Remember way back when Jeff Teague was going to be the Milwaukee Bucks’ point guard of the future? How he was going to continue to grow off his 14-point, 7-assist season last year in Atlanta under the direction of his former-but-now-current coach, Larry Drew?

Shortly after Teague signed the four-year, $32 million offer sheet presented to him by Bucks general manager John Hammond I opined that Hammond had played the market "beautifully."

At the time, I said even if the Hawks matched the modest offer (which they eventually did), it would only depress the market for the Bucks’ own restricted point guard in postulant franchise frontman Brandon Jennings.

That’s proven to be true, too.

Here we are, on July 19, and Jennings sits without an offer from another team, or a long-term extension from the Bucks. He’s staring at a qualifying offer of just over $4 million to play this season. If he willingly, or grudgingly, accepts it, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in a loaded 2014 free agent class that would likely see him waiting until late in the summer yet again.

But my tweet was also a comment on Hammond’s offseason as well.

Many Bucks fans/observers consistently wonder "what’s the plan?" when it comes to the Bucks and what Hammond is doing.

First, he has no reason to tell you.

The only time a club general manager/president/owner owes that to a fan base is when they decide to do something like what the Chicago Cubs did and basically say, hey, we’re going to lose 100 games the next four years and here’s why.

Second, the plan is clear from owner Herb Kohl – be competitive; make the playoffs.

I’m not so sure why this is hard for Bucks fans to just grab on to and accept. The man is not going to allow his franchise to win 10 games for four straight years in the hopes of landing a couple of No. 1 picks. (To that end, I understand why it’s equally frustrating that there is no frequent organizational talk of winning championships, but you have walk before you can run).

Frankly, that’s what Hammond is doing.

Let’s just say Jennings is back and playing for the qualifying offer in 2013-14. As currently constructed, the Bucks’ 13-man roster would haven an Opening Day average age of 25.5. That’s incredibly young.

The total guaranteed salaries to those players would be under $48 million. That’s incredibly cheap. (It does not include the money being paid out to the amnestied Drew Gooden, whose contract still counts toward the Bucks’ salary floor but not the available salary cap. Don’t ask).

This team could flirt with .500 and the eighth playoff seed in the East, fulfilling the owner’s mandate while also keeping open the possibility of a lottery pick in a stacked 2013 NBA Draft class.

Then, in 2014, Jennings will likely walk away. If Luke Ridnour wants to come back, he’ll be 33 and would surely have to take a pay cut from his modest $4.3 million salary. If Larry Sanders improves upon his breakout season last year he’ll be in line for a more lucrative extension, but Ekpe Udoh would likely be shown the door with a nearly $6 million team option for 2014-15.

As it stands now, the Bucks are committed to just six players for 2015 and only three for 2016.

There are no awful contracts to manage as O.J. Mayo is the highest paid player at just $8 million a year, and it’s just a three-year deal. There are some second round picks up in the cupboard that, while it may seem they have no value, are excellent trade-padders.

From my vantage point, Hammond has set the team up beautifully for a blockbuster move that could send the fortunes of the franchise soaring.

I can hear the snickers.

But in this new NBA, what the Bucks have now is necessary to win. They have young players with upside. They have draft picks. They have cap space.

They have what’s needed to trade for an emerging star off a team who won’t be able to afford him, a la James Harden, and then the resources to lock him up long term. People like to say free agents or stars won’t come to Milwaukee, but they will if they’re traded here. And money still talks, especially for those guys who were under-appreciated and underpaid at their previous stop. And, depending who that new star is, he might convince a buddy or two to come along. And guess what – the Bucks have the cap space to accommodate that, too.

Houston is the model here, no question. From 2009-12 the Rockets went 119-111 and seemed destined for NBA hell – competitive, but not good enough to win a title and not bad enough to get a No. 1 pick. Then, they manipulated the restricted free agent system to land a young starting point guard (Jeremy Lin) and center (Omer Asik) and then traded for an superstar-in-waiting in Harden.

Can that be duplicated? Honestly, I don’t know. Some good luck will need to fall the Bucks way, but all you can do is set yourself up for success, and Hammond has done that.