xhawk

If the number 5 (Miami), 6 (Philadelphia) and 8 (Detroit) teams in the East last year are going to fall? That leaves one team who still made the playoffs below us (Chicago). All they did this offseason was lose a starter. Where possibly can the hawks fall? Like previous posters have said, this article deserves no credibility. Here is what happened. The writer had a close deadline to meet and realized he had not even started. So he just picked 5 teams that he does not like (making sure to find teams that are not ranked too highly). Then he just copied and pasted criticisms of each team that we have all heard before.

Imagine a Hawks fan in New York. How many times did we lose to Knicks and Nets?

I 'd also love to bring in Damien Wilkins.

More than a position, I think we need one more veteran for this team that will get minutes. But at the same time we want to maximize him by finding a spot to give him minutes. That means we are probably looking at a backup PF. And their are many of them available: David Lee, Mensah Bonsu, Leon Powe, Jarron Collins, Al Harrington, Sheldon Williams, etc. This is in addition to the aforementioned Joe Smith. I have to believe that we can get one. Obviously alot of people like Siler, so he is probably a definite. After that, we can can fill our roster with our best talent from camp. And we will definitely leave that 15th spot open...Woody just does not have a deep rotation, so there is not need for it.

Everyone keep says that Orlando lost Turkoglu and gained Carter, but they really lost more than that. They also lost Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee. Both of these guys played big minutes in their playoff run. So, in total, they lost three guys who played well last year. So I would say that that Orlando is most vulnerable.

This is one of those trades that pretty even on paper, but neither team would probably be willing to do. Portland won't do it because Oden is a true center. Atlanta won't do it because Oden has injury issues and lacks Horford quickness.

There was no honeymoon...I believe that we expected results right away. Sund always, always does project big man. Look at his draft record and the Morris signing. We can be upset at his moves, but not surprised.

Getting a high lottery pick would actually help. After this Okafor move, I predict them to be a ninth seed in the West this year. Josh Smith would be their new, younger Tyson Chandler with more upside. This moves also gives them more cap space and possibly the aforementioned lottery pick for next year. Essentially my trade, is premised on the idea that this Hornets team is nowhere close to winning a championship. I put them behind the Lakers, Denver, Houston (w/ a healthy McGrady), Portland, San Antonio, Utah, Phoenix (with a healthy) Amare and Dallas. Why build an 8th seed team with a high payroll?

For the cap, I verified the trade with ESPN's trade Machine. Smith is signed to a reasonable contract and West only has one more year before he is signed to probably a huge contract. But being reasonable, if the Chandler deal goes through, NO will have big contracts for Okafor, Paul and West. That maybe leaves room to sign one more big free agent. With this in mind, this New Orleans team won't compete for a champion anytime soon. This move is the first step towards remaking their team. And Okafor is a solid player, but expect some injuries...he can not be counted on for a whole season.

Hawks Receive: Tyson Chandler David West Hornets Receive: Josh Smith R. Morris Mo Evans For the Hornets, Josh Smith will likely put up all-star numbers playing with Chris Paul. Also, this seems to be the best scenario for them if they are trying to dump Chandler. For the Hawks, we lose a really good player, but we get two starters for one and Horford can spend more time at the power forward position.

I was just trying to quantify some things. People say that Smith is an awful 3pt shooter...I wanted to show that the rest of the league, even respectable perimeter players, are not that far ahead of him. That is unless, you believe that 6%-7% is the difference between awful and respectable. For Josh Smith to get to those numbers he needs to make 1.3 additional three point baskets per every 20 games. Numerically, that just does not show the disparage that people seem to believe there is. But I do agree, he needs to play more in the paint. :)

Make your case a little stronger...post some links, highlights, etc.

Like the original poster said, for Josh Smith, it is all about focus. When he is focused, he is a different player...he also plays with more intensity when he is focused. He has to learn to stay focused for the whole game. Also, people say that Josh Smith is a bad three point shooter and while I agree his talents do not lend themselves well to taking perimeter shots, he is actually just slightly below average for an NBA Player. He actually compares well to some top NBA perimeter players who take more shots than he does: '08-'09 Stats (3 Pt Shooting %): Josh Smith 30% Tony Parker 30% Chris Paul 36% Baron Davis 37% With time and practice, I think he could shot their percentages.

Orlando's team changed significantly this year...they do not have the 3 seed wrapped up by any means. The guy that handled the ball the most during their playoff run is gone. Orlando may get into the top 3, but it will be with a different overall formula and that makes things somewhat risky in their situation.

Probably, but is Rasho really better than Morris at this point in his career?

can you put up the link(s)?

The Suns are strange...they make some moves to cut salary (giving away Kirk Thomas to Seattle, not signing JJ to a 6 year 50 million dollar contract, giving Shaq away, etc.), then they make moves like this one that take on alot of salary.

Well last year we only got Randolph Morris. so I'd probably expect another "project" big man for this year.

I believe that Flip knows he can come back to Atlanta for at least what he got last year (likely more). He will probably test the waters around the league and come back if he does not get an offer to his liking.

Agreed. I don't know what Paul is saying and why he is saying it (must be something behind the scene happening that we aren't privy to). There is NO chance he is getting traded.

That's because in college they structure the rules to allow player to play defense.

The only possible way Barnes makes sense is if we lose Marvin and thats it.

I feel like we gave Childress a good offer during his first year of restricted free agency: 5 yrs. 33 million. Thats a shade under 7 million dollars a year which seems about right. Since he rejected a good offer, he put himself in this situation and we have to use it to our advantage. He would actually be lucky to get that contract in the NBA now.

Unless you are referring to Randolph Morris?

Maybe this this is stupid question, but who is Randy? The only Randy I know that is affiliated with the Hawks is Randy Whitman from the 80s.