DJ_Money

If Al ever leaves us, I'll probably cry.

Unless things have changed, Patterson would be required to register as a sex offender in Georgia, which has some very strict laws for such individuals. Just speaking on his on-court merit, I'd say he's about as useful as Lo Wright, so I'm certain he's on the ASG's radar.

Who here can't picture Gearon's smug ass uttering the "We have arrived." comment? Fun fact: We lost six straight after that W vs. the Lakers. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...ge=Hawks-080723 Quote: After the Hawks came back to beat the Lakers in a late-season game last spring, one of the team's myriad owners sidled up to a fellow reporter, beaming, and said, "We have arrived." It appears it was a brief stay. The departure of Josh Childress to Greek squad Olympiakos, first reported by Sekou Smith in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a crushing blow to the franchise on multiple levels. First and foremost, obviously, it deprives them of one of the best sixth men in the game, a guy who could make a huge impact without needing any plays run for him because of his ability to attack the glass, score in transition and play off the ball. It also leaves them scrambling to fill out the roster, with most of the offseason's top free agents already claimed by other teams. Atlanta has only eight players under contract at the moment, and two of them (oft-injured Speedy Claxton and oft-inactivated Solomon Jones) barely count. Even if the team can re-sign Josh Smith, the Hawks are still paper thin. But the real damage here isn't immediately visible. Nothing could do more to perpetuate the Hawks' standing as one of the league's worst-run organizations than to have a player they desperately wanted to keep bolt for another continent. The stink from that will linger long into the future, affecting other free agents' decisions to join the Hawks and/or remain with them, until there comes a time when the organization can prove it has its act together. That day seems a long way off. Look, good organizations just don't screw up like this. They stay in touch with free agents -- they make sure the player knows he's wanted and it's just a question of finding the price, and they lay the groundwork far ahead of time by operating in a first-class manner. On that level, the fact that Childress didn't think twice about leaving -- and that Josh Smith seemingly would gladly pack his bags too -- speaks volumes about the management. So does the fact that Atlanta is among NBA players' favorite cities to visit, and yet nobody wants to play here. And it's not like Childress woke up on July 1 with a craving for tzatziki and an iPod full of Yanni tunes. He's a smart, cultured guy and he'll do fine over there, but going abroad wasn't his most preferred option. He was pushed into this position when the Hawks first didn't extend him a year ago, and then followed that up by not making a strong enough initial offer to him in free agency. Atlanta essentially overplayed its hand, thinking that Childress, as a restricted free agent, didn't have any other options but to take the Hawks' offer for a bit above the midlevel exception. But Childress and agent Lon Babby recognized that the increased power of the euro has made going overseas a real option for all but the most expensive of the league's players, and found a way around restricted free agency by signing a lucrative three-year deal in Greece -- one that has opt-outs after each season that could allow him to return to the NBA. By screwing this up, the Hawks also popped their own balloon from the seven-game run against Boston in the first-round of the playoffs. That series featured a shocking sight -- an incredibly loud, involved, borderline intimidating Philips Arena crowd that gave the Hawks their first legitimate home-court advantage in ages. In that series, it appeared the team had finally turned the corner in reaching what had been a notoriously apathetic fan base. Losing Childress deflates much of the enthusiasm from that run, especially since the Hawks have signed exactly zero players in free agency thus far. One wonders if the team even had a contingency plan in place in the event that Childress left, or if it's a fire drill over at Centennial Tower today. Obviously, this signing has implications beyond the Hawks. Already this summer we've seen Juan Carlos Navarro, Tiago Splitter, Bostjan Nachbar, Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Loren Woods, Primoz Brezec and Carlos Delfino say no thanks to the NBA because they got better money from a team overseas; by the end of the summer we may be saying the same about several others. The only difference in Childress' case is that he's American and his deal was for even more money than the others (Nachbar also got some major dough, incidentally). So Childress may become a pioneer in terms of restricted free agents working around the system. So in the long term, then, the big winner in this development likely will be future restricted free agents. In the short term, perhaps the winner is Josh Smith. With the Hawks still wiping the mud off their faces, they're certainly more motivated to reach a deal with him fairly quickly and get some good news out there. And if his agent starts throwing around hints that teams in Europe are willing to meet Smith's price, the Hawks are likely to take the threat much more seriously than they did with Childress. And while there are ways for the Hawks to try to undo some of the damage from this -- such as making a run at former local high school star and restricted free agent Louis Williams -- nothing in their track record says they're capable of pulling it off. That Childress so improbably slipped from their grasp only cements that impression.

