Sothron

Sadly I agree with the jerseys.

That trade for Mookie was an outright theft by Babcock. People concentrate on Pete's draft snafus but disregard his ability to "win" trades and sign free agents.

The CBA has a rule where players still are accredited against your cap with an elevated salary. I think Harrington counts 10 million on our cap right now even though he's not technically a member of our roster. This is why you see teams occasionally renouce rights to players. They get their salary off the cap but they are unable to resign them for an extended amount of time.

I said this in another thread so I'll say it again: until we actually trade Harrington he DOES count against our cap and keeps us from being able to sign or trade for another player. Indiana knows this. I am almost willing to put money on the table that Indiana is playing hardball on the protection on the 2007 1st rounder and knows the longer they drag it out with BK the more it hurts the Hawks by having other teams and players sign elsewhere. If BK is holding out for unprotected or only top 3 or some such, this could be why the holdup is taking so long. The only negative for Indiana is that by doing it they run the risk of pissing BK off to the point we simply trade him elsewhere instead of rewarding Indiana for effectively sabotating our offseason. Indiana has nothing to lose by keeping our hands tied and forcing us to take even less than we are now for Harrington.

The history of microcfracture surgery leads me to think you might be best served in not insult fans of another team. You may want to start investing in religion for the outright miracle it will require to not have Amare turn into a shell of his former self.

Quote: Quote: If you look at the talent of Josh Smith he basically has all the freakish athleticism that Amare Stoudemire has. The only thing Stoudamire has on him is an inch in height. And better dribble, better post moves, a better shot, more heart, more desire, hall of fame talent, more steals, a better rebounder, more assists, more aggressiveness, a competitive nature, a natural leader, multiple all star apperances, A WINNER, infinate amount of endorsements, the respect of the entire league... Comparing Josh Smith to a all-world talant such as Stoudemire is about the dumbest thing a Hawks fan could say.. and there have been plenty of dumb things spoken and thought. Amare has more talent in his left hand, then Smith does in his body. There's no comparison to anyone on your team, or from past Hawks teams. Wilkins, and only Wilkins is the only player thats ever had such ability. Get real. Such idiocy should be criminal. Have fun watching your crippled player hobble up and down the court for the rest of his career.

Those numbers are 12/10 playing alongside the second best low post scorer in the NBA with Brand who also is a fierce rebounder. Imagine him on Atlanta where he'd be able to get almost all the low post shots and have no one else to really compete against with rebounds. He could easily get 14-16 points and 10-12 boards a game. He also has the lower body strength to hold his position in the paint and he can block some shots. He is an energy guy who can elevate his game. Look at his career numbers and his play (if you've seen him); its an upward progression every season. What other young center in the NBA is going to be available (possibly) that can rival that? I can't think of one. Certainly not one that we can actually GET on this team. We can't keep holding cap space for some kind of Superduper Can't Miss Superstar to take it. Those guys almost never leave their own teams and let's face it, they won't be knocking the doors down wanting to come on this team.

Quote: Quote: I think it could be Camby and frankly I don't think it would take much. Denver can't have Nene/Camby/K-mart on that roster. The most expendible player is Camby who is 32 years old (3/22/74) and has an injury history. I have mixed feelings about Camby. How much longer can he be the "long, lean athletic" center he is and just gets too old to be that anymore? I would rather us suffer another losing season and keep cap room to go after Chris Kaman in next year's FA to fill the center hole. Now you're talking. NExt year's FA class is serious. We could get a PG of the future in Ridnour/Hinrich or go for a big man like Kaman. That's exactly the three players I want us to go after. Hinrich/Kaman and failing Hinrich go for Ridnour. Both of them are better PGs than Claxton and Kaman would probably be an All-star for us.

Quote: Quote: I say we wait on using our cap until next offseason and make a real run at Kirk Hinrich and Chris Kaman. Imagine what those two could do on this team. Chris Kaman sucks! Hinrich is a pipe dream! You might want to start actually watching basketball outside of the Hawks if you think Kaman "sucks". He's exactly the kind of young big man that can score in the post, rebound, block and plays with energy that every team would love to have. Both he and Hinrich are on teams that have stated they will not pay the luxury tax. Both of them are already being talked about as "test cases" for both teams to play "tough" with them and get them to sign for less because of the other players soon to be up for extensions. I don't think either Chicago or the Clips would offer them 10 million per, why not go for the gusto and aggressively recruit them next offseason? Hinrich is one of the best young point guards in the league and Kaman would be great in the middle for years in Atlanta.

