DavidSomerset

This past year were to Carmelo Anthony's 2nd year stats.

How about, in your personal opinion, what would you expect the extension to look like? And from what your source said it sounds like they are just discussing it, not that they are close to signing it, right?

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And what neighborhood can we expect it to be in in terms of years and money?

LeBron James the 4th best defender in the league, regardless of position?? Uh...no. However, I would like Milicic.

Quote: Interesting, I didn't see you respond with the same ire when DrZ. posted this identical notion. Selective ire I guess. Please direct your ire towards DrZ. as well, since for you to not to would indicate your are intending to be a jackass to me personally more than you are intending anything else. MW isn't a better prospect because what he does (mid range shooting) isn't as valuable as what Darko does s(core some, rebound and block ALOT of shots). Darko averaged 1.8 BPG in 24 MPG. That's pretty d@mn serious shot blocking in HALF a game. BTW, Darko had a significantly higher per48 TENDEX and a higher Roland Rating than MW. And MW is a better prospect?!? Even more impressive, regarding defensive TENDEX Darko is the FOURTH rated center per48, 6th regardless of MPG! And MW is a better prospect?!? http://www.dougstats.com/06-07DefensiveTendex.html Now that's IMPRESSIVE and exactly what we need! A defensive force at center who isn't an offensive liability. Bingo! BINGO! The only thing MW ranks in is having his own shot blocked. And MW is a better prospect?!? Who knows, perhaps MW propelled Darko to his being such a shot block wizard by hamming a couple up for Milicic to swat away and pad his stats. Lastly, Darko would make Horford, JS, everybody else better. I see NOTHING in MW that makes all his teamates better. Never have. NOW who wouldn't make that trade? Darko was the 4th best center defensively statistically per minute and at the age of 22 when bigs are just coming into their own where else can he go but #1 or #2! W I'm all for getting Darko, but I am not all for giving up our 20 year old that has as much potential as any young player in the league for someone who by all comparisons has so far been a COMPLETE BUST. Like I said, I would heavily consider giving up Chillz for him...and I would trade SW for him and a back-up SG, but Marvin is completely out of the question.

Today I was driving back from Athens and all I could do was think about how much I CANNOT WAIT for the Hawks to return to the post-season, and how much energy there is going to be at that first home post-season game. Sure, it will be mostly bandwagoners, but I guarantee yall the city will be BUZZING with excitement...Atlanta fans might be as fair weather as they come, but when you give them an exciting team that hasn't been good in a while...they bring the noise (just look at the Falcons from about 2001-2004...1998 as well). Phillips arena is going to be WILD, and I'd be willing to bet it will be almost as loud as the 1998 49ers-Falcons playoff game I was at (loudest sporting event I've ever been to)...This city is a sleeping giant for basketball fans...Most people here need to see the team prove something first before they give it there support (I don't agree with that, but it's just the way it is). I do think that we will be around the 7th or 8th best team in the East this next year, and when the playoffs roll around, we might be the 5th or 6th best...I think because of our youth, we will have a better 2nd half of the season...More time to mature. Either way, I am about as sure as can be we make the playoffs in '08...That should be a great year for us. Back to this year...I am confident AJ can hold down PG for us until Acie Law gets a handle on things, which I honestly don't expect to take too long...The guy has such great drive and competitiveness, I just can't see us keeping him off the court too long. Not to mention, our front court is SO deep, we will really be able to take advantage of other teams with our depth there...I mean we just added the 3rd best player in the draft to this team...He will ABSOLUTELY contribute no matter what some people on here say. We already have a pretty good idea of what JJ, Smoove, Zaza, and Chillz are going to give us...The 2 keys for our success next year are Marvin and Acie in my mind...We just can't be sure what they are going to do. Is Marvin finally going to take off and become that superstar that we all know he can be? Will Law be able to take his offense into his own hands and run it adequately? While knocking down those clutch shots in the process?? If the answer to those questions are "yes" or close to "yes"...This team is going to start looking a heckuva lot more like a 4 seed than a 7 seed, IMO. Sorry for the rant, but I am jacked for '07 guys!

Quote: 1) The "get superstar potential anyway I can" option. If Yi is really unwilling to play for Milwualkee (but as reported wants to play for Atlanta) trade SW/MW for Yi/(minor player). Milwaulkee needs both a Pf like SW and a Sf with potential like MW. We need a superstar and a consistent mismatch advantage. Horford at center next to a 7'er with a 7'5" wingspan and JS at Sf isn't as bad as a JS/Horford VERY undersized (and under-post-skilled) frontcourt. There you have it. You want to trade the #5 pick last year and the #2 pick from 2005 (who is YOUNGER and BETTER than Yi, already) for the #6 pick THIS year??? Not to mention, Yi recently getting tooled around by 18 year old 2nd tier US players. Quote: 2) The "Make it work, perhaps work well" option. You could potentially (unlikely) replace Milicic with Gasol in a trade like you said. This deal makes us resemble a real NBA team in terms of interior size, height/length, skill, and skill variability. Likely MW for Darko or JC/ZaZa or SW for Darko. We can't afford all these prospects! W MW FOR DARKO????!?!? Are you freaking serious??? Darko hasn't proven crap...He averaged 8 pts and 5 rebs...MW is a MUCH better prospect. I wouldn't even really want to let Chillz go for him, but I guess if push came to shove, I'd think about it just because of our needs. SW for Darko is really pushing it...Maybe if they gave us a back-up SG in the deal.