Quote: He stated that he left because they didn't offer him enough money and that they told him to go out and find another deal. He stated that there wasn't any signs that they wanted to hurry up and get a deal done and that he got frustrated. Well, I guess he showed them...

Quote: What you may not also heard in the states is that Olympiakos has also offered 11.000.000$ to Deng in order to come to our team. olympiakos is one of the best teams in Europe and this years budget is close to 45.000.000 euro ( 60.000.000$). European teams do not have salary cup which means that if the ownership wants to pay players with gold - no one will say NO- Smith was also approached by Olympiakos but Smith didnt want to play overseas yet. Hmmm...

On 790 a few minutes ago... His sources say that Josh Smith is also, at the very least, exploring any opportunities that may be available in Europe. Take that for what you will.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...wks_greece.html Quote: Atlanta Hawks fans won't have to fret over the fate of restricted free agent swingman Josh Childress anymore. That's because Childress is no longer a Hawk. He said he agreed to terms Wednesday morning on a three-year contract with Olympiakos of Greece that is worth far more than $20 million initially reported. "It's official, I just signed," Childress said by phone Wednesday morning from Athens, where he and agent Jim Tanner will be until Friday. "I think it was . . . a situation where I didn't know who to expect coming in, coming over to Athens. But it's a great city and a great organization. They do whatever they can to make you feel at home." The deal is the most lucrative current contract in European basketball and the biggest in Euroleague history. It's also another step in the globalization of the game, a trend that got a huge boost recently when the top-rated U.S. high school player, California native Brandon Jennings, opted for a contract with an Italian team over playing at Arizona. Womp womp... There's more at the link, but nothing really relevant. We can blast the ASG for dragging their feet and getting nothing done earlier, but there's nothing to be said about matching the money.

Quote: “Come on, man. Do you really think these guys would still be hanging out there if they were dealing like this all along?” one of my spies told me late Tuesday night. “The spinning that’s going on right now is nothing short of despicable. They haven’t done right by those kids [Childress and Smith] and they have every right to want more for themselves.” I've never used "despicable" to describe the ASG...but hell, I think I like it. Sounds like a good fit.

Quote: He isn't better than Marvin and doesn't shoot well enough or defend enough to be a starter for our team. Childress is a great 6th man but is a below average starter. ...and that's about all that needs to be said.

Quote: Quote: Quote: Mabey Arthur Blank could buy the team. He has enough trouble running the one he already owns. As long as he doesn't bring Rich McKay along he should be fine. Or Mora, Petrino, etc.

Quote: Mabey Arthur Blank could buy the team. He has enough trouble running the one he already owns.

