xhawk

Well...one point is that the post is entitled "lost opportunities." It does not specify whether or not these are good or bad opportunities. But some might say that an opportunity, implies a favorable change in circumstance, but thats just the Webster's dictionary definition--writers can not be concerned with that. But more seriously, articles like these must make BK feel pretty good about himself. In the article he discusses two or three players (I won't name names) whose current teams would love to unload them because they are overpaid, injury prone, etc. However, by definition, these players are NOT lost opportunities because we can acquire them at any time and, in most cases, for relatively nothing.

I wonder...with the trade exception from the future trade with Indy if we can possibly look to acquire KG. Minnesota obviously is not looking to build a championship team anytime soon. I'd hate to part with M. Williams, but with a lineup of: 1 Speedy/Lue 2 J. Johnson/Salim 3 J. Smith/Childress 4 K. Garnett/Sheldon Williams 5 ZaZa/Lo Wright we would be pretty good. We could also part with Salim and/or Childress and our 1st round pick. But really the TE + Williams + Indy's First Rounder should be enough. However, as usual with these types of situations, my predictions are that Minnesota will hold to Garnett until the end of his contract and will lose him and never again be close to winning a championship.

Very thoughtful article and I am expecting the hawks to get at least 39 wins this upcoming season. While we probably did not sign any MVPs, we did address our two biggest problem areas with solid players. So, I am expecting alot from the hawks next season.

The rules in the nba make it tough for big men to block the shots of guys like Wade and Parker. In my opinion, positioning is more important than blocking shots. By positioning, I mean making sure your feet are outside the half circle in the paint, getting your feet set and taking charges and then reacting quickly to grab the board if there is a missed shot. I mean honestly, only freak atheletes like Josh Smith can block Wade's shot. Most centers do not have the quickness nor the vertical leap for it--even Shaq.

I agree with you to some extent. However, if Diaw can play center, then Sheldon definitely can. I think he can hold his own against most centers like Dampier, Diop, Mihm, Rasho, etc. These are the centers that make up the large part of the league. He will also match up well against many of the young power forwards in the east: Howard, Okafor, Bogut, etc.

champ4jc, I like the idea of this trade. Seriously, would Toronto draft LaMarcus, Bargnani or Thomas since they already have Charlie, Bosh and Arujo? It would seem like they would be building a team full of PFs the same way the hawks are building a team full of Forwards. The Hawks and Raptors should figure out something between themselves to help balance each team.

A more likely deal would be Childress for their 1st (6th overall) and second rounder. With Ricky, Childress and KG at the 2,3 and 4 respectively, they would be long and atheletic. Not that I dislike Childress, I think he brings alot to the game, but we need more speed on the perimeter. And bringing in Rudy Gay/Adam Morrison would become a more viable option.

A better deal is to trade Ridnour to the Hawks for Royal Ivey and our 2nd Rounder. However, I do not forsee this happening.

A few things: (1) Chris Paul WILL be as good as Steve Nash. He is not there yet (his shooting must get alot better) (2) Iggy has quicker feet than Childress. He is much more effective at guarding shooting guards. Maybe Childress will learn to use his length in this area. And I also prefer Iggy's explosiveness to the basket. But overall jez, I can understand (but not completely agree with the rest of your points) Also, I want to add that if Artest did not work out because of character reasons, there are many small forwards in this draft that we could have persued to replace him. Also, he is still good trade bait.

Things that Billy Knight could have done differently: (1) Drafted Chris Paul (2) Drafted C. Duhon over Royal Ivey and Donte Smith (3) Traded Harrington for Artest (This is confirmed-Indiana was willing to get Harrington in exchange for Artest) (4) Drafted Iguodala over Childress (5) Not done the JJ Trade (Should have just made the offer) So we could have had this team (along with 2 first round picks this upcoming draft): 1 C. Paul/C. Duhon 2 (J Johnson)/Iguodala 3 R. Artest 4 J. Smith 5 B. Diaw Joe Johnson is included in parenthesis, because I do not think that Phoenix would have matched. They did not want to give him 50 million over 6 years. So they would not have given him 70 million over 5 years. The above team is almost as good as Phoenix and would have made the playoffs. Chris Paul will be as good as Steve Nash. Marion and Artest are about the same as far as talent goes. I know hindsight is 20/20, but many people including fans and sportswriters were for each of the five moves. We were scratching our head when we did not go after Chris Paul. I was angry when we did not draft Chris Duhon when he slipped to the second round. If we had not stacked up on forwards, I would have done the Artest easily. Childress should not have been that high of a draft pick - he does not do anything that well. And I do not believe that Phoenix would have matched. On a side note, Atlanta has a former player starting on every single roster left in the playoffs. Also teams that trade with Atlanta seem to do really well in the playoffs following the trade: Detroit with Rasheed Wallace, Phoenix with Boris and Boston with Walker.

Well, in Lebron's defense, he does not yet get Jordan's calls--he gets a few every now and then, but nothing like Jordan got. Jordan could shove you away to get off a shot and there would not be a whistle.

I would not mind the Hawks drafting Roy. We already have a half-court point guard with JJ. Also, with Roy's size, he and Salim could play in the backcourt together. The downside is that he is not considered a pure point guard, but he will only be asked to run the fast break and bring the ball up the floor. Also, since BK picked Ivey over Duhon, I think Roy is the type of Point Guard that he would like. He also made that comment about big point gaurds earlier last year.

Quote: Well....they're still playing. I doubt the people on their board are counting the days to the lottery. Give it a week. Well...they won't be lottery watching because they do no have a lottery pick.

Lascar, thats a good point that you made. Because of their pace, Phoenix runs system that is good for getting numbers. Especially this year with the loss of Amare. The must play even faster and Amare is not eating up numbers with his monster nights. There are more shots and therefore more points, more assists and more rebounds. Also you have to remember that Boris' ball handling and decision skills look a whole lot better when being guarded by Centers. Here in Atlanta we tried to make him a guard, when he really did not have the skillset for it. The coach in Phoenix has really done a great job. However, one thing that you must say about the JJ trade is that Phoenix's window to win a championship is closing while Atlanta's window (while small) is opening. Steve Nash will not play at this level forever. Boris will want a payday. Amare may never return true to form. Marion will probably contiue to play well for a number of years, but who else has a positive age, ability and contract outlook?

It really depends...if teams do a BK type of roster clearing (which was impressive), then we have alot of young players to offer up. However, as is the way most of this stuff happens, teams hold on to their superstars for too long with no apparent shot at winning a championship. Teams do not like radical shake-ups even if it will help their future rebuilding.

If the Hawks really want Boris back, then they can just sign him next year. However, something tells me they do not want him back. However, putting Boris at Center seems like something that BK would think of.