The Milwaukee Bucks extended the contract of general manager John Hammond this week, giving head coach Jason Kidd and the GM the stability they need to continue building an elite NBA franchise.

The Bucks announced Hammond’s extension Monday, and owner Wes Edens identified the duo of Jason and John as the key to a successful future in Milwaukee.

“A great deal of our team’s success and progress is due to the vision and hard work of John,” Edens said. “He’s assembled a talented and competitive roster and we’re very pleased that he will continue to lead basketball operations. With John and Coach Kidd at the helm, our young team has a very bright future.”

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Hammond and Coach Kidd are now both signed on through 2017, and if they continue their current trend, the could be in Milwaukee for much longer. Before Jason arrived, the Bucks finished with the worst record in the NBA, totaling just 15 wins in the 2013-14 season. Just one year later, J-Kidd had the Bucks back at .500 and in the playoff—and the Milwaukee GM attributes much of that to his relationship with Jason, and the mentality the Bucks coach has instilled in the young roster.

“I believe there’s a great amount of respect Jason and I have for each other,” Hammond said. “We took a step in that direction, and the step we took was really due to Jason and his work ethic. You follow that with the coaching staff and it filtered down to the players. It came down to very hard work. Obviously it wasn’t hard to recognize he had it, the ability to be a good coach in this league. His future as a coach in this league is unlimited.”

The Bucks were the youngest team to make the playoffs, and they did so without their top draft pick from last year, No. 2 overall selection Jabari Parker, who tore his ACL after showing significant promise early in the year. He is expected to return at full health this season, and the Bucks are hoping to take the next step up after making several other offseason moves; including re-signing their leading scorer from the postseason last year, Khris Middleton, and adding talented big man Greg Monroe in free agency.

Monroe and Middleton Presser

As Jason and John can now look forward, they’re focus is not on last year’s success, but on building a consistent winner in the league.

“We’re still a long ways from where we want to be,” Hammond said. “We’ve been an on-again, off-again playoff team. Especially with our new ownership, the goal is to build an elite team.”

Jason believes, with Hammond in the front office and himself next to a talented roster on the sideline, that the Bucks are poised to do just that.

“John did a great job throughout the year,” Jason said. “This is a great opportunity for me to be the best coach I can be, being surrounded with Hammond and his staff. Our teamwork is as good as ever. We’re very confident with one another.”

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