Uuus

Sweet...that just made my day!! thanks.

anyone know? I didn't think it was but I'm hoping I'm wrong.

I'm looking forward to: 1. Will Teague be the best player on the court? 2. How effective will be Crawford be? 3. Will Sergiy (?) have that sweet stroke he showed last year in training camp? 4. Most excited about-what is Pop C gonna do? Is he a diamond in the rough? Will he be able to hang w/ this level of competition and how confident and good is he really? Or was that just a horrendous pick, even at #53.

How is it that teams like the Bulls and Heat can get rid of contracts like Heinrich and Beasley, Cook, etc but we are not able to get rid of Bibby or Marivn's? Or maybe its possible, but it takes some time and people on this board just make it sound impossible?

I would love to get Varejao. Actually, I think he would be the perfect backup big for this team. He brings the tenacity, hustle, and intangibles that we need off the bench. When we play Cle, nothing frustrates me more than getting a missed shot on D and then having Varejao hustle his a$$ off and tip the ball back towards midcourt so that one of his teammates can run it down. I would love seeing him doing that in a Hawks uni though!

Johan's singed w/ the Nets. I like Barnes a lot. With LeBron and Wade in the same division, we need tough minded perimeter defenders. I loved what Barnes and Pietrus provided for Orlando. They're a bunch of scrappers that dont back down from anyone. I would love to sign Barnes. Harrington? Not so much. He's a streaky scorer but he doesn't have the tough mindedness, heart, and perimeter defense that I think this team needs.

Monta's a wonderful player but his high TO rate worries me. Is that a product of the GS offense and can be controlled or is he just that wild?

I love jamal and josh but if that's what it takes to get cp3, go for it. we need a superstar in the A just to have a chance to compete w/ mia for next 5 years. make it happen sund!

Toronto loves european players.

Joe's contract hasn't been officially signed yet. Is there a way we can trade players to a team under the cap, say someone like the Clippers who LeBron does not intend to sign with and get further under the cap? That way we can sign LeBron first and then sign Joe after that (since we are able to go over the cap to be able to sign him). I haven't had time to fully think thru this but just trying to come up w/ ideas about how it can be done.

Yes I do. When a player isn't given so much freedom and there's a structured offense in place that has "trigger points" and "reads" as Drew keeps saying, I think there would be an increase in ball movement. I don't think Joe is selfish enough to want to play Iso Joe all game. Its just that when there's no other offensive philosophy and he's been forced to bail the team out for years (when JSmoove, Horford, and others weren't adequate enough offensively) you get used to it. There's gonna be growing pains but the pressure is on LD now to get the team and Joe out of that frame of mind and to install the new motion offense. Let's not forget Joe led the league in 3% shooting the year before he came to Atlanta. Let's bring that effective shooting back to the surface and turn him into an effective scorer rather than a volume shooter.

You don't think the lack of an offensive system had anything to do with some of the things you stated above?

We'd have to convince LeBron to come here first. That's what Sund and Joe should be doing right now....AT THIS FREAKIN MOMENT! They should be getting on the phone w/ his representatives and asking for a chance to present to him, and at the same time they should be working on a presentation which shows LBJ the benefits of coming to play in the A at the highlight factory! These are the 4 things I would definitely include: 1. He would get the 6 years max contract because it'd have to be a S&T 2. He would be coming to a strong core of players. He would have a strong Robin in Joe Johnson and another young All Star in Al Horford in place already. Noone else who presented to him can give him that already (Chicago might be the closest but its well documented how Rose's style of play will be less effective w/ LBJ there, Dallas-Kidd is too old) 3. He's loyal to Cleveland and they will get a great package in return...no other team can offer the talent we can. I'm thinking Josh Smith plus Crawford will have to be included in order to get the job done. 4. Atlanta is Hollywood East; many celebrities and athletes call the A they're home. W/ LBJ in town, an Atlanta Hawks game will be the hottest ticket in the country in all of sports. Get on this Hawks!

I don't like the contract but hell its not my money. and if ur serious about contending for a championship you have to do it. jj right now is the pre big 3 paul pierce. with the right system plus supporting cast we can win a championship w/ him. hopefully, drew has the right system for him. we all know the woody iso joe O was great in the regular season but in the playoffs, it was easily stopped. w/ the right system I think he becomes more effective in the post season. also, either j smoove and big al need to keep improving tremendously (becoming indisputable top 5 players at their positions) or we need to make a trade for a true superstar. instead of being unhappy w/ the contract, im excited that our supposed frugal ownership is spending money and talking about paying the luxury tax for the right player(s). it shows me they just might be serious about going for a ring. F*** what all these outsiders are saying about the hawks and the contract. they're always negative about our team anyways.

there has to be a follow up move after joe resigns. and it has to be: 1. trade package involving either smoove or al for a true superstar: cp3, melo, or Lbj (wet dream) 2. sign shaq if he's serious about his fitness and making one last run at a ring. I would figure he's real motivated after kobe gloated about having one more than him.

