John Salmons happy to be back

St. Francis - Bucks guard John Salmons chose to become a free agent during the summer, so it wasn't a certainty he would return to Milwaukee this season.

But the Bucks definitely are glad he did.

Salmons returns at shooting guard to play alongside point guard Brandon Jennings and try to rekindle the magic they displayed down the stretch last season as the Bucks clinched an Eastern Conference playoff berth.

The 30-year-old Salmons averaged 19.9 points in 30 regular-season games and the Bucks went 22-8 in those contests.

"Other teams showed interest but there was a lot of waiting on LeBron, and that really wasn't something I wanted to wait for," Salmons said. So the veteran signed a five-year deal worth as much as $39 million with Milwaukee.

Salmons referred to the free-agent frenzy which resulted in the Miami Heat signing LeBron James, who left the Cleveland Cavaliers to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in a powerful triumvirate.

Salmons liked the moves made by Bucks general manager John Hammond, including trading with Golden State for forward Corey Maggette and signing free-agent power forward Drew Gooden.

"I feel like it was a lot of real basketball moves," Salmons said. "A lot of other teams made moves for a lot of reasons other than basketball, and I feel like all the moves they (the Bucks) made were basketball-related, trying to get better."

Salmons is glad to have the offensive firepower represented by Maggette, who averaged nearly 20 points a game with the Warriors last season.
"I think he'll help a lot," Salmons said. "He gets to the line so often and that will just help everybody. Having a guy who can create his own shot, that's just another guy the defense has to worry about.

"He's a guy who likes to take the ball to the basket. He can post up smaller players and create double-teams and throw the defense off balance a little bit. I feel like he's going to open up things for everybody."



(jsonline.com)