Brockman gets security in Milwaukee

Milwaukee Bucks General Manager John Hammond had his eyes on hard-working second-year forward Jon Brockman for a while.

So when Brockman's one-year contract with the Sacramento Kings ended, Hammond made his move with a three-year deal that exceeded Sacramento's cost-saving limits.

Toss in the Kings draft that netted big men DeMarcus Cousins and Hasaan Whiteside and the Kings decided to let Brockman go.

"Where was he going to play?" said a Kings insider of Brockman. "We want to give Whiteside some minutes if we can and we have (Samuel) Dalembert, Cousins, (Jason) Thompson, (Carl) Landry and Whiteside.

"We liked Brockman, but the days of having guys on the roster who you can't find time to play are over, not when you are cutting costs."

Hammond said the Bucks liked Brockman when he was acquired by the Kings in a 2009 draft-day trade with Portland.

"We followed him in Sacramento and appreciated him for what he was and who he is," the GM said Saturday morning.

Hammond said he expects Brockman to thrive in coach Scott Skiles' system.

"Scott holds players, all players accountable defensively. But when players get open, he encourages them to take open shots. I think Brockman can make 15-foot shots when he gets the chance."

Hammond said the Kings were getting a hard worker in Darnell Jackson. The Kings also picked up a 2011 second-round choice.

"We only got him from Cleveland with a month or so left in the season,' Hammond said of Jackson. "He's similar to Brockman. After the season ended, he was at our facility every day working on his game. He's very motivated to find a place in the league.

"And there is this thing called 'Basketball Karma' that says when a player works hard he is rewarded with success. Jackson had a good game in our first summer league that showed he'd been working."

Jackson's contract is not guaranteed this season, a source said, so he'll have to show something special to make the Kings suddenly crowded frontcourt.

Athletes vs. Cancer golf tournament first-class affair

It was a virtual Kings reunion at Woodcreek Golf Course Saturday for Matt Barnes' 2nd annual Athletes vs. Cancer celebrity golf invitational. It was a fund-raiser as well as a celebration of the life of Barnes' mother, Ann, who passed away in 2007 from cancer.

Former Kings Chris Webber, Bobby Jackson, Scot Pollard, Doug Christie, Brad Miller, Harold Pressley and Henry Turner were among the celebrities who joined Barnes, Vince Carter and Roger Craig on the scorching hot day.

The vibe was friendly and upbeat as fans mixed with the celebrities and home owners around the course had barbeques and parties.

I only wish I had photographic skills to show the outfit worn by Pollard. It was an amazingly, colorful matching top and shorts outfit that words cannot accurately describe.

However, Huggy Bear could have sported it comfortably in the old '70s TV show, 'Starsky and Hutch.'

In fact, the only thing more colorful than the outfit on the 6-foot-11 Pollard is his consistently unique look at life. The colors I remember were green, yellow, black and orange in a somewhat mosaic delivery.

"It's an outfit that (befits) a game like (golf)," he said with his normal deadpan delivery.