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From Woj: "The Detroit Pistons are renouncing the rights to restricted free-agent guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, turning him into the marketplace's No. 1 unrestricted free agent, league sources told ESPN. The Pistons have been reluctant to meet Caldwell-Pope's $25 million-plus asking price, and the acquisition of Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley on Friday liberated Detroit to let Caldwell-Pope leave the franchise." You're not getting KCP for less than 4/$100M. But if we can get him here even for that price, we should. And we would still suck and get a high draft pick, but our backcourt for the future would be set.

I really don't think it's as clear as you think that the Hawks preferred Horford over Millsap. What I do think is that the Hawks preferred Horford PLUS a bunch of future assets (as per the rumored Phoenix deal) over potentially one season of Millsap. Horford would have been probably locked into multiple years vs. the one year for Millsap, and the future draft picks and who know what else was viewed as more attractive. Unfortunately, who knows what the potential damage is to Millsap's view of the Hawks due to this.

Well, when I look at THJr's regular season, his minutes/game and his DNPs by month are like this: Oct - 0.0, 3 DNP Nov - 11.0, 12 DNP Dec - 0.0, 14 DNP Jan - 15.4, 1 DNP (1st game of Jan) Feb - 17.5, 0 DNP Mar - 19.6, 0 DNP Apr - 16.3, 0 DNP And yes, he was benched for a lot of the Cavs series, but we're not talking about playoffs here. We're talking about regular season rotational minutes for each player. And clearly, looking at the minutes spread above for last year, THJr was a rotational player who Bud thought enough of that he gave him significant minutes. I know there were injuries to other players as well, but it still shows the confidence that Bud has in him once he learned the defensive schemes. I am not a THJr lover and feel that Prince and/or Bembry would be better suited for those minutes, but this is about Bud and I have a hard time believing that Prince and Bembry were brought on to totally replace THJr's minutes during the regular season. I honestly feel they were brought on to replace Thabo and possibly Korver in 2017-18. For this year, garbage time for a while and then their roles expand like THJr's did this past year. I hope I'm wrong.

And THJr is what, kicked to the curb? Bud loves him, so I don't see that plan happening. Bazemore/Korver starting, Thabo/THJr subbing in, Prince/Bembry with garbage time until midseason. The minutes structure Lurker has works, but sub THJr in for Prince, and then reduce all 4 players by 2 minutes each to give Prince/Bembry 4 minutes each until after midseason or until somebody gets hurt.

I believe a trade is still to come. Nothing earth shattering or starting line-up impacting, but I don't think BudCox will want to watch more assets (Muscala, Patterson, Scott or whoever they decide) walk away for free. Probably just a trade for a conditional 2nd round pick, but it's better than cutting someone. While I would love to see us make a move for Rudy Gay (I am a UConn alum after all) or Gallinari, I think this is the team we go to battle with to start the season. I truly feel there will be another deal later on in the season where at least a wing will be moved (probably Thabo) to make minutes available for Prince and Bembry, but Bud will have to have faith in putting them in, and I doubt he has that today. Patterson only stays if there is a trade not involving him. Most likely he gets talked into playing overseas and checks back in with us in February around the trade deadline. I really don't see a role for Muscala moving forward. Even if Scott is moved one way or another, I can only see him getting garbage minutes next year. When he did get time last year with the regulars, it was strictly because we didn't have Splitter available and Hump wasn't on the team yet. And since his deal is only partially guaranteed, I feel picking up his option was just insurance in case things went the wrong way in Free Agency. But the Hawks have NEVER wanted to eat dead money. I know, new ownership, but old habits die hard for an organization. He is the most likely to get traded for a 2nd round pick in my opinion. Scott is the wildcard, and we should know more after training camp opens up about where he will be planning on living this winter. If it's within walls surrounded by barbed wire, Patterson or Muscala get a reprieve. If it's outside those walls, then he will stay on the roster. He has no trade value until midseason if ever, so we must just live with the unknown until then. Lastly, Hump played most of his time at PF for Washington in 2015-16, but once he came to the Hawks, he basically played back-up center and spent very little time at PF (see 82games.com). If Splitter is moved, Hump could be the back-up center next year. It's not ideal, but it may be what Bud has in mind after playing him there last year.

