Iman

I dont want anyone to ever try to get ZaZa to try to play like Dirk. I want him to hit the weights hard, even if he loses a little touch and his jumper. He needs more strength to play the game he is best at which is just scrapping for rebounds. He also needs to work tremendously on his defense, which seemed to be improving to me as the year went on.

Diaw has improved since going to Phoenix and I agree the Hawks have made rebuilding mistakes letting some players go. But this is getting ridiculous. Phoenix plays a donut offense, the man in the middle will be uncovered if a team decides to try to take away their 3 point shooting. Dallas defended that way last nite, Diaw had a good game. If they had decide to put Tim Thomas or James Jones in the post they would have had similar results. Diaw's size probably allows him to play center a little better than JSmoove, Marvin, JChill, or even Donta but on our team with it's systems I think all those players are practically as good if not better than Diaw. Al Harrington would have killed Dallas if Phoenix had him in the post last night. Actually if Phoenix just had a player as good as Harrington, JSmoove, or probably Marvin then Dallas probably would have came out of that defense. We drafted Diaw to play with JT and for his versatility. Now it's showing but it he would have rode the pine on the Hawks last year if he hadnt just scooted back to France where he should be. Even with how much better Diaw is playing he still often passes the ball out for a contested 3 pointer when he's open in the paint. He finishes soft and guards the paint less than Al Harrington. I'm glad we were able to use him as a tradeable asset. Actually what is interesting to me is how much will Phoenix pay to extend his contract.

I've always wondered why JT couldnt be as good as Iverson. I think he's just as quick, probably even shoots a little better. I just think Iverson wants it more and is tougher. But still, both players are just small SG's. Both usually need another big guard on the floor or else large SG's will kill them. That makes it hard to build a championship team around them, but not impossible. If I wanted that kind of player but one that is at least bigger, I'd draft Randy Foye this year as opposed to overpaying for JT or AI.

I agree with most of the comments, even JohnnyBravo for once...lol. As I commented a few days ago, I think Lue and Salim and even the guy we brought up at the end of the year are redundant, we dont need two or three SG's in PG bodies that dont really play much defense. AI would add to that list and definitely make them expendable but I dont see us getting AI. If we draft Roy or Marcus Williams (which I also dont see happening, I bet BK would take Gay or Carney maybe even before Roy) then Lue and Salim slide further down the bench and Ivey is for sure gone. Actually Ivey is probably gone no matter what. I'd like to see us keep Salim for a long time and expect him to improve but he'll have to improve a good bit or else he'll always just be a valuable scorer off the bench, not a starter.

I dont mind Gooden as a player but to me he's another swingman like Marvin and JSmoove but with a few more years of physical development. I'd rather see us overspend for a position of need. I'd like to see us make an offer to Chris Wilcox and/or Nene if nothing else make someone else overpay for him like we did with Kenyon Martin. Then put more effort into getting a lesser known bigman like Jackie Butler or even Mbenga if we dont get Wilcox/Nene.

I think Salim and Lue are redundant. Both are small guards that shoot well but dont play defense. Both are streaky offensively also. Salim is careless with the ball whereas Lue takes good care but really doesnt initiate much offense. I'd trade either player for a more traditional point, preferably Lue. I'd like to keep Salim for his instant offense off the bench. We need a better all around starting guard to play with JJ.

If it werent for the NBDL being an option I would think that many of our end of the bench guys might be gone. Those include Edwards and Batista that I think both have contracts, both could play in the NBDL if we find better replacements. I dont know what will happen with Donta but I think Ivey is likely gone. I didnt mind the experiment and dont think he is a bad player but I assume we sign/draft a couple of points this year. Actually Ivey makes a good third point so maybe he stays I just dont want him getting many minutes.

Well Billy Knight says he spends more timing watching players so I'm sure he make a good choice..lol. If last year is now how he's operating I see him finding a player that he knows can give us something. Maybe Farmar or Rondo will fall that far, if now I could almost see BK going for someone like McNamara outta Syracuse.

I guess you may be excluded him due to age and overseas coaching but you've got to include Phoenix's Mike D'Antoni (sp?). His system makes scrubs look like stars, not that all their players are scrubs. I'd take Avery Johnson either way though.

I thought the first trade of Al for Jefferson was with Boston also. I'd luv to pick up that Jefferson or Kendrick Perkins. Livingston is the future for LAC but if they wanted to part with him for Marvin or JSmoove I'd do it. Would prefer to just give up our first this year and Salim. They might do that given all the forwards coming out this year. Richard Jefferson is definitely a talent upgrade for us but I think I'd pass him for Al since that would make us capspace limited but still needing a lot of bigmen.

