No one associated with the Milwaukee Bucks will ever publicly draw a correlation between Tim Thomas' enormous contract and the sixth man's production.

Yet at times like these, when Thomas is getting off less than eight shots per game while shooting 36.8% overall and 21.4% from three-point range, it certainly would not be unreasonable for the paying customer to ask: $11 million per season for that?

But for one thing, it's very early. The 4-1 Bucks, Karl maintains, have not developed any kind of flow with their substitution patterns. Still, Thomas, at an average of 24.8 minutes per game, is not yet achieving the 30-plus range the Bucks had hoped for him this season.