucks, who fired Dunleavy as coach last year, have failed to make the playoffs the last six seasons.

Former Laker coach Mike Dunleavy was fired as coach of the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday but retained as general manager. The Bucks posted three of their four worst records during Dunleavy's tenure and had a franchise-worst 15-game losing streak in March. Dunleavy, who once said he didn't want to lose the coaching job and stay on as general manager, was 107-221 in four seasons. "We are determined to improve the fortunes of our team on the court," owner Herb Kohl said.

The lowly Bucks stand in the way of the NBA's first 70-victory season, with the Chicago Bulls eager to get it over fast and out of their hometown where, as Scottie Pippen noted, fans tend to "over-celebrate." The Bucks are 24-54 this season, 0-4 against the Bulls and would seem to present no difficult hurdle. The Bulls are 31-8 on the road--that's a .795 percentage--better than the overall record of any other team this season.

The Milwaukee Bucks, looking to jump-start their offense, traded guard Todd Day and center Alton Lister to the Boston Celtics on Sunday for point guard Sherman Douglas. Douglas was caught in a backcourt logjam in Boston. Since last season, the Celtics acquired free agent Dana Barros to go along with guards David Wesley, Greg Minor and Dee Brown.