Sasha_Volkov

Well to be fair technically we have Marvin and Bibby along with Chill's NBA rights for 2, 5 and 6. Furthermore, without paying $7 million for Josh the Hawks may be able to sign a couple bigs with the MLE & LLE which may not have been possible while paying nearly $20 million per year for the Joshes IIRC (paging luxury tax experts). You can argue that this is poor value for the picks but those picks were already devalued by sketchy drafting from 2004-2006. All three lotto picks were not worth their draft position. Calling Josh the 6th pick is fallacious in 2008...he's proven to be late lotto material at best. Original position is meaningless other than judging a GM. Otherwise a certain 17th pick wouldn't be looking for $11 million or so. And I'll take $2.5 million for Evans over $7 million Childress. The replacement can at least shoot from distance if not as adept at "the little things". Now if October rolls around and we have no Smith (or a quality SnT replacement like a C) and no quality bench players signed I'll crucify the ASG with you. But it's still July and I'm willing to let the offseason play out before passing judgment.

I didn't see a reason to get riled up when Chill decided to become king of Greece, but this abomination would have me torching Phillips. Thankfully it can't be true.

Quote: Granted, everything we hear from Sekou & Co. needs to be put in perspective, but the most reliable source (Sekou in this case) has consistently said that ASG is the party who is holding fast at a contract they believe they can force on Smith and his people. Sekou has always been a mouthpiece for the players and their agents. He tends to only give one side of the story. I'd argue his "reliability" is pretty unreliable as well. I don't know if it's that his management sources suck or what. Personally I think he's just a crappy reporter. Inane Sekou blog entry #2436: "I'm tellin' ya man...ASG ain't doin' right by these cats." He makes Denberg and Voison look like Pulitzer candidates.

Quote: I really wanted to sign back with atlanta initially. I made it clear that I was ready to sign on day one. But when they came to me with an offer below the mid level, and told me to find another offer if I didn't like it...I did what they asked. (Edit out) This was the part about the 4 teams. all proposed sign and trade deals worth more than the hawks were willing to give, but they basically tried to play the power game and make me come back for cheaper. So out of "courtesy" they offer 5 years 33mil. So then....I accepted and then they tell me...I have to wait until Josh Smith signs before I can sign. So here I am already mad about him trying to bully me and then on top of that making me feel like I'm worthless. It was a slap in the face. To go back to Atlanta after being treated like that would been very difficult for me. So, I cut my emotional ties with them and realized that this is a business. I made a business decision just like they tried to do. They thought I was bluffing and stuck with their offer so I made the trip here. Anyway, sorry for my rambling. Once again thanks for the support. If you speak to any other fans just let them know it wasnt about greed it was about feeling unappreciated by the organization. A 5 year 33mil slap in the face? Being asked to "chill" while the team works on signing a more important player? Some team player... *cue world's smallest violin* If his ego's that fragile, good riddance. Sheesh, it's not as if this compares to losing Nique or Steve Smith. He's Augmon/Levingston caliber at best.

Wasn't it Chill + #11 for Calderon? Never heard Toronto offering a straight swap.

This situation is so new and unprecedented that you might as well say, "You don't see the Pistons or Mavericks losing their key players to lightning strikes; we do." Bag on ASG for many things but the Greek Koncakian contract is not a foreseeable thing.

Quote: even Sekou just doesnt get it.......IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE ABOUT THE MONEY....it should have never gotten there....when he declined the initial offer, they could have increased the offer a little bit more and been amicable about it and seemed like they were trying to work with him. The first offer was already more than he was worth and you expected them to raise it? The man turned down the best NBA deal on the table. The ASG can't make him take it.

Quote: Quote: Quote: no other team had an American player who wanted to be on the team If Childress wanted to be on the team, he would be. He was given at least one offer above the MLE and above his fair market value and he declined it. Childress made it clear that the Hawks' seeming indifference toward re-signing him, their hardball tactics, and their slow pace during negotiations pushed him overseas. To him "seeming indifference" is code for "less than $8 million a year".

Quote: Quote: I'm not blindly defending the ASG, but I have defended some of their moves because there are some here that have just freaked out rather than looking at the whole picture on certain issues. I have said no less than 3 times today that if the ASG screw up the Josh Smith negotiations that I would be done as a Hawks fan. Childress made it clear that the Hawks' seeming indifference toward re-signing him, their hardball tactics, and their slow pace during negotiations pushed him overseas. What else is he going to say? "I'm a whore for money"? Of course he would say something to deflect criticism onto ASG.

Quote: Quote: It’s just a totally unacceptable proposition for a team rebuilt through the draft the past five years. Totally unacceptable. Captain Obvious! Why is it unacceptable? He was a bad pick at #6 and deserves no more than $7 million per annum. I can't fault the Hawks when a Greek team decides to make him the next Jon Koncak.

