dgreene

Obviously, the trade has some drawbacks. I don't like trading a player for a basically dead contract. I haven't seen too much evidence that actually says having a lot of cap space equals the chance at an NBA Championship. If it did, Orlando probably should have one. However, I like the flexibility this trade offers as far as the possibilities for the team. Now, if you put Diaw at SF, you can possibly play Dermarr or Glover at SG without losing overall ballhandling. With Big Dog at SF, the team ballhandling was pretty bad. And, until Diaw gets comfortable in the NBA and works on his shot, you still have offensive talent on the court (to be fair, Big Dog would have easily overcome Diaw's offensive deficiencies). Defensively, a line-up of Terry/DJ/Diaw/SAR/Theo is a pretty imposing lineup (and you know it would be raining three pointers:P). Maybe Carlisle is drooling over the possibilities? Just a thought.

Rather than simply take whatever NY is offering, give them a list of players the Hawks would like to obtain in exchange for Theo, and let the Knicks negotiate the three-way trade. Saddle some other team with the players the Knicks are so eager to get rid of. The only question is, what player or players are worth giving up Theo?

Do you have the newest version of Adobe Acrobat reader installed? That's the only reason I can think of for being unable to load the page.

Picture this: starting line-up of Terry/Diaw (or Diaw/Terry, it really doesn't matter)/GRob/SAR/Ratliff. Our our offense is good, although we're not really a running team, and our defense is okay. But, we could then sub in DJ for GRob. Suddenly, we have 4 6'9" players on the floor (still like a 7-footer, though), 3 of which are potential lock-down defenders. And, with DJ, we still have a pretty good shooter. Who knows? He might be even better now (at shooting, and maybe even handling), since he probably wasn't doing a whole lot of dunking the past year. Just a thought.

Since I don't think any of us has seen any film of Diaw (much less seen him play in person), there's no way to know if he can handle the ball until summer league. However, I have noticed that the reports saying he can't handle the ball tend to be older, while the reports with him as a huge point guard are more recent. Perhaps he has improved significantly in that facet of his game over the past few years? I hope.

Miller didn't play particularly well this past season. He basically played himself out of the big contract he was looking for. Can the Hawks get him? I love JT and the things he brings to the table, but the current caste of players would probably work better with Miller rather than JT. Or am I just completely clueless and Miller has already been taken off the market one way or another? It isn't like Miller is an old veteran at the end of his career. He's still a pretty young guy and could be an integral part of future Hawks teams. If he can be obtained.

Unless someone can come up with a plausible sign and trade to bring in Jason Kidd or some other player that instantly makes everyone around him better, I don't believe there is a quick fix for the Hawks. So the team has to resort to making smaller changes for now. A trade that amounts to Terry for Barry/Heinrich improves overall team ballhandling, which I would consider a plus. Plus, while Heinrich might not be the basketball player Terry is (not really sure of this personally), he appears to be a smarter PG. Also a plus. The 21st pick can then be used on an athletic SF (preferably) or SG who can hopefully come in right away, play some defense and, not look totally lost on offense; when Big Dog comes off the books (whether an ending contract of by trade), the 21st pick will hopefully be ready to step in and be a competent starter. Big Dog's salary can be used for something else. A third plus. This plan does not promise immediate gains in the Win-Loss column, but it puts the Hawks in a better situation than if they simply resigned Terry.

Under your scenario, are the Hawks drafting Travis Outlaw at 21? I'm assuming so, but I just want to make sure. It's an interesting series of moves. Is Allen a good enough ballhandler to properly complement Jason Terry. Jason Terry's an interesting asset in the league because, while most seems to agree that he's an outstanding basketball player, his trade value is less than players of similar caliber because he's so much of a tweener. A future lineup of Hinrich/DJ (or Barry, to improve team ballhandling)/Outlaw/SAR/Theo would be a really impressive lineup (a faster PF would be nice, but Shareef will be fine) with veryy good size and great defensive potential. My main concerns (beyond the health of DJ) regard Outlaw. Would he eventually bulk up, or is he built too much like DJ where he'll always border on too-thin? Secondly, will he work to improve his game, or will he follow the path of Darius Miles and never transform his incredible athleticism into incredible basketball skill? Obviously, only time would tell, but that team would be young and able to keep up with anyone (and might play better defense than Detroit under the right coach/system). And not many teams in the league can have 4 6'9" players with good to great athleticism on the floor at once (just need some more size for frontline back-ups). Although by trading Terry, the Hawks lose a great community contributor, the long-term outlook of the team may be improved. And, in the long run, wins-stable franchise.

