Sothron

Where did I bash Zaza? I like the guy. He's a great backup center. That's the key of course: backup. He's not a real starter and we all know it. Biedrins would certainly have been better in retrospect on our team than Childress.

Anyone who actually watched Paul play last season would have as good of a laugh as putting him on that list that I did. Paul is a horrible defensive player. If it was not for Steve Nash I would list Paul squarely as the worst defensive point guard in the entire NBA.

And Mihm who got tossed off the Cavs and is barely a starter for a big man starved Lakers team is any better?

Quote: Quote: Looking back on it, Deng, Iggy and Biedrins would have been better fits on our team. Especially the big man. What has Biedrins proved? Childress is a better athlete than Deng and a better shooter than Iguodala. He can play 2 positions and he also plays D. Isn't that what this team is going to be all about? Guys who are versatile, can run the floor and play D? Too many of you are writing off Childress too soon. Go find the two highlight videos I posted of Biedrins. That kid is very good but he's raw (he's younger than Josh Smith) and he plays on a team that's even more inept than we are and refuses to play him. He would definitely start for us here.

I do agree that the ownership struggles have absolutely stuck this team in the mud for the last two seasons and looks like it will last at least under season. No Hawks fan can honestly deny that. The rest of the article is the typical Hawk hate that the national media regurgitates on itself to try and make it fact.

Not having that meatgrinder of a WC trip to start the season off is going to help, no doubt.

Quote: Quote: Mihm sucks. He is worse defensively than Zaza without even the energy, he's a pedestrian rebounder and the only saving grace to his entire game is his outside jumpshot. Which isn't even good, but average. I would hate having Mihm on this team because he would do nothing to address actual needs on our team. so who would you suggest we get with out giving up our core! it seams like you want us to get a great big man with out giving up are best players. i will take c mihm if it means we only lose t lou. sounds like you are living in fantasy land. the objective is to get the best big man we can with out giving up important peices of our team; any big man we get is an improvement over john edwards! I'd rather give a one year deal to Lorenzen Wright who at least can play defense and plays hard. Two things no one has ever accused Mihm of doing. Besides which if we gave up Lue we wouldn't have a real backup point guard on the roster.

I still think the Pacers are the ones holding this up. They are refusing to lower the protection on the pick because they know we can't do anything else with our roster until Harrington is gone. We have already lost a chance to get Magloire for peanuts from the Bucks. Who knows what else we will miss out on? Meanwhile the Pacers did their own trades while we can't do anything.

Mihm sucks. He is worse defensively than Zaza without even the energy, he's a pedestrian rebounder and the only saving grace to his entire game is his outside jumpshot. Which isn't even good, but average. I would hate having Mihm on this team because he would do nothing to address actual needs on our team.

Looking back on it, Deng, Iggy and Biedrins would have been better fits on our team. Especially the big man.

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.