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Villanueva hopes to remain with Bucks

MILWAUKEE — Charlie Villanueva said it out loud after the Milwaukee Bucks beat Orlando on Monday night in the final game at the Bradley Center this season.

“I understand it’s a business,” the 24-year-old forward said. “Potentially this could be my last home game here. There’s a possibility that might be the case, but I hope they bring me back.”

Villanueva’s comments reflect the reality of his situation in the coming offseason. He will be a restricted free agent and is expected to attract offers from a number of other National Basketball Association teams.

General manager John Hammond has said he hopes to be able to re-sign both Villanueva and point guard Ramon Sessions, also a restricted free agent. But Hammond has $41 million committed to three players next season—Michael Redd, Andrew Bogut and Richard Jefferson—and a payroll nearing the luxury tax threshold.

So it’s quite reasonable to expect some roster changes next season.

Villanueva honestly thought he would be traded last summer, but instead the Bucks dealt power forward Yi Jianlian to New Jersey and installed Villanueva in the starting lineup.

The fourth-year pro has started 47 games and come off the bench 30 times, averaging 16.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 27 minutes per game.

“I think I made decent improvement from last year,” Villanueva said, “but am I satisfied? No, I’m not satisfied with the way I’ve been playing. It’s been decent; it could always be better. I’ve just got to build from it. At the end of the day, I’m going to look for the best opportunity for me and my family.

“I hope the Bucks will make an offer and take it from there.”

The Bucks must make Villanueva a $4.6 million qualifying offer for the 2009-’10 season by June 30 to retain the right to match any offers by other clubs.

The free-agency period starts on July 1, a few days after the NBA draft. If another team makes a contract offer to a restricted free agent, his current team has a seven-day period to match that offer and retain the player.

Villanueva said he understood the Bucks’ plight and would not be hurt if the franchise chose to make Sessions its free-agent priority in the offseason.

“He’s a young, good player, man,” Villanueva said of his teammate and close friend. “He has progressed. He’s a kid who got drafted in the second round, D-League.

“I’m so proud of him, the fact he’s able to shine. I’d rather see him paid. If it comes down to the Bucks making a decision between him and me, give him the money, because he deserves it, to be honest.”

In a perfect world, Villanueva said he and Sessions would continue to be teammates. And the forward said the Bucks had discovered a new tone and professionalism under coach Scott Skiles.

“I see this organization going in the right direction,” Villanueva said. “The players that were here, we were put in an unfortunate situation with Mike Redd and ’Bogues’ (Andrew Bogut) being out. I think we played to the best of our capabilities, and I think the coaching staff did a great job.

“You could see us fighting every game, hanging in and competing. I think something last year that was always in question was whether we were competing or not. This year that wasn’t the case at all.”

The Bucks (34-47) have won eight more games than they did last season, but they had much higher hopes. They held the eighth playoff seeding until fading in March and April, going 4-16 over a dismal stretch until posting victories in their last two games.

Villanueva has watched some restricted free agency situations that he would like to avoid, and he pointed to the acrimonious negotiations between teammate Charlie Bell and the Bucks in 2007 and the unresolved situation between Ben Gordon and the Chicago Bulls.

The Bucks matched a five-year, $18 million offer made to Bell by the Miami Heat in September 2007. Gordon accepted the Bulls’ $6.4 qualifying offer for this season in order to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“I don’t want the situation that happened to Ben Gordon to happen to me,” Villanueva said.