Long post. The short version... -Sekou confirms the offer and Childress' interest. -Sekou (rightfully) rips the front office for their lack of action thus far. -Gets into the various scenarios for both Joshes. -Includes a small blurb on the Summer League at the end. http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...rs_and_sen.html Quote: Dollars and Sense? By Sekou K Smith | Monday, July 21, 2008, 08:39 AM The Atlanta Journal-Constitution SMYRNA - That’s the only thing standing between the Hawks right now and signed contracts for both Josh Smith and Josh Childress. The Hawks have the dollars to spend (they can bust the bank to sign both of these young cats to extensions) but don’t appear to have the sense of urgency where these two guys are concerned. If they do, they have a strange way of showing it (daily contact with your free agents apparently does not indicate that it’s anything more than high-stakes phone tag to keep up appearances). So much has been made here about Josh Smith and how his summer is playing out (more about that in a minute), but what of Josh Childress? He is absolutely considering an offer to play overseas, Olympiakos in Greece, this season (as first reported last night by Yahoo! Sports) with the Hawks having no right to match an offer from an overseas team. This is getting nuts. How in the world has it come to this for the Hawks and their own free agents? Here we are, working on three weeks now without so much as a hint that the Hawks and these free agents are speaking the same (salary range) language. That wouldn’t normally be cause for concern. But since it’s the Hawks and this is July (soon to be August), my sonar is bleeping like crazy. It’s going to be mid-August before you know it, and the Hawks are still going to be bogged down in negotiations that are far enough apart that neither the agents nor the team are willing to speak on it publicly (as has been the case so far for both sides, no one has spoken on the record about this stuff yet). Something just doesn’t add up folks. There was never a reported offer to Childress last October (and I’ve never been able to confirm if there was one or not), so it’s hard to know what the Hawks had in mind had they been having those sorts of concrete conversations then. If Olympiakos is indeed talking about a robust $20 million over three seasons (with the Hawks retaining Childress’ NBA rights, with a qualifying offer, the next two summers), Childress or any other professional athlete has to seriously consider that offer. If this is all a ploy to put the heat on the Hawks, as one Hawks’ staffer insists it is, then Childress’ agents (Lon Babby and Jim Tanner) did a great job. Because once again the Hawks look like the cats left holding the bag SMITH, TOO: How the sides could be this far apart where Smith is concerned makes little to no sense at all. If the Hawks were offering a starting salary of $9 million last October (as reported here last summer when it was clear that a deal was going to be tough to come by before the Oct. 31 deadline), before Smith’s stellar season that culminated with a playoff berth and some rather huge moments from Smith, both sides should certainly be working in upwards of that range now. I don’t think anyone’s ever uttered anything about max money for Smith. But certainly something along the lines of what Kevin Martin ($55 million) and Al Jefferson ($65 million) re-upped for before the 2007-08 season. A member of the previous Hawks’ front office administration famously argued me down (to the folks who saw us debating the topic at least) before a preseason game that there was no way Smith or Childress should get extensions last summer or fall because the Hawks hadn’t been to the playoffs, as if they alone were responsible for it not happening prior to our verbal showdown. “If you feel that way,” I told him, and this is a direct quote “all of you clowns should resign on the spot or be fired for making colossal mistakes with choice draft picks most teams would die for.” My argument then and now goes something like this, if the Hawks believe at all in their scouting, coaching and training staffs and how they pick talent, develop it and nurture it - if they feel confident at all that they did the right things in drafting these guys and feel they’ve progressed at a sufficient or better rate - paying the cash for extensions is merely a procedure. The figures need to be fair and probably a bit on the generous side, what with all the extra curricular activity these players have had to deal with in their four tumultuous years as staples of a beleaguered the franchise. If there was ever any doubt whatsoever, even the slightest bit … the Shelden Williams approach would have been the proper way to end the relationship. Instead, we’re heading into the tall grass section of yet another endless summer. NOT THE SAME GAME: All that said, the former Hawks’ staffer I debated this with nine months ago made some good points to the contrary. He pointed to Charlotte’s Emeka Okafor ($60 million turned down) and Philadelphia’s Andre Iguodala ($57) and the Chicago duo of Ben Gordon ($57 million) and Luol Deng ($50 million) and argued that they were all in a class above both Smith and Childress. I didn’t agree with him then and I certainly don’t agree with him now, not even close. But that wasn’t even the point I was trying to make. Those teams extended offers that were legit at the time and are probably overdoing it now (at least in a couple of cases). If the Hawks were playing in that same realm, then or now, I can’t imagine they would have to endure Tom Foolery that has stained the franchise this month (the negative vibes, real and imagined, are all over the place). As one of the players said to me last week during mini-camp, “What the #!*% is going on around here? That playoff series against Boston is getting further and further away and it’s like we haven’t had any good news since then.” OPTIONS: That brings us to the options portion of today’s program, for both the players and the Hawks. Smith and Childress, by virtue of their status as restricted free agents, only have three options at this point. They can a) come to terms with the Hawks on extensions (best case) or b) find the right sign-and-trade deal that appeases all sides (good luck) or c) bolt for a team overseas or play out the year on qualifying offers far below their true value and at great risk (someone in this restricted free agent class is bound to do it, with Childress quickly assuming the mantle of trailblazer now that he’s seriously considering the offer to play in Greece). Naturally, a) would the ideal. But b) offers some intrigue. And c) would place the player and the franchise smack in the middle of a potential firestorm if things go awry for this team early in the season, the finger pointing would be intense if this team went into training camp with not only Mike Bibby playing out the final year of his deal but also the Joshes. It’s something that you don’t even want to think about going sideways, particularly after all the progress that’s been made. THE REIGN IS OVER: Since we decided against making the trip with the Hawks’ summer league crew this year, ending Blog-Z’s seven-year reign of terror on the fine folks of Salt Lake City, like you I’m left to get eyewitness updates from people who are there watching that mesmerizing action in person for the goods on Acie Law IV and the boys. The Mad VP is on the scene, blogging live from the site and posting his stuff on Hawks.com after games. I’ve already warned him to tone it down (he doesn’t need to be too good or too funny, otherwise he’ll put us out of business). But he has provided some quality commentary and insight into the goings on out there that you might want to check out if the summer league team is your focus right now. The Hawks carried a 2-0 mark into Sunday’s off day, posting impressive wins over Dallas and Utah in their debut set. Jeremy Richardson appears to have shaken off whatever the ill effects of that twisted ankle were and is shooting the ball particularly well. Luke Jackson (keep an eye on dude, he’s a shooter with size and he’s got some NBA experience) also seems to have gotten off to a nice start out there. Acie Law IV and Speedy Claxton are the guys most people were focused on heading out there and they’ve both had their moments, with Claxton showing well in the opener and then Law taking over things late in the second game. I’ve learned my lesson with summer league, however. Whatever goes on there is merely a glimpse and not the full story about a guy.