I'd take Thomas as well. I think Diesel may be right though that he may slide as the draft gets close when everyone sees how small he is. I did want Roy but I'm just not sure about him anymore. Maybe during the physical testing he'll be even quicker and taller than expected then I'd take him next. I dont want Landlord and if anything I see him sliding in the draft when he measures the same length as Marvin. Plus we know BK will take Splitter or Gay before Roy or the Landlord anyways.

I voted along with the crowd. I guess a few areas where I vary is that I'd take Aldridge, then Bargnani, then Thomas. I know Thomas duplicates but going with the BPA unless equal theory I just dont see a near equal. Then I guess I'd take Splitter, Gaye, Williams, Roy, Carney in that order. Funny enough, I bet BK's list is pretty much the same. I like Roy but I liked Juan Dixon alot coming outta college too and I'm not sure Roy brings much more than Juan. Sheldon Williams might surprise me but no way he has comparable potential to Okafor, maybe he compares favorably to Brian May but I dont think May will do much in the NBA either.

I cant believe I just read that last Walter thread. It's probably true that we will have a tough time being a dominant team with all our swing players but it's not like we are done rebuilding. AND, most importantly, it's not like our young players are done developing their games or their bodies. I'm hoping ZaZa goes into a hardcore weight lifting program over the next few years, lotsa muscle is all he needs to be a much more effective player. Marvin and JSmoove are both so young that I expect to see significant changes in their bodies and as these changes occur that may change where they are most effective on the court. I think I most want to see us draft Bargnani, then Aldridge, but due to likely draft position I see us likely to get Tyrus Thomas. That team would definitely drive Walter crazy. I think it would be exciting to watch those guys grow and see who would develop into the most effective PF between Thomas, Marvin, and JSmoove.

Diaw has got amazingly better in some areas. He now fits and understands the offense that he's playing in so he takes most of the shots that he should. He's finishing in the paint much better and shooting free throws much better. Some of the finishing in the paint improvement is due to the more wide open floor I'm sure. In Atlanta he repeatedly missed shots 2 feet from the basket. But when you get down to it, he would not have helped our team much this year, even if we had a different Coach. He was one of our swingplayers and we moved him. Other than being longer, I'm not that sure he's much better than Donta and for sure he would not get much playing time in front of all our other swingmen. Speaking of Donta, I bet he'd average 10, 4, and 4 on Phoenix and I'm not sure we'll even resign him. We overpaid for JJ, no doubt. But we had lots to give and needed a good player. Diaw and those picks had lotsa value but not so much for us. Diaw didnt fit. The draft picks would have just been for more young players to develop and we already have about enough of those. JJ's salary was the biggest thing we gave up. Probaby then next year's pick unless we make the playoffs, then I'd actually even value this year's Laker pick that we gave higher than I'd value Diaw for our team. Even if we had drafted a point guard last year and didnt resign Al, I still dont see Diaw being any more than the third man off our bench, maybe later depending on who we drafted this year. He's gone, and he's goofy looking anyways, forget about him.

If we had drafted Paul instead of Marvin, I still dont think BK would have wanted to resign Al if he got up over the $8mil mark. I know I wouldnt. He's inconsistent offensively, not a very strong rebounder, but mainly horrible on defense. Considering we'll probably draft another forward, we wouldnt need Al, especially if he costs much. And we basically picked Al up for free anyways. I'd like to see us sign and trade him or even sign him and trade him next year but it wont bother me much if he walks and we just use his capspace to get someone more suited to the team.

I dont think Walter is actually a real poster. I think it's some automated computer program that Diesel developed. Everytime this program auto searches and finds a place to reinsert it's programmed statements it is activated. Going back to the original topic, I think most posters here liked JT and Reef, maybe to the point of not noticing their flaws, definitely moreso than hating on them. Most everybody hates Walker's game, I bet even he hates it himself. Now it seems to me that everyone likes most the Hawks players except maybe on the defensive end of the court. We do have way too many swingmen but we are still only half thru rebuilding. Unless we practically get lucky in the draft AND free agency, we probably will eventually have to trade one or maybe even two of our developing swingmen. We dont mind Al but one of our young guys will give us most of the offense with more defense and save us money so we can afford a more needed asset. That's not hating is it? But if I have to make a hate list I guess I'd put Edwards on top, then Lue, Ivey, Batista, ZaZa, and Salim. Cant find much to hate about any of our other players and I definitely wont to keep the bottom of my hate list players for a while.

