Sessions Signs

Ramon Sessions talks to Jim Paschke at Summerfest

Second round pick Ramon Sessions has signed a two-year deal with the Bucks. Sessions was selected 56th overall, which was the pick acquired from the Rockets in the 2005 Mike James/Reece Gaines trade. The Bucks' own second rounder (33rd overall) was shipped to the Spurs in order to get the Artist Formerly Known as Damir Markota. In case you're wondering, that pick was used to draft Arizona swingman Marcus Williams.

About half of this year's second rounders have signed thus far, so the timing isn't all that unusual. Though for what it's worth, David Noel (July 3, 2006), Damir Markota (July 25, 2006), and Ersan Ilyasova (August 23, 2005) all signed earlier in the summer. As TrueHoop noted this morning, virtually all 2nd rounders sign for the minimum, though no word yet on how much is guaranteed.

I don't remember watching Sessions in college at Nevada, but he's a taller PG at 6'4" / 185 who showed pretty good vision in Vegas. DraftExpress notes that he helped himself a great deal at the Orlando pre-draft camp, and what he lacks in scoring he makes up for in decision-making and defense.

Sessions clearly has that natural knack for running a team, something he first displayed as a freshman. After injuries derailed his sophomore year, Sessions got back on track this season, showing major improvement as a scorer. His mark was all over this camp, and he does it with solid decision making, and a patient, probing way of making a defense commit to stopping him or stopping the pass. At this point Sessions would probably rather pull defenses toward him and use his excellent court vision to find teammates, but he is improving with the pull-up jumper and a creative array of floaters and other finishing moves if he makes his way into the lane.

I wouldn't read much into this in terms of the Charlie Bell situation, as the Bucks were going to sign Sessions regardless of whether Bell is re-signed. Potentially good news for the Bucks is that two of the European teams that had talked to Bell are likely no longer interested. Barcelona finally signed Alex Acker a week ago, while Greek side Olympiacos--the team Bell visited last weekend--reportedly signed Milos Teodosic after Bell left. The latter comes from a reliable poster over at RealGM, but I haven't seen it in the mainstream media (nor do I speak Greek unfortunately).

My guess is Sessions spends most of the season in the D-League unless one of the Bucks other PGs--Mo, Bell or Greer--goes down with an injury. So yes, I'm still assuming Charlie Bell will be a Buck next year. Longer-term his size and rep as a floor general could certainly give him a future in Milwaukee, since he could eventually provide a good change of pace from Mo Williams.