"I told Spike I had to be out here," says Allen, who was slated to wrap the film before training camp. "He understands my job." The actor was joined by five veteran teammates at the workouts, a sign that maybe the Bucks are serious about getting their act together. "It's nice to see we have six of our nine roster players here working out," second-year coach Chris Ford said. "That says something very positive."

Last season the Bucks were a very talented group—forwards Vin Baker and Glenn Robinson both averaged better than 20 points per game, and Allen was a second-team All-Rookie selection—but collectively they were underachieving. To remedy that, Milwaukee sent Baker to Seattle and Sherman Douglas to Cleveland in a three-way deal that netted the Bucks point guard Terrell Brandon, forward Tyrone Hill and a prospective first-round pick from the Cavs. The shakeup was made necessary in Milwaukee as it became clear that the Bucks were not going to win with Robinson and Baker together. Their skills didn't complement each other well, and the lack of chemistry between the pair—on and off the court—negated their outstanding individual abilities.

In fact, last season the entire team came together about as well as Jell-O without the water. After a 5-1 start, the players began to tune out Ford, who preached scrappy, hard-nosed play. The Bucks lost 22 of their final 30 games and were relegated to the lottery for the sixth straight year. They handed out a franchise-low 19.6 assists per game, and their defense was abominable—opponents shot better than 47% from the floor.

Brandon will be the answer to the team's point guard problems. The Bucks haven't had a player in the top 10 in assists since the waning days of the Carter Administration. Last year Douglas and Elliot Perry ranked 22nd and 38th, respectively, among point guards in assists per game. Brandon, on the other hand, is one of the game's best all-around at the position. He averaged 6.3 assists last year while leading the Cavs in scoring (19.5 points per game).

To shore up the defense, the Bucks went after a slow-footed shot blocker, Ervin Johnson. To acquire the 6'11" center from Denver, they gave up their top '97 draft choice, power forward Danny Fortson, as well as swingman Johnny Newman and forward Joe Wolf. "We're just trying to get better on defense," says Ford. "The best defender we could get was Ervin Johnson. We weren't going to get that in the college draft." Hill, long one of the NBA's best rebounders, will also lend some muscle in the paint. Last season the 6'9" Hill often found himself playing center for the undersized Cavs, and he held his own.

Johnson, who joins his third team in as many seasons, last year became the first player without hot-pink hair to average 11 rebounds while failing to score eight points per game since Golden State's Larry Smith 15 years ago. But Johnson does at least give the Bucks a physical presence inside. "Ervin Johnson and [backup center] Andrew Lang will give us strength up front," says G.M. Bob Weinhauer. "We were just too small. This gives us quickness and size."

With Robinson, Brandon and Allen, Milwaukee now has a versatile young core. The key will be the development of Allen, the fifth pick in the 1996 draft. As a rookie he struggled at times; during one four-game stretch in January he was 10 for 40 from the floor and averaged 7.3 points per game. But his work ethic and terrific attitude, not to mention his athleticism and long-range J (he hit 39.3% of his threes), made him untouchable in off-season trade talks—talks in which practically every other Buck was mentioned. Weinhauer was wise not to shop the kid around, because if one thing is readily apparent about Ray Allen, it's that he got game.

—Mark Bechtel