Seriously, why Desmond Mason?

It appears the Bucks are close to reacquiring SF Desmond Mason via free agency. What I don't understand is why. I don't get it. It makes me wonder if Larry Harris has an overall vision of what kind of team he wants the Bucks to be. If he does, what could it possibly be? And why would an unproductive retread like Desmond Mason be a part of it? I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this whole thing. Is he going to go after Gary Payton next? I hear he wants to play one more year.

Mo re-signs... whoppee!

So Mo Williams resigned, huh? Pardon me if I don't do a cartwheel. For how much did you say? $52 million over 6 years? About where I said the market was, so that's not bad, I guess we would have been up a creek if he didn't resign... so why can't I conjure any excitement over it? I guess its because the whole process sort of feels like putting a new transmission on an old car. Sometimes you have to do it if you want to have a car. But once it happens its kind of depressing because you realize you just spent a ton of money and all you have to show for it is the same old car.

Ersan must think he doesn't belong

Sometimes I don't understand players. Who is giving them advice? Why would Ersan Ilyasova go back to Europe at this point in his career? He seemed to have at least a marginal future in the NBA, but going back to Europe now just about puts an end to that. Maybe that was the whole point. Maybe Ersan had no interest in an NBA future at all. If that's the case, he did the Bucks a favor by leaving.

Are Yi's people purposely scuttling his career? Or are they just idiots?

Step back from this whole Yi situation for a moment. Suspend all of your preconceived notions just for an instant. Isn't it all so bizarre? I mean, here's a guy who hasn't even proven that he is an NBA player let alone a superstar prospect, and yet his "representatives" are trying to dictate where they want him to play. Kareem wasn't even that brazen until he had clearly proven himself to be the best player on the planet. And Yi will never be that.

It makes you wonder if Yi's people are trying to give his career a Viking funeral before it even has a chance to set sail. If they aren't, then why are they following such an obviously inappropriate strategy given their client's fragile makeup? You don't do that. You don't put extra stress on a structure when that structure isn't yet up to code. Call it "The Eli Manning Rule".

What will happen to Yi as a result? Well, if this gets any uglier, or goes on much longer, I think it is almost certain that he will be a bust. He already has to adjust to the language, to the elite level of play, the foreign culture, his teammates styles, the extra "juice" every opponent will surely come at him with... and now its almost certain he will have to do it all under a cloud of popular hostility. He doesn't seem tempermentally suited to get it done. He probably never will be either. And the sad thing is, I don't think his agents and representatives even care. To them, he seems more of an expendable commodity than a genuine human being whose basketball career needs careful nurturing and guidance.