I don't know Biedrens game enough, but I do know that he stinks at the FT line. We couldn't have both him and Josh out on the court at the end of the game together!!!

WOW! great move by the asg. makes me think there is a follow up move they want to work on but it hinges on joe resigning first. so they're saying here it is joe-take it so we can make the follow up move or totally forget about it. they've swung some of the leverage into their favor.

You don't hear them talking about winning championships? Well I'm pretty sure I have. So I looked it up, here you go...its an interview w/ the face of Hawks basketball under ASG: http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2010/04/19/atlanta-hawks-asgs-michael-gearon-jr-talks-hawks/ "On Woody’s performance “He’s done a good job. Getting the third seed, 53 wins, each year we keep getting better and better—regular season, he has done a tremendous job. But us a franchise, from the ownership down, we judge ourselves in the playoffs. It’s not just the regular season, its’ winning championships and we feel we have the right core here, culturally—coach, GM, players—and that’s what we are trying to do.” " Why can't we?

I agree, it doesn't match up w/ what we think of the ASG. The only other scenario I can think of is what I've been talking about in this thread. You don't make a move like this unless you're serious about winning. (Its something you see Mark Cuban doing, not the ASG). And if you're serious about winning, you gotta bring in something even bigger to take this team to the next level. You gotta get a LBJ or a CP3 in the ATL. I hope thats the angle they're taking.

Don't steal my thunder Diesel! I've been talking about these exact scenarios since last night in the "its official" thread. Check it out.

If you're serious about winning, you have to resign Joe Johnson. And then you go after a real superstar so that Joe can be the sidekick. With Joe on board, a CP3 or a LBJ might entertain the thought of playing in Atlanta. W/out him on board, they wouldn't want to come here. And if you have to give Joe the full max in order to be able to do that, you do it. You do it w/out hesitation...a CP3 or LBJ in Atlanta will solve any financial problems the Hawks would have. Phillips would be packed everynight and we'd be on national tv at least a few times a week. Is there any chance that management is entertaining the idea of trading Josh Smith + Jamal Crawford + picks for CP3 or LBJ (if Joe and management can convince him to come to Atlanta....if winning is his top priority, we have 2 all stars here already ready to help him w/ that). That could be a reason for drafting Jordan Crawford (who is basically Jamal Crawford right)? Am I over analyzing this and getting myself excited for no reason? Wow, imagine a lineup of Bibby, Joe, LeBron, Horford, Shaq (?) or hell even Zaza until we can find something better (and some veteran out there would bite at the opportunity to play w/ Joe, LeBron, and Al. That would help move Al to the PF position like he wants. I have Bibby starting because I think LeBron or Joe would be primary ball handlers and Bibby's shooting would be deadly w/ those 2 out there. Once Teague is ready, you can insert him in. Or even, CP3, Joe, Marvin, Al, ? .

Thanks...I like thinking BIG. And I hope Hawks management is too. About what you said, I don't know how trade checker works for free agents, but I'm pretty sure that Al doesn't make enough money to get the trade done. LBJ will have a higher salary than he did last year so I think it will have to be J Smoove + Jamal for LBJ + filler.

Then, why are the Mavs in the discussion for LeBron...I thought you didn't need cap space if there's a sign and trade? Am I missing something here?

If Joe takes the Hawks offer early enough, I say the Hawks go all in. And by that I mean, they try to get in conversation(s) with LeBron (or D Wade). Supposedly, LeBron considers Joe a desierable potential sidekick so you attempt to convince LBJ to play in Atlanta w/ Joe and Al Horford. You sign Joe and then you get him on the phone recruiting LeBron. I'm thinking trading Jamal + JSmoove + picks for LBJ is one of the more attractive S&T packages for the Cavs. Does anyone else see the logic behind this or am I just getting delirious here? After hearing that our supposedly frugal owners are offering Joe the full max, I'm beginning to think they just might be serious about contending for championships. And there's no better way to contend than to bring a superstar in to help Joe.

I can't get the link to work at the office...what else is DA saying? Marvin at the 2 is definitely a crazy idea....but....maybe....possibly... the only way it could work is if you utilize him like the Pistons used Rip. Marvin has a great midrange and if you can get him coming off screens, maybe he can become a bigger stockier version of Rip. Also, he's one of our better perimeter defenders but I don't know how he would do guarding SGs most of the game.