Al Jefferson, Amare, and Dwight Howard are referred to as PF/C's pretty often...They can all man the C position, can't they?

He is not close to as good of an athlete as Conley, and is behind Crit also... However, I was looking at draftexpresses combine stats for some past PG's and I was encouraged to see that Law's athletic ability is pretty similar to Deron Williams. Williams has a 1 inch higher vertical, and is .17 seconds faster in lane agility, but Law beat him out in the 3/4 court sprint...Williams is quite a bit stronger though... Is Law just an average athlete for the PG position? I really feel like we need someone who is quick enough to penetrate, draw a double and knock that ball out to someone like Marvin or JJ. I hope he works his butt off...I'm a big fan of his already...HE (along with good health) is the key to this team making the playoffs this year.

without having to give them back compensation.

Quote: Roy is significantly more talented, taller, longer, better. He's also a shooting guard....Not a PG...Notice how Portland moved him from PG to SG in the middle of the year. Roy and JJ would not be as good of a backcourt as Law and JJ...A Roy and JJ backcourt would get burned by smaller PG's.

Well, they got Jeff Green...And I think they have a lot of promising young C's. Ridnour is a good offensive PG who will complement Durant nicely. They won't make the playoffs for another year or two, but they have a solid core.

I would love to add him to this team...Our front court would be ridiculously deep. Package AJ/Lue/Lo for a back-up SG that can get some points for us, and we are well on our way to the playoffs!! Law/Speedy/Salim JJ/ Trade MW/Chillz Smoove/Horford/Shelden Darko/Zaza/Shelden/Horford

Who do you have in mind?? Are you talking about someone like Haywood?

Quote: Orlando: they have something figured out we don't, you need a Center. one man does not maketh a team but Orlando beats us over an 82 game season. Outside of Howard they are BAAAD...Until they surround him with some talent, they are never going to be better than a 7 or 8 seed...If they lose Darko, they are worse than last year. Quote: Washington: Caron Butler will be back. Gilbert Arenas is under contract for one more season, correct? Advantage Washington. Give me JJ and Josh Smith in '07 over those two any day of the week...I think Smoove will be >Butler, and I think JJ's overall game is about as good as Arenas. Quote: New Jersy: Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd, Vince Carter. enough said. Man, Kidd is OLD...I remember watching that game against them last year when Lue hit the buzzer beater to win it, and I was just thinking to myself that Kidd does not look anywhere near what he used to...I think his time is dwindling down very quickly...Not to mention Vince is never going to do anything extraordinary for them.

These teams next year, assuming people are equally healthy all ways across: - Milwaukee - Orlando - NYK - Philly - Indy - Charlotte - Washington - New Jersey (I'm just not a believer in them at all) Heck, I would even say that we should be better than Detroit if they don't re-sign Billups. I think we make it in as the 6-8 seed...This should be a solid year for us.

Quote: It comes from people who don't think that a PG can score and be a good distributor. If that's true, then why did Steve Francis and Baron Davis go so high in the draft?? Weren't they scorers before passers from the PG position? Why didn't Law go as high as them?

I think Law's play is much more critical for our team's success next year than Horford's.

Real good next year... They got Jefferson, Allen, Pierce all on the same team, plus two GREAT values for their picks in Pruitt and Davis...They are headed in the right direction, IMO. If a PG emerges, they have a chance to be pretty good.

Quote: Tell you what... Let's wait until 20 games into the season and then we can talk?! Shelden was terrible his first 20 games...If you're going to compare them like that, then compare Horford's first 20 to Shelden's first 20.

Quote: I've been hearing about OJ Mayo for a while, but that buzz has simmered down a bit over the last year or so. There was a rumor floating around that he might be the first high school kid to try Stern's ruling about being out of high school for a year. I've been hearing about Mayo since he was very young as well...But I think it's obvious that now he has not turned out to be the type of prospect people thought he would be.

I haven't really heard of anyone who will be in the NBA in the near future that has been generating the same type of buzz as these guys did. -LeBron -Oden -Duncan The 2008 class (Rose, Mayo, Beasley) certainly does not seem to have one of these guys, and I remember hearing about LeBron and Oden when they were freshmen and sophomores.. Who is the next "can't miss" that is in their class?