Milwaukee Buck guard Michael Redd participated in practice Tuesday and is planning to play Friday in New York after missing the last 14 months following knee surgery.

Redd says he feels great, but will not play in Milwaukee’s game on Wednesday night against Sacramento.

Coach Scott Skiles says Redd is in excellent condition. Redd tore ligaments in the same left knee each of the previous two seasons.

As Earl Barron completed his second 10-day contract with the Bucks, Donnie Walsh didn't sound all that enamored of the possibility of signing the center.

"If we can do something to help the team, we’ll do it. But I'm not sure that's the answer," Walsh said Monday. "I think you've got to have somebody who’s going to be out there and can impact on the game, and I don’t know if he's at that level yet."

"We have 15 players, we’re not playing big guys a lot, we’re starting to play them now, I want to see how that goes and see where that fits in," Walsh said. "I don’t know that we would cut somebody right now in order to bring him in."

The Knicks are monitoring center Earl Barron's situation. His second 10-day contract expires with Milwaukee expires Monday, so he could become a free agent. Barron was a DNP the past two games, including yesterday.

After Deron Williams’ wrist took another jarring blow Friday night, coach Avery Johnson said the team is going to have to re-evaluate its position on his status.

Williams admitted part of the reason he has been insistent on playing despite the pain in the wrist is the fact that the Nets were in the hunt for a playoff spot.

But with the loss Friday night to the Bucks, and with Indiana beating the Bulls in OT tonight, the Nets find themselves seven games out of the final playoff spot in the East, with 15 games to play.

And given the odds of actually making it to the playoffs, Williams seemed resigned to accepting that shutting things down for the season may be the best move for him now.

If he can get a full-contact practice early next week, Redd could be cleared to return in one of the next three Bucks' games.

It will be the first time he has performed in an NBA game since he tore ligaments in his left knee on Jan. 10, 2010, against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.

Redd has persevered through nearly two years of rehabilitation to get to this point.

"Rehab is brutal; it's grueling," Redd said. "I love to train, though. I wanted to see my body transform. In order for that to happen, I had to go through a rigorous rehab session every day."

Redd is in the final year of a six-year, $91 million contract he signed in the summer of 2005, when he was an unrestricted free agent.

"My thing is to enjoy the game of basketball because not too many people get a second chance or a third chance," Redd said. "Whatever happens in the future will take care of itself."

NBA players overwhelmingly found the Orlando Magic's Stan Van Gundy the most annoying coach in the league, according to a recent Sports Illustrated poll of 138 players.

Here are the results:

Stan Van Gundy, Magic 65%
Phil Jackson, Lakers 7%
Scott Skiles, Bucks 7%
Avery Johnson, Nets 4%
Gregg Popovich, Spurs 3%

The Bucks scored just 56 points in their road loss to the Celtics, which was a franchise low.

"That's about as humiliating a defeat as you'll ever see," Skiles said. "Right at the jump ball, (Rajon) Rondo got right into Brandon (Jennings) and they got right into our guards.

"They put us back on our heels and just took our competitive fight right away from us. And we pretty much just gave into it."

Milwaukee scored just nine points in the first quarter and 22 in the first half.

"It's a funny league," said Bucks center Andrew Bogut. "Philly beats Boston, we blow out Philly and Boston blows us out. It's just the way the league is.

"We just didn't come out tonight and have good cohesiveness offensively.

"They just keep us to one side of the floor. Our pick-and-rolls didn't work too well against them. When we come off a pick-and-roll we're going toward halfcourt instead of trying to get to the basket.

"I've got to do a better job of being aggressive in the post. Everybody's got to do a better job of getting to the basket and making an aggressive move."

Sources say there is significant push from within the organization to replace Kurt Rambis as head coach of the Wolves.

Kelvin Sampson, currently an assistant with the Bucks, is atop their wish list. The front office believes Minnesota's young roster may need a more energetic coach.

Sampson was most recently a head coach with the Indiana Hoosiers.

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed center Earl Barron (7-0, 245) to a second 10-day contract, General Manager John Hammond announced today. Barron was signed to his initial 10-day contract on March 1.

Barron has appeared in three games with the Bucks and has averaged 4.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in 11.0 minutes. In his Bucks debut, Barron contributed four points and a season-high nine rebounds on March 1 in a win over Detroit.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reflected on how he forced his way out of Milwaukee in the summer of 1975 and how one can draw comparison to the departure of LeBron James last summer.

"Well you know, when I left Milwaukee, Milwaukee was at a point where they did not have a team that could be a contender," Abdul-Jabbar told WFNY. "And you know, it was not the best professional environment for me, I wanted to go some place where at least I had the opportunity to vie for the world championship."

Abdul-Jabbar wanted to be traded to the Knicks or Lakers.

"I had free agency coming up, and I let the team know that I wouldn't be staying around, and we were able to work it out where I got to go where I wanted to go and they got to replenish their team," he said.