Iman

I'm guessing Marvin will average around 16ppg, Smoove around 15ppg ,and Speedy, ZaZa and Chillz around 12ppg. I'm sure we'll also have games where Salim and even Lue are our leading scorer for a game. So I see us as a balanced team with one leader as opposed to last year where we had two main shooters and lotsa role players. I'll be happy with 7ppg and 6rpg on 22mpg outta Shelden. Even with all his college experience, he'll have to earn his way in the NBA.

I'm not a big ZaZa fan. He is young and hopefully will improve but his lack of defense and defensive rebounding is a problem. I hope we pick up a starting center such as Magloire before the season starts. Maybe ZaZa's defense would improve if he wasnt required to be on the court so many minutes and had to worry less about fouling also. I didnt really like the Shelden pick but maybe he'll surprise me. I know he proved alot at Duke but I think he'll have to prove himself at the NBA level before he starts. I also think we will want to run on offense now that we got Speedy. So I have very little doubt that Marvin and Smoove will start at the forwards. Which leaves us needing a strong defensive center. With Magloire and some good chemistry and coaching, I can see us as around a 6th seed. Without another good center, I see us winning low to mid 30's.

I dont think we have too many guards. We didnt have enough last year, had to call up Grundy, JJ got too many minutes. We do have a redundancy in Salim and Lue. Neither plays much defense and both are too small to play successfully with Speedy. Coach Woodson will just have to be careful with his substitution patterns so he doesnt get stuck with a mini backcourt. Even with that, it wouldnt surprise me if Ivey spends part of the year in the NBDL or on IR, especially when we have some bigman injuries so we can carry an extra player. And I bet Salim and Lue both average only around 8 mpg each. If an offer too good to refuse did come up, I'd trade either Lue or Salim but would prefer by far to keep Salim based on potential.

Most everyone on this site probably likes to think about how many mpg game we can get that lineup on the court. First off, in the lineup JJ really has to be considered the point. And we'd definitely have to play zone, in which case Shelden probably would be very effective at boxing out for the defensive boards. But still, our most common backcourt will definitely be Speedy and JJ. Chillz started the year cold last year and seemed to be more effective off the bench, however, he might be the best SF to start with that lineup since he is very good at playing off a penetrating guard. I dont think there is much chance of that happening though but I still think Chillz will get plenty of minutes, they dont want to wear JJ out this year like they did last. Speedy JJ Marvin JSmoove ZaZa At around the 6 min mark, Chillz and Shelden come in for Speedy and ZaZa. We play zone with that lineup for around 4 mins then go thru deeper rotations, even getting JJ a few minutes rest. Of course a SNT with Al will probably get us back and center and probably eliminate the chance of seeing Shelden at center. I still want Magloire and a 1st myself.

Those comparisions dont seem bad to me. I do see Foye's higher end being more like Gilbert Arenas with muscle than Ben Gordon but maybe that was just the hype. I see Shelden's low end being lower (maybe Marcus Fizer) but I hope this guy is right.

I agree, a pessimist could worry about replacing Al's offense, especially given that we really wont a post threat that could demand a double team. However, once defense, rebounding, etc are taken into account, by my estimate Al might go from being the best forward on our team this year to being our 4th best forward if he was on our team next year. The last half of last year Smoove was definitely better. Shelden projects out to be a little weaker due to less offense but who knows, he might surprise. Realistically Al would better insure we'd be a good team next year if we dont use him to get us a better fitting player but overall with player moves and improvement we should be just as solid this year at forward as we were last year.

We should go after Jamal Magloire and a 2007 first rounder. That will get us into the playoffs this year and still give us a pick and capspace during the offseason. Next year just go ahead and pay David Anderson whatever it takes to get him over here. I'd probably just take Magloire rather than some of these other deals for garbage or overpaid names.

To me he really didnt say that. I think the question started by someone saying we have all these guys that play the same position. He said we dont feel that way and then basically went right back and in a round about way said that Al, Smoove, and MW were 3/4's. About the only thing that surprised me was he said Chillz was a 2 who could play a little 3.

Lmao, that's your best one yet. Your Nique character really cracks me up even though I dont get that Nique at all resembles that, but who knows.