Gotta agree on Roy. Really he is sorta like a thinner and slightly quicker JJ. Seems like duplication but he'd fit better than Chillz in the backcourt with JJ and I still think that would work if it werent for the fact that Chillz seems to fit nicely coming off the bench. We'd still have Lue and Salim this year and then the year after pick up more of a true point to replace Lue. I like Williams alot also, wouldnt be disappointed if everyone else is gone and we take him. Of course I'd want any of the three bigs first, then Roy, then Williams (and I dont mean Sheldon btw..lol). I bet that will be BK's rankings too except he puts Gay and then Morrison ahead of Williams. BK's list: 1. Bargain Man 2. Aldridge 3. Tyrus 4. Roy 5. Gay 6. Morrison 7. Williams (not sure which one)

Tyrus appears be a similar athlete to JSmoove. They are both about the same size and have very good timing when blocking shots. The interesting thing with Tyrus is that he's has still been growing while in college and he's fairly new to basketball so you expect his skills to be behind. Tyrus probably is better defensively in that he seems to stay between his man and the hoop and then skills gets blocks. That's more how a PF or C plays defense. JSmoove lets his man get passed him and then goes for the block from behind or gets blocks by helping on another man. Further JSmoove offensively seems to want to play away from the hoop like a SF whereas Tyrus stays in by the hoop. They could work well together at the 3 and 4 but not for long periods of time or against true big lineups playing the 4 and 5. I'd still be glad to get a chance to draft Tyrus then I'd hope he'd grow a few more inches.

Geez guys, pretty much everyone agrees that we have a ton of players best suited to play SF. None of the top3 picks last year would make us much better or have much more trade value than Marvin. Most everyone was worried that Paul could be shutdown by big points, it may still prove to be true under playoff conditions but probably not and he has tons of trade value so that was a bad draft pick. Otherwise, BK is trying and has probably done what many other good GMs would have done. So far lotsa tweeners is what we have and probably what we'll get outta this draft. Marvin and JSmoove have tons of physical maturation to go thru still but even with that, probably both will never be above average at any position other than SF. Hopefully we'll get more of a PF tweener outta the draft. Practically all will be tradeable if the right deal comes along. The deal probably wont come along so us optimists just have to dream that Marvin and JSmoove together will be fine. Let us dream and let us forget Paul, btw I'm glad NOK is falling.

I agree, that would be a near perfect offseason to me. I dont see Al and the pick being worth near as much to us as JO but Indi might do it. I'd throw in a little extra with Marvin to get Livingston if I had to or I'd do a similar deal if possible and get a little extra like Devin Harris and Mbenga for Marvin. I dont see a need to resign Grundy since we are already stuck with Lue and Salim, if either were moved I'd consider signing him.

I'm glad Delk didnt get to play. He handled it professionally and now is being rewarded by being picked up by a contender. We got to see that Salim can do in my opinion pretty much the same thing Delk can do. They both are streaky and dont distribute the ball. I think Delk is probably a little better but if Salim can improve his ball handling he'll be better and at least he probably isnt as injury prone as Delk. Delk was worth a second rounder if we had played him but we dont really need any second rounders anyways.

Oh no, I agree with Hotts and Diesel on this one, if we can barely beat Minny at home without Al that still doesnt mean we'll be good next year. However if we get something to replace Al that is as good as Al but that fits better then we should improve significantly.

At the time of the trade I'm sure the things we gave up to get JJ were rank in order of importance: 1. salary 2. protected 1st rounder 3. Laker 1st rounder 4. Diaw I bet they wanted Diaw but as far as his value to Atlanta it was similar to how we valued Donta Smith. Now that Diaw is producing maybe the rank has changed somewhat: 1. salary 2. protected 1st rounder 3. Diaw 4. Laker pick this year in a weak draft I'm not even sure that Diaw would have played for us this year, he might have went back to France if we hadnt packaged him in a trade. If he had played he's still pretty much a tweener player like we already have tons of so I doubt who woulda saw much court time. Diaw is a good role player and good teams need good role players. We need stars and got one even if we mainly had to overpay in salary.

I like the hype. If we get him my hope is that he's still growing taller. I'd still rather have Aldridge and Thomas appears to be pushing Aldridge back to us.

I thought Diop might be worth trying to pick up last offseason. After seeing him more and in person last Saturday, I just dont see him as a starting NBA center. He has long arms and that's about it, I cant see him being taller than 6'10 and he seems kinda weak to me. I dont think he's starting in front of Dampier due to skill, I think Dallas likes to bring Dampier off the bench with Van Horn and whereas Diop fits with Dirk better. Btw, Dirk has gradually bulked up and now plays much better defense in the paint, hopefully if we take a risk drafting Bargnani or even Aldridge then maybe the same will happen with them.