The reason no one is mentioning Jarvis Hayes is that, unless the Hawks get picks 1-3, their lottery pick goes to Milwaukee (I think it's Milwaukee, anyway). I think anyone would be hardpressed to select Hayes over the other players available in the top 3 picks.

The Falcons didn't really get lucky with Vick. Everyone acknowledged that Vick was the best player (and had the most potential) in that draft class. But Vick had very little experience at the QB position, relatively poor accuracy numbers, less height than the prototypical QB, and was an underclassman (try naming the last underclassman QB, besides Vick, to have a significant amount of success in the NFL). As a result, the Falcons could trade up relatively easily in order to draft Vick. The chances of any team trading out of the #1 and giving up LeBron James is very, very, very small. Just from a marketing position, he's the best option by far. And, to be honest, if the Hawks want to improve now, James is exactly what they need (although probably not until his 2nd year): a big SG with really good handles and vision. He would complement JT extremely well. I think Darko would fit in with the Hawks also: a big PF with good handles would add a strong passing (and supposedly some good ball-handling) presence to the interior game. Plus, Ratliff would be able to play his game even better with a big PF next to him. Carmelo is a good young player, but I'm not yet convinced his game will be so much stronger than Big Dog's, offensively or defensively. He's younger, and he takes it to the basket better, but I've got more questions about where he would fit than the other two (both in the near term and long term). Ford just seems really small, and I believe he will fall significantly because of that.

Weren't you the person to say that Theo would be far more effective teamed with a BIG PF? Would you really pass up a 7' Darko who everyone continues to rave about (although, I'm not sure who's actually seen him play)? On top of his size, he's really young, so he has all that potential everyone loves to talk about. I know that Tskitishvili also had a ton of potential, but, unlike him, Darko actually plays significant minutes on his Euroleague team. And, we can play him behind Reef for the majority of the season, and, if he's getting the hang of NBA basketball (and turns out to have the passing ability I've read about), maybe Reef can be traded to a team that could use a very good PF. Of course, if Darko is actually very slow (even if he has decent speed for his size), TJ Ford is fine. Speed is a wonderful feature to have, and, if you're going to be a small team no matter what, you might as well be fast.

I hated that test. Ran a red light on the way home from taking the stupid thing.

You're right. They're aren't many big guys on their way into the NBA in the near future. The only two I can think of at all are Chris Marcus (although I'm not sure he'll have much impact in the NBA) and James Lang, a big high schooler comparable in size to Eddy Curry (well, actually, a little wider). Just not much incentive to be a big player, anymore. Who wants to play like Shaq when you can play like Kobe, McGrady, and even Garnett?

This last game against the Wizards was a meaningless game. Unless MJ's pride is worth something to the players, anyway. Still, I think it's harder to go out and play hard in a meaningless game. I really would like to see a meaningful stretch of games (next season, obviously) with Big Dog not playing and Ira getting the start. If they play then as well as they are now, it's a good team. Could use some more ball-handling, but still a good team.

Darko Milicic. I'm not saying I would definitely pick him over James or Anthony, but I think you have to look at him very closely. Look at his positives. He's already played as a pro for a few years, which, to me, gives him an advantage on moving to the NBA. He has tremendous size, and, according to the interview with him on NBADraft.net, he compares his game favorably to Kevin Garnett (not as strong or as good a scorer yet, but has better passing skills). Plus, he's younger than James by a few months. The big negative, however, is that none of us has seen him play. With the recent trend of drafting European players, his stock might be a little higher than it otherwise would be. But if he's as good as some people are hyping him to be... Obviously, James or Anthony might be a better fit for the Hawks with Shareef at PF, but Darko is young, athletic, big, and very intriguing. I think anyone in the top 3 picks of the draft will be assured a player with seriously impressive potential. Take your pick: an incredibly athletic kid who has dominated other kids, a kid who blew through the NCAA with seeming ease (slightly less athletic than James), or a kid who has played and prospered against men 10 years older.