These Shelden rumors have gotten everyone confused. I still think they are crazy, BK is not the type guy to let anyone know what he plans. Shelden would help with our interior defense but he probably would come off the bench to back up PF and C. Normally giving up the 5th pick for picks like N.O has is not a good idea, we've all seen the stats on how many superstars were picked top5 etc but this draft is unusual and our team needs are unusual. I think BK is gonna wait and see who's picked before us and if it doesnt fall out the way he likes, he'll slide down to N.O's two spots. With their first pick he'll take a point, Marcus or Foye might even slide that far, more likely he'd get Rondo who I think fits well with our team. Next pick would probably get us Sene or maybe O'Bryant will slide that far. I'd defitely prefer a Rondo/Sene draft over Shelden/Luther Head. With Shelden/Head, I think we are a better team next year but we stunt our eventual growth potential. Rondo would definitely be a big upgrade over Ivey but I still think he takes a few years to show what he'll really be capable. Sene and Batista can battle for backup minutes but Sene has much more potential. If O'Bryant or someone else falls to that pick, so much the better.

As the draft approaches, I'm gradually changing my draft ranking/list as far as who I hope the Hawks get with need thrown in heavily. I'd still have to take Aldridge first since he has the most potential to play the 4/5 but I'm gradually starting to worry about drafting him, very unlikely to slide to us anyways. Bargnani has too much size and potential to pass up. Thomas fell on my list for a while but I now have moved him back up, I'd just love to have his energy on the court. He'll probably always just be a role player and you hope to draft more than that with such a high pick but he is a game changing role player. O'Bryant and Rondo are probably alot higher on my list than on most. 1. Aldridge 2. Bargnani 3. Thomas 4. Roy 5. Morrison 6. O'Bryant 7. Foye 8. Gay 9. Rondo 10.Williams, Marcus I can see a player Shelden's size being effective in the NBA if they are athletic. He's not, I see him being a 6/6 player on 25mpg.

I think the Princess fits right in here. She's likes to argue about just about anything and she isn't the greatest user of the english language. You wouldnt expect that from a professional but maybe I'm basing that on my previous experience with Bill Shanks and Jaywalker. Either way, I hope she keeps posting, just tones down on the comments that on the internet come off as being egotistical.

Yup Walter, in my subconscious I am concerned that Smoove and Marvin at the forwards wont work. I also get a mild feeling of satisfaction everytime Deron or Paul have bad games. I really got your point that we will need a post offensive and defensive presence to play alongside Marvin and Smoove. Funny enough that might not be so much the case if we had a great point like Paul who could open up the court. I'd also love a Marvin for Livingston trade. I bet BK pretty much feels the same on those topics also. Hopefully BK will find the player that will fit. If he doesnt I assume he'll be released and you/Diesel will take his place. At least I assume that's why you/Diesel keep pointing out the mistake, to get the job. Because if it's not and it's just to make a point here, I think we got it. Now I just hope Aldridge doesnt have a bad back and he falls to us. Problem solved and no Walter as GM.

Great summary Lascar. Save that one and repost it everytime this argument comes up. I think we all agree that we need a full sized center more than anything. Aldridge would fill that slot adequately and definitely start over ZaZa. O'Bryant would probably be the next best choice based on need but from the lists, etc I've seen, it doesnt appear that BK will draft him even over Shelden. And I can agree that it would be hard to bypass drafting the another SF's such as Bargnani. And actually that is where drafting Marvin will kill us. Hopefully Aldridge will fall to us. If not, free agency will be even more key and autobypassing Walter's posts will be required.

I'd imagine that if BK or most any other GM does pass on Aldridge then it's due to some reason. Most likely it would be because they are worried about his back problems. They might also think he plays too soft, etc. I just dont think Shelden Williams will be much of an NBA player. Reminds me of Marcus Fizer. Also he doesnt really fit what we need in a big which is a bigger than normal big to make up for our slightly undersized forwards. Further, if there is such a thing, he just doesnt seem like a BK type player. It also makes no sense that everyone would know that we'll take Shelden when that actually goes against the idea that BK doesnt like to let anyone know what he plans to do. I am worried that we may take Thomas or Bargnani or Gay, but I just dont see us taking Shelden. Especially not over the best of Roy or Foye which should fit us well, or over a center prospect that fits us as well as O'Bryant might.

