Ever since becoming the Bucks' general manager in 2008, John Hammond has repeatedly stated the summer of 2011 would be a "big one" for the franchise. Hammond's game plan was for the Bucks to be significantly under the cap at that point and be in position to pursue some quality free agents.

But Hammond now acknowledges those plans have changed.

"Our offseason priority was to not take a step backward if possible," Hammond said. "We had an unexpected season last year. We won more games than most people thought we were going to do.

"So that's probably changed our direction and focus to an extent."

The Bucks won 46 games and ended a four-year playoff hiatus last season after most prognosticators had predicted they would be a lottery team. In light of the Bucks' surprising success, the bar has been raised, prompting Hammond to accelerate his master plan.

Hammond not only shelled out significant money this summer to re-sign shooting guard John Salmons, sign free-agent power forward Drew Gooden and acquire small forward Corey Maggette, he committed to giving each of them long-term term deals.

As such, the summer of 2010 instead of 2011 might turn out to be the "big one" for the Bucks.

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