Quote: Quote: but if he would rather play overseas, do we want him here? I think him wanting to play overseas says more about our ownership than it does about his personality. Not really. The Greeks are paying his taxes so he's getting the equivalent of $11 million per annum. The Hawks were right to not go above $6-7 million...he's simply not that good. Blame the weak dollar more than anything.

Quote: Didn't Nique rupture his achilles when he was over 30? Came back, was leading us to the championship and was traded by Babcock. 43% shooting on 21 shots a game wasn't leading us anywhere. '93-94 was all about Mookie's career year with a little Kevin Willis on the side.

No option for Cliff Levingston's wild running hook attempt to end game 6 in 1988?

Quote: Manning on the team made us more team like, but we were built to rely on somebody. That's why when the playoffs came and we played the Pacers, the pressure was on, Manning didn't take to the pressure well. It was T-rex Kevin Willis who tanked against the Pacers, particularly in the last 3 games. http://www.basketball-reference.com/playoffs/NBA_1994.html Manning actually played well other than game 3. In game 4 he had 35. The Pacers were simply a better, deeper team. The only thing Manning really did wrong as a Hawk was not re-signing. Dominique was having his worst year in '94 and as subsequent seasons showed he was in a pretty steep decline. People don't realize he was a 43%/30% 3pt shooter that season who continued to chuck over 20 times a game. He was washing up yet played selfishly as if he was still the '87 Nique. "Nique" was already gone trade or not.

Quote: He will drag the team to Las Vegas. Fixed. ASG has major issues but at least Gearon is a native and lifelong fan. Belkin would simply use it for maximum profit.

Quote: I nominate this for dumbest thread of the year. Anyone want to second that? It's not over but it's going nowhere until a competent coach is hired.

Quote: Someone that he could trust that would go to the ball, run with him, set him up on the oop. Seriously, right now what is the difference between Smoove bringing it up and anyone else? Law isn't ready, T-Lue isn't a Point Guard. Joe and Chills are only marginally better at handling the ball. What games are you watching? Law, Lue, Marvin, Joe and Horford all handle the ball exponentially better than Josh Smith. When I see the latter put the ball on the floor it astounds me that an NBA player could have such poor fundamentals. Luckily the other aspects of his game are off the charts.

Quote: But Smoove is the total package Total packages can actually dribble the ball. Smith is great but lay off the hyperbole.

I see it as 2-0 at home and 0-2 on the road against upper tier teams. Not too shabby.

Quote: ...and to add to that, the sum of all you contribute to this board is a NET NEGATIVE. Horford wasn't everyone's #1 choice, but we've got him and many of us are thinking it could turn out really well. I was on the fence about Horford, Yi and Conley at 3. none of those would have been slam dunks, they all have levels of risk and reward. My first choice wasn't selected, but that's life. Might as well enjoy the guy we're getting. There's no need to spend all of your energy on an anti-Horford campaign. Why not try and look forward to what he might bring to the team? Why is it necessary to develop agendas against players on the team you follow? Do you not see how backwards that is? Never seen the guy in an NBA uniform, and already it's been decided that you'll never once in your life enjoy watching him play or cheer him on. Very sad. Needs to be repeated. This "I am a genius and boo hoo the team didn't pick my pet choice so I'm going to grind this ax irrationally for eternity" attitude certain egotistical posters have has poisoned the board.

Uhhh, Yi is flopping all over the place this week. Thank God we didn't fall for the hype.

Am I the only one who noticed Shelden playing surprisingly well in November and April, i.e when he was healthy? I think he'll be just fine.

Quote: I'm not hating on Law, I just don't see how he helps out the 28 forwards on our team the way Conley would have. I don't see how you can say that conclusively. Is it assist numbers? I was hung up a bit on those myself until I realized that I could name every Buckeye starter but have absolutely no idea who else was on the Aggies. Switch their teams and Acie's go up significantly (and he was no slouch with a 15 assist game under his belt). On the Hawks for the first time he'll not only have teammates who are his equal, but 4 or 5 who are even better than him. I do think Conley is a better longterm prospect, particularly defensively, but it's not a gaping chasm between them whereas Horford to Thornton is a significant dropoff.

Quote: Quote: It's called getting the most value for your picks. How often is this going to have to be said? It doesn't work that way. It's like saying Portland should have found a way to trade Oden for Conley and Hawes, they trade the #1 center for the #1 PG and the #2 center. Actually, what you're saying the Hawks should have done is akin to Portland passing on the best talent available (Oden) since they already had post players in Randolph and Aldridge and needed a wing (Durant). Portland instead did the wisest thing by taking Oden and sorting out their logjam with a trade (just as we will likely do between now and November). I really like Conley but Horford/Law is an order of magnitude more talent aggregately than say Conley/Thornton.

Quote: damn. she's cute. But, seriously, could our owners really afford enough chairs for Yi to practice against? The Bobcats picked up a LA-Z-BOY along with Richardson . Yi would have presented a potent mismatch against that defense, even if they added a sectional.