Most magazines come out about a month early, the timing of this article and Al's free agent period should be just right.

I can see Salim getting 25mpg next year at the 1/2. He'll never be much of a ball handler or distributor but if we lose Al Harrington's points and lack of defense next year then Salim may be just what we need. Since we wont know what free agents we can pick up until after the draft, it becomes more questionable who to draft in the second round. And of course the second round pick will almost have to be a big if we dont get one in the first round. I actually think BK will draft a point such as Jerry McNamara, Darius Washington, Blalock, etc and then try to go after a few free agent bigs. Chris Wilcox will probably be the first target then a lower salary guy like Jackie Butler or pay enough to get David Anderson to come over.

I like the article. I assumed it was from SI,etc. We dont need Al, we'll probably need him even less after the draft. He gives us depth but his money could be spent elsewhere to give us a better team. I'll probably be most upset if we do resign him, would prefer a sign and trade, wouldnt be too disappointed if we just let him walk.

This must be one of the hardest drafts to mock in a long time, hardest I can remember anyways. Most mocks have it Bargnani then Thomas but really those players make little sense to their teams it's just based on hearsay. I bet when the draft actually gets here it will shock us. Should be fun!

I think BK thought Walker had more trade value than JT. Also making the move freed up salary capspace quicker. We took on Walker's contract but also dumped Henderson's last year. In retrospect it probably wasnt a good deal. We didnt get much for Walker. JT would have been a good fit with JJ. Somebody did present a good point too, we might have been able to include JT in a deal for JJ and saved some picks. The Nazr dumping and letting Pryz just leave also seem to be bad moves. Still, BK doesnt have us stuck with any bad contracts so we have capspace and young talent. To finish the job he has to find the last few pieces and that may be hard to do unless he gets lucky. But at least so far I'll take what we have over what most GM's would have given us.

I'm almost certain that I'd stay put and I'm also almost certain BK will stay put also. Someone posted we should stay put and see who's still available at our pick and if we cant get who we want trade down. That seems to make the most sense especially when you think about who might be available and add in the fact that we probably wont have a pick next year. However, I think a good GM will look at it deeper. We are already too young. We have tons of capspace and tradeable assets. The odds of drafted a future all-star drastically go down when drafting lower than 5th. I bet BK will see all that and just stay put and draft BPA even if that means Morrison or Gay. Eventually he'll have to trade someone but a probable better player has more value when that time comes anyways. Speaking of no 1st rounder next year, I bet that's always in the back of BK's mind when he's trying to make moves. I bet he gets a pick that's likely to be good somehow before next year rolls around.

If we get a guard I'm pretty sure they will start. If we get a big I'd actually be surprised if they do start, especially if we keep Al or move him for a big.

I think that Roy or Thomas will be available at #5. If not, I actually wont be mad at BK if he takes Gay or Morrison if he doesnt feel Foye has much or that he doesnt need Marcus Williams.

I think Morrison will test out more athletic than people think and Rudy Gay will be off the charts, hopefully they will both move up. Tyrus Thomas will probably not test out that well and will show poor offensive ability so hopefully he will fall. People worry about Bargnani's position and Aldridge may be soft and he has a bad back. In effect I think the draft order will suprise us. Well, maybe I'm just hopefull because KB's scenario is the one I least want to see. I'd like to see us at least pick up Thomas or Roy.

I might do it but it'd be risky. I guess you could always say well this way you can get a Marvin replacement that fits better or if you really want to just go back and get a straight up replacement in Rudy Gay. But the picks dont fall right you might end up with Bargnani and Morrison who both might flop and dont help us defensively. If I did do it, I'd be praying that Aldridge was available which I dont think will happen. In that case I'd take Tyrus Thomas at #2, Roy or Foye whichever is better at #5. #16 would depend on who fell, I'd want O'Bryant. Who knows, Brewer might still be there, Marcus Williams, Rondo? Most likely I'd go big with that pick, Hilton Armstrong, Sene, etc. That actually probably would be a better team than keeping Marvin.