I think it could be Camby and frankly I don't think it would take much. Denver can't have Nene/Camby/K-mart on that roster. The most expendible player is Camby who is 32 years old (3/22/74) and has an injury history. I have mixed feelings about Camby. How much longer can he be the "long, lean athletic" center he is and just gets too old to be that anymore? I would rather us suffer another losing season and keep cap room to go after Chris Kaman in next year's FA to fill the center hole.

I say we wait on using our cap until next offseason and make a real run at Kirk Hinrich and Chris Kaman. Imagine what those two could do on this team.

I'm not a big fan of Mo Williams and Chris Mihm. Mihm is a career backup who because of the lack of quality in front of him in LA became a mediocre starter.

I have long wondered whether Indiana is the one forcing the stalemate with Harrington. Al still DOES count against our cap, enough to keep us from just trading for Magloire. I believe Indiana was using that as blackmail to get us to lower our own demands on an unprotected 2007 1st rounder because they knew we were waiting to deal Harrington and turn around and grab Magloire. It also would help Indiana to keep Magloire from coming to us and forcing him out west in another conference.

I do not believe that story. I have talked to Levenson and other people inside the team personally, let alone talked with Jaywalker, and that flies in the face of everything I've heard. It is true that Belkin did not and does not want to spend any money on the team but I've never heard the other owners used the JJ deal as an excuse to cut him out.

Babcock does not get appreciated enough. The only aspect he was truly inept in was the draft. In every other aspect he was more than good. Most of his trades were great for this team and even at the end when we were struggling he still maintained future cap flexibility by getting guys with short lengths left on their contracts so if they did not work out we could either move them as an expiring deal or let them walk. BK gets a big, fat 0% for public face. He insults the fans, refuses to communicate and for two months before the draft everyone in the world knew we promised Shellhead to draft him w/o even working him out. Great job Knight.

James was a great choice. Didn't he have that one game where he hit like 8 threes to win it for us in OT?

I just can't believe the Blazers could get Magloire that cheaply if that deal is true. Surely the Bucks would rather have Salim and Batista than those spare parts?

If we could have sent Harrington to GS I would have demanded Biedrins back. I have to wonder if their refusal to include him with Murphy is what sunk that deal.

Quote: Sothron, you want to see Smitty and Long as an announcing team wow. That might be the most retarded thing i've ever heard. I don't know,,,,,best no name Hawk, I didn't see the name Ken Norman out there. He wasn't too good though You might want to get out of your parent's basement if that's "the most retarded thing" you've ever heard. Smitty and Long both did good jobs as announcers and an empty beer can could do a better job than Bob Rathbun.

Quote: I've been on this board a long time. There are many things I know about people. I still remember you as the new guy on the old ESPN boards that was an angry Hawks fan.

Quote: AND GS drafted a center in the lottery. That tells me that Mr. Biedrins might have potential but even GS is FAR from convinced that he will ever amount to anything. Its Golden State. How many young players did they give up on that turned out be good?

Quote: I remember the year that Nique went Down. Plastic Man carried the team. He couldn't shoot, but that joker knew how to get to the rim. IF you want to talk about Bust of a pick... the original AK47... Adam Keefe! Now I am having shaking spasms at my desk at work remember the 1990's Hawks drafts. I have never seen a GM like Babcock: he could outright rob a team in a trade, could sign big free agents, great to the fans but couldn't draft at all. Its amazing we did what we did in the 90's with our drafts providing zero bench help or youth movement.

Quote: My mind is challenging me today. Either Augmon was 3rd, 6th, or 2nd.. but he was in the lottery.. He was the 9th pick in the 1991 draft. I liked Stacey but he was a bust at that pick. He couldn't hit an outside shot to save his mother's life.

I'd like to think Salim alone is worth more than the peanuts Portland is tossing for Magloire.

Quote: Quote: With the $3 million, although it doesn't create more cap space, it might indeed influence the owners approach to spending more money. Unfortunately, it also showed that the owers were ready to spend all the money upto $3million less than the cap space. They don't even want to spend all the money they are allowed to spend to make this team better. Can you ever imagine them going over the cap like the elite teams to make it a championship team. Where is the Mark Cuban of Atlanta? I really wish Ted Turner would buy back the Hawks, Braves and nab the Thrashers and spend money on the teams like he used to do.