That would be a stunner. The only rationale could be because of the difference in currency. There's absolutely nothing we can do about that.

10 for J-Rich in the first!

They just showed a short Speedy Claxton highlight reel... All the clips featured Speedy in a Hornets uniform. What does that tell you?

Appears to be working off the link Dolfan put up. Warmups are going on right now and they keep flashing through different graphics. (Testing things before the game starts?) Law/West/Pinckney/Hunter/Richardson are starting.

Both are big men coaches, it seems.

On the subject, they've got the finalists for next year's dancers up on hawks.com I must say, it's an underwhelming group.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...kets_again.html Quote: SMYRNA - That’s the only noise you’ll hear around Hawksville these days. Crickets. All’s quiet on the Hawks front, save for the start of rookie/free agent mini-camp today (can’t wait to see some of these guys in action tonight at Philips. The Finals was the last real basketball I watched other than the lil’ fellas playing on my neighbor’s hoop). Since the Hawks aren’t any closer to resolving their free agent issues than they were this time last week, we might as well turn our attention elsewhere. But not before I tell you about my weekend in Mississippi (yeah, I go way back with the M-I-Crooked letters, Pops was born there, did some college there, Wifey’s from there and I worked there, too). I stumbled into the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica where the Mike Miller Foundation and Joe Johnson Charity Event was being held (easily one of the most well run charity events I’ve seen, complete with a golf and poker tournament, pretty ladies playing in a beach volleyball tournament, memorabilia auctions and a concert - a good sounding group from Gainesville called Sister Hazel). While I didn’t get a chance to spend loads of time with JJ, I did corner him a couple of times while I was there and we talked a little shop - as much as could be had with so many people vying for his time and so much else going on. He’s watching this free agent situation as hard as anyone and while he’s not panicked or anything, he is definitely keeping a cautious eye on the proceedings. Being a veteran of the restricted free agency roller coaster (who can forget his ordeal in the summer of ‘05? - the Hawks roared to that 0-9 regular season start after taking all of July and more than half of August to get Johnson signed) he knows better than to assume anything before offer sheets (or contracts) are signed and either matched or not. “Whatever happens, and I don’t care to speculate on anyone else’s business, we have to be ready to go as a unit when training camp starts,” the Hawks’ captain and two-time All-Star said. “We worked too hard and accomplished too much late [this past] season to let anything stop us now. We have to be ready to go as a unit when training camp hits. The rest of the East is loading up and getting ready to chase Boston. And we hit pushed them as hard as anybody did throughout the playoffs, so we know that we what we’re capable of if we play at our peak. But we have to do it from the start. And that means coming to camp with everything in place, guys ready to go and knowing their roles and putting our foot on the gas from the start.” He said he did speak with Josh Smith before the July 1 start of the free agent period, but hadn’t spoken to him since then in an effort to allow Smith the breathing room he needed to handle his business. The funniest thing of the entire deal is that the first thing JJ said to me when I saw him was, “What’s going to happen with Josh and Josh?” That’s the exact same question I was going to ask him if he hadn’t beaten me to it. It’s not often that a team’s entire offseason is tied up in one or two transactions like this. But the Hawks, without a draft pick or any significant cap room to woo other free agents, have only two things to deal with before they can move on to the task of finalizing the rest of the roster for training camp in October. They have to get something done with the Joshes. “That’s our summer right there,” JJ said. “That’s all there is to it.” DOUBLETALK?: The standard line Hawks since last October has been that they’ll match any offers from other teams to both Smith and Childress. And up until now we haven’t had any reason to do anything but take them at their word. But a few of the NBA veterans in Tunica over the weekend warned me not to believe that hype. “That’s what everybody says until an offer sheet hits the table,” one guy said during an informal meeting of the minds on all things NBA. “And any good general manager keeps his options open no matter what. That’s the only way to keep from being blindsided.” That conversation prompted me to dial up an executive from another team and ask if he believed the Hawks would stay true to their word and match offers no matter what and shun sign-and-trade offers for Smith and Childress. And that’s when he hit me with a left hook I just didn’t see coming. “Not only will they consider a sign-and-trade for Smith, I know that they’ve talked with one team in particular about the potential of a sign-and-trade if things get out of hand,” he said. “I also know that they’ve turned away a couple of other teams that called interested in sign-and-trades for Smith; turned them away without so much as discussing the idea conceptually. But the longer this thing drags out the more likely things could change. You remember how things played out with Joe Johnson. The Suns swore they would match and that they wanted to keep him and then when they saw the price tag Atlanta was willing to pay they negotiated a sign-and-trade. Just because you reserve the right to match doesn’t mean you will. That’s just the way the business works.” That makes things even more interesting where Childress is concerned since there have been at least a half dozen teams peppering the Hawks with sign-and-trade offers for their sixth-man. The Clippers are exploring their options right now (perhaps expanding their list of targets to Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala, or not, according to one of my spies), and could very well hit Smith an offer sheet this week and turn the heat up on the Hawks. But all anyone can do until then is speculate. ADDITIONS AND SUBTRACTIONS: When we leaked the Hawks’ summer league roster here last week it apparently wasn’t the final list. Justin Williams and Wayne Simien joined the group (as did Al Horford, who was on it all along but was left out because I knew he wasn’t going to be playing in Salt Lake City). Williams and Simien are intriguing prospects, as both would help solidify a Hawks frontline that could use a dose of size, experience and athleticism. After seeing Solomon Jones last week and talking to him about the summer I was under the impression that he would be on the summer league squad as well. But he has since opted not to play, a dangerous move for a third-year player who has seen limited action with a new general manager on duty. It wouldn’t have hurt for Jones to make his way to summer league and showcase his skills, just so Rick Sund could get an extended look at him in an environment where he might have had a chance to show off a bit. GONE BABY GONE: As you’ve probably seen, many of the names on my free agent shopping list have been removed. James Jones (Miami), Jarvis Hayes and Eddie Najera (New Jersey) and DeSagana Diop (Dallas) have already snapped up. While there are still some viable options out there, I don’t feel good about the Hawks’ chances of picking and choosing the ones they want to try and go after to fill out the roster because by the time they finish with their top priorities there won’t be much left to pick and choose from. Jones or Hayes would have been the ideal big shooter off the bench the Hawks need. And Diop could have solved their issues at center spot and allowed all sorts of lineup machinations by Hawks coach Mike Woodson. Instead, the Hawks will have to scour the ranks for guys to fill out those roles. One guy I wouldn’t be surprised to see them bring back is Lorenzen Wright. He’s a veteran big and a guy who’s probably going to play at the minimum salary this season. He’s also one of the players JJ mentioned during one of our conversations over the weekend. He talked about how much the Hawks missed Wright’s toughness after that trade deadline deal that brought Mike Bibby to town. It’s toughness that they’ve yet to replace. I’ll share some observations from mini-camp this evening, hoping that someone will stir up the free agent mix between now and then so we can have something other than crickets providing us with background music for the day.

I think four would be pushing it, considering we haven't had any in several years...two might be more realistic. Boston @ Atlanta would make sense. Then maybe a game @ a SE Division rival. ATL @ ORL/ATL @ MIA. The NBATV is rather fluid. They can pick up games whenever they want.

Woodson bashing in 3...2...1...

Quote: Quote: They'll practice in Atlanta for a few days, then cut a few guys before the head to SLC. You can't take all 18. It would seem like there's four locks (Speedy, Acie, Mario, J-Rich), with all the other spots up for grabs. I don't expect Speedy to play on back-to-back days, so they may carry one extra guard. If you remember the name Justin Williams...he was cut by the Kings when they had to clear roster spots after the Bibby trade. Some people here had a fit when we didn't pick him up...I never understood why. Obviously, the four mentioned should dominate the team, but there's plenty of bigs to mix it up. I don't really expect any of them to hang around, though. Why is Solomon Jones not on the team? Typically, the Summer League is for rookies and 2nd year players. Solo is a 3rd year guy now. He's been twice. There's nothing stopping him from playing again, though. (I believe Nate Robinson is playing for the 4th time now.) Maybe he's got other training plans this summer.

They'll practice in Atlanta for a few days, then cut a few guys before the head to SLC. You can't take all 18. It would seem like there's four locks (Speedy, Acie, Mario, J-Rich), with all the other spots up for grabs. I don't expect Speedy to play on back-to-back days, so they may carry one extra guard. If you remember the name Justin Williams...he was cut by the Kings when they had to clear roster spots after the Bibby trade. Some people here had a fit when we didn't pick him up...I never understood why. Obviously, the four mentioned should dominate the team, but there's plenty of bigs to mix it up. I don't really expect any of them to hang around, though.

Yes...the Lakers need a defensive specialist so they trade Bynum and play Gasol at Center. Makes perfect sense to me, D.

I would think the Clippers would be more inclined to bring Maggette back rather than chase any restricted FA. (They didn't renounce Maggette, did they?)