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JB, I totally agree with you. In fact, I'd go for BOTH Artest and JON, and then balance out the roster with further trades! For Artest, it would be tough, as I think they want a PF (they would play Salmons at SF). Financially, a Chilz/Artest trade would work, and you would think Chilz would love to go back to northern California. I just don't know how ot make this one work from Sacto's perspective, unless a third team was involved that wanted Chilz for a PF. Forthe sake of this post, assume you can make it work. For JON, Indy desparately wants a PG. Bibby and Speedy would match up, and I would think Indy would jump at that deal. Now you would be loaded up in your front court, but weak in your backcourt. Best way to remedy that would be a trade of Smith, Zaza and Law for Calderon and Rasho. I don't think Totonto is going to pay Calderon $10M/year, and that's what he's going to get. Law gives them the backup they need, and getting Smith to team with Bosh would be a dream for them. Now you need some more depth, so trade Marvin to Portland for Webster (underachiever like Marvin), Jack and a 2nd round pick. Webster gives you the outside shooting, and Jack is a perfect combo guard that can make a 3 man rotation in the backcourt with JJ and Calderon. That would leave a starting line-up of Horford, JON, Artest, JJ and Calderon, with Rasho, Jones, Webster, Richardson (resigned), West (resigned), Jack and a 2nd round pick. Fill the last 1-3 spots with cheap journeymen to complete the roster. The salaries would be somewhere just north of $70M, but could be lowered at the deadline if the team wasn't performing. And Rasho expires at the end of the season, which could get you back under for the following year (depending what you do with Artest/Webster/Jack). When you think of this starting 5 vs. Boston, you start thinking of the real possibilities a team like this could have: Horford vs Perkins O'Neal vs Garnett Artest vs Pierce JJ vs Allen Calderon vs Rondo I love playing fantasy GM!

I was worried there for a second, as I'm going to see Springsteen on Friday night at Philips! Maybe he was changing to just do a half time show!

I disagree. IMO, Bibby either needs to be signed to an extension, or traded for a team looking for cap space. There is no middle ground. I agree with you about the money, but if you can get him to sign an extension for somewhere around $10M for 09-10, and decreasing by $500k each year after for 3-4 years, you do it. Or you move him for another starting PG and a player or two. You can't halfway commit to Bibby if you want to take this team to the next level. Fish or cut bait.

Joe, that's classic. I totally forgot about that! Somebody should put a call into 790 (they are the flagship station, after all) and bring that up. They'll mention it to somebody who's actually covering the game. What if Belkin shows up as a guest in the Celtics ownership box!

Realize that the average Boston fan (and I used to live in Boston) knows nothing about the Hawks. They couldn't name our starting lineup, not do they even know that Mike Bibby is on the Hawks. I went to the Boston Garden back in 1988 to see my team at that time, the Knicks, play Boston in the first round of the playoffs. I rooted out loud for the Knicks, and took some heckling for a while, but then the Celtics fans started asking me questions on who everybody was on the floor! They had no idea even who was on the Knicks. They knew who played for the Celtics and the Lakers, and that was about it! Go, have fun, root for the Hawks, take some crap for a while, and then realize that you know a heck of a lot more about the game than almost everyone around you. Just don't embarrass Hawks fans.

The latest I read this weekend was that assuming the Hawks clean house of Woody and BK, then BK would join the interview process with the Knicks (he's a former Walsh guy) and that we would have Scott Skiles at the top of our head coaching list. I am not a Skiles fan, as I think he is too hard on his players (works better with a veteran team).

He just signed a 3 year deal. He was a RFA that Charlotte signed and Cleveland matched. We ain't getting him.

So, you have us beating Chicago tonight (I'm pretty sure Chicago is going ot be favored, but I haven't seen the line yet), and then you have us beating Philadelphia in Atlanta AND in Philadelphia. If you look at the standings, Philly is now AHEAD of Toronto! My guess is that Philly may even be favored to beat us in Atlanta! Now, taking emotion out of it, we should probably end up 7-6 according to Vegas, which would leave us with 37 wins, and that will get us in the playoffs. Anything better than that is gravy.

The question is How do you play Salim at SG and Bibby at PG on defense? Both guys will just get posted up again and again. Neither play D, and Salim, at 6'0", always plays the PG on D since he is so small. Until Law is back, Salim can't play SG, which is the crux of the problem.

You can't play Salim and Bibby at the same time. Somebody in the backcourt must play some semblance of D. Salim must guard the PG due to his lack of height. Are you really going to put Bibby on the opposing teams SG? If you think the scoring has been high the past two games, wait until you see that dynamic duo on the court. Then you have to consider rebounding/guarding the paint. You would now have Bibby/Salim/Joe/Smith/Al on the court. Joe will have to play a more active role on D, taking away from his offense. Also, Smith would have to play off his man even more with this line-up, leaving Horford to do all the boxing out and rebounding ont he team. This scenario ain't happening. If you play Salim, you must have him in in place of Bibby. And then you've got nobody in with any ball handling ability except for Joe, and he doesn't want to play PG. In the offseason, Salim will leave us (even though he is a restricted FA). He just doesn't fit with the pieces on this team. He needs to play with a big PG (Baron, Deron, Calderon, etc.). It's just the problem of being a 6'0" SG guard who doesn't play D in the NBA.

PLEASE don't bring in Rick Carlisle! His offense is entirely half court. That is the exact opposite of what our young guys should be doing. Carlisle is a good coach for an established team, but not one with a run and gun offense (or atleast a team that is supposed to be a run and gun offense). I really don't know who would be the best coach, but I think Bill Laimbeer should be included in the discussion as well.

The Knicks really don't play Randolph and Curry together any more. In fact, they just don't play Curry hardly at all, and usually just when Randolph goes to the bench. Lee is getting much more time than Curry right now. And by the way, it's not so much how we will match up with the Knicks big guys, it's how the Knicks will match up with our speed. And they can't.

Portland wants to move 2 for 1 or even 3 for 1, not take back more contracts. They are looking for an upgrade at either PG or SF. Most logical move from their standpoint would be Webster, Jack and Frye for Marvin and Salim.

My view is part good, part bad. The Memphis part is fine, but the Portland deal isn't good enough. You can stil get more for Marvin than Jack and Frye. Frye is doing nothing for Portland, similar to what Shelden is doing for us. I think you could trade Shelden for Frye straight up, if it weren't going to add to their luxury tax situation. Going from Shelden to Marvin, and all we get extra is Jack, isn't close to fair. Webster would have to come our way as well, but his makes matching salaries up more difficult. I still feel a Speedy/AJ/Chills for Jack/Frye/Webster/Miles deal works for both sides.

Actually, a more realistic trade would be: Chills, Shelden and Speedy for Webster, Jack, Frye and Miles Reasons for Hawks: 1) Get the shooter we need in Webster 2) Get a good PG in Jack, bringing him home 3) Move Shelden 4) Don't have to worry about resigning Chills this summer Reasons for Portland: 1) They get the best player in the deal (Chills) 2) Open up a roster spot for next year 3) Get Miles off their books (as well as not having to worry about how he will influence the young guys) 4) It would save them $3.6M this year ($1.8 in salary, and another $1.8 in luxury tax) Essentially, Shelden for Frye is a wash. So it's really Webster and Jack for Chills, with Atlanta taking on the headache known as Miles.

Bob was being interviewed by the CSS Sportsnite guys, and he said that BK was trying very hard to make a major deal, with PG being the highest priority, and that the most likely guy was Andre Miller. He said he would not be surprised at the Hawks making a deadline deal. Very suprising that he would say those things knowing the folks involved unless they wanted to get a message out to the fan base, be it true or not.

Gadzuric is not a cheap addition! He makes an average of $6.75M per year over the next 3 years, not including this years salary of $5.75M. He has one of the WORST contracts in all of basketball, and I'm sure Milwaukee would jump at the chance to unload him! