After this historically bad playoff run, I am not that high on Perkins: http://deadspin.com/kendrick-perkins-had-a-historically-bad-playoff-run-507518143
I think what helps the "super" teams is the way playoff games are spaced. Teams used to need depth because they only got a night off when they traveled. Now, in the first round, you might have three days between games. However, I don't think super teams are unbeatable--we can still compete.
Getting back to the original question, I think the offense runs through Teague and his ability to get into the paint. I think that he gets much more agressive.Also, I don't think we trade iso-Joe for iso-Josh. Overall, I see a very balanced attack with more pick-n-rolls. I think a more efficient Josh will likely be our 20 pt scorer.
Agreed. These were definitely the right cuts. Hawks management and coaching staff were waiting for those guys to step and make a statement. Only Ivan Johnson did and the others did not.
He hustled and scored in a variety of ways. I also did not see any errant passes on offense. There were a couple of miscues on defense, but it's hard to say whose fault it was. This guy is definitely worth signing.
I haven't seem this mentioned much, but we are at least 9 players deep. Teague, T-Mac, Collins and Zaza will be getting alot of minutes in addition to last years starters. In this kind of season, this will be big. Even if the Knicks got better with Chandler over Billups, they are not very deep (maybe 6 at this point). We are also relatively young which Boston is not. The Pacers are interesting, but they are going to need some time to learn to play together which we will not--pretty much everyone has been together for 2-3 years. I think it would be disappointing if we are not a top 4 seed.
We make trades: Bibby, Kurt, and Joe. We just don't make the superstar deals. I think the last two GMs of the Hawks have locked into our current core. So in the absence of an obvious deal, they have preferred to keep our current core intact.
With the league vetoing trades to large markets, Paul might have to end-up with a small market team. I am pretty sure we would have to include Horford in any deal though.
There is alot of anti-Nate posts here. But I remember Nate dropping 40+ on Bibby one night in Phillips. I also remember him winning a playoff game for Boston one year. As a third point guard and a third shooting guard, I think he will be fine.
For us to drop down, all the teams above us have to stay put and teams below us have to move up. With all the back-to-backs, I don't see Orlando, Boston and New York doing great with their current roster. Howard can't go 40 mins a night as Orlando's only big man. Boston is aging. And outside of Carmelo, Stoudemire and Billups, New York has: Turiaf, Balkman, Toney Douglas, and Landry Fields.
This is definitely not the year we fall off.
Looking at these trades:
Al Horford and MW for Granger and Hibbert.
This has an advantage for Atlanta--Granger is a special player. I actually like him better than Carmelo.
Al Horford and MW for Hibbert, Paul George, Hansbrough, and Posey (expiring)
This is an advantage for Indiana. Horford is the best player in the bunch.
ZaZa and JS for Hibbert, Paul George, Hansbrough, and Posey (expiring)
This is a slight advantage for Indiana. JS and Zaza both have pretty good contracts. I also don't know if Hibbert can replace Josh's blocks, low-post scoring and excitement. I've had not watched him enough.
We are probably looking at Damien Wilkins, Jason Collins and/or Mario West. Our big advantage is that the team has been together for a number of years so we might as well keep that trend.
Adding on to this, I think the bigger issue in a post CBA world would be the legal issues amongst the owners. Many owners, in markets that most of the money, would not want a salary cap. The league would have to have some enforcement mechanism for the cap and I don't see big markets owners conceding to such. As previously stated, they do make most of the money for the NBA.