TEAMMATE FOR DELLY: Milwaukee's recent number one draft pick Thon Maker.
MARYBOROUGH’S Matthew Dellavedova has found a new NBA home, accepting a four-year, $30 million deal to cross from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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The tough-as-nails guard spent three seasons and 215 games in Cleveland, culminating in an NBA championship win last month.
But what do we know about his new home in Milwaukee?
Here’s a glimpse of the history of the Milwaukee Bucks.
- The team was founded in 1968 as an expansion team
- The Bucks won their only NBA title just three years later in 1971, sweeping the Baltimore Bullets in four games.
- Their greatest player was the man who led them to that title, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor), who was the overall number one pick in the 1969 NBA draft.
- Abdul-Jabbar spent six seasons in Milwaukee, winning two league MVP awards. He won four more championships and two MVP titles after moving to the Los Angles Lakers.
- NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson was a Buck from 1970-74.
- Australian Andrew Bogut was an overall number one pick for the Bucks in 2005. He spent seven seasons in Milwaukee.
- Fast forward to 2016 and the Bucks number one pick in last month's draft was another Australian Thon Maker, chosen 10th overall.
- Ray Allen, an NBA champion in 2008 (Boston) and 2012 (Miami) started his career with the Bucks (1996-2003).
- The Bucks have won two conference titles (1971 and 74).
- The Bucks have won 13 divisional titles, their last in 2001, when they reached the Eastern Conference finals. The team, led by former No. 1 pick Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell, was beaten b4-3 by Philadelphia.
- The Bucks were perennial Eastern Conference contenders through the 1980s, led Hall of Famer Sidney Moncrieff, two-time NBA All Star Terry Cummings,, Ricky Pierce, Paul Pressey and veteran former Seattle centre Jack Sikma.
- Milwaukee has four times had the number one overall pick in the draft - Andrew Bogut (2005), Glenn Robinson (1994), Kent Benson (1977), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969).
- Their current roster features players born in Australia (Dellavedova), Sudan (Maker), Greece (Antetokounmpo), Venezuela (Greivis Vasquez), France (Damien Inglis) and Canada (Tyler Ennis).
- The Bucks have had several changes of uniforms throughout their history, starting with green, red and white their inception in 1969 through 1976. They then, in 1977, adopted various hues of green, including forest, kelly and lime, with a white accent. In 1993 the Bucks moved to hunter green, purple and silver, before revisiting their original green, red and white colour scheme from 2006-2015. This Bucks ditched the red for the 2015-16 season and now wear green and cream, with a hint of lake blue and black.
- Milwaukee is the NBA team of choice of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and also Bendigo Advertiser sports journalist Kieran Iles.