So in my voting, I ignored the Durant aspect and went with Rudy Gay (easier to get than Gallinari in my opinion) and Lance Stephenson (gulp). We need a true scorer on the wing, and while Gay might have his faults, he can still score the ball. I think we could get Stephenson VERY cheap unless Sacramento wants him (he played great once he was traded to Memphis under Joerger), and I really think a little bit of attitude would be good for the Hawks. He is still young (he'll be 26 when the season starts), and he's probably at his lowest price right now. Plays D, good handles. And we know he likes to take on LeBron (at least that's what people are whispering!) So to get Gay, I know Sacto wants 3-D players. I truly think with their new coach and a "superstar" in DMC, Bazemore would be willing to go there. And I have read on their boards that they are interested in bringing him in. Would a SNT Bazemore for Gay work? You could even add in Thabo and McLemore (who I think is currently trash but might still have potential) in the deal. Then sign Stephenson at SG.

Rudy Gay makes a lot of sense from both sides. The problem is, they would likely push for Schröder and not Teague, as they would want a PG to grow with DC and WCS. I would doubt they would take a chance on a 1 year rental on Teague when Gay is signed for multiple years. But Sacramento is the worst run team in the league, so it never hurts to throw it out there!

Gallinari is who best fits this team and is on a multi-year contract. The problem is Denver is like Boston. They have 3 1st round draft picks this year, they have an incredibly young team, and are loaded with young players at every position. What I think they are looking for are veterans who have 3-D qualities. They don't want players like Thabo, Hardaway, Splitter, etc. They want to improve, so they are looking at our starters if they make a trade with us. Probably the easiest way to trade with them is Millsap for Gallo and Faried. They have Wilson Chandler to step in. They might want Scott as well, although not sure the "D" part is there for the 3-D piece. And I'm sure they would be willing to throw in a pick this year to entice. I would rather move Horford, but why would he want to go there? I'm not saying I want to trade Millsap, just saying what it would take.

There are two ways of getting a 3rd big: FA or trade. In FA, I'd be looking at Noah or Mozgov. Unfortunately, both are big question marks at this point, and I'm really not sure either is a true upgrade over a semi-healthy Splitter. I would much rather see a trade for Tyson Chandler. He makes more than he should, but the guy is a waste on a Phoenix team that wants Len to take over, and he has 3 years left on his contract. He was only signed to help entice LMA to sign last year with them, but it didn't work obviously. A strait Splitter for Chandler deal works, and he would be a great leader as well. And this would get Phoenix out of those last 2 years and give them an additional $4M to spend this year on other FA's that would fit better on that team. Just a thought.

Everybody who has interest in Burks understands he is owed $41M over the next 4 years, right? We are not going after Burks, and to trade for him would cost us way too much.

No, you can't make an offer like that. Raises are constrained to 4.5% per year. What you would do is offer a player option for the 2nd year and try to renegotiate a new contract for year 2.

I know there's only 3+ hours left until the deadline, but here's a deal that is made strictly for next season without disrupting the rotation: Shelvin Mack for Brendan Haywood Cleveland is looking for a better back-up PG than Delledova, and Mack is signed to a team friendly contract, with only one more year guaranteed at $2.4M both years. To me, Mack is a better option as a back-up than one of the 35+ year olds they are looking at for a 1 year rental. Haywood's value is entirely in the structure of his contract. He only makes $2.1M this year (which would just give us a couple hundred thousand more in cap room this year), but he has a $10.2M NON-GUARANTEED contract for 2015-16. If we don't wnat him next year, we cut him for nothing. But that contract is worth a lot for potential trades/sign and trades next July! Say we wanted to sign Greg Monroe next July, and he demands a max contract. The most I have seen we could sign him for outright is around $10M, which he laughs at. But with haywood's contract, we could do a sign and trade with Detroit (Haywood and Scott for Monroe at a max $16+M deal) and STILL be able to resign Millsap to a $16+M contract and Carroll at the player average salary (probably $5.7M) due to their Early Bird rights. This same thing could be done with other teams as well. We can always pick up a 3rd string PG (Nate Robinson?) off the wire to put in Payne's open slot, and this would also give Mack a better shot at PT than he has here now that Schröder has surpassed him. Right now, we have nobody we can trade for these higher priced guys. This gives us a ton of options. Just a thought...

If Asik has a decent season, NOP will lock him up if he fits well with AD. AD at PF is huge vs. playing him at C. No way they let him get away after having to pay him $15M this year.

What's the story with Okafor? If healthy (and I know that's a big if), he would be a perfect compliment to Horford/Millsap. And we could probably get him and still have cap space left over for future deals. I'm just not sure why he's not even mentioned (even a health status update) in any national articles (well, Kris Willis did mention him in a chat, if that counts!). I'd rather have a defensive stalwart like Okafor than Blatche.

Would love it, which is why there is no chance of it happening. Noah is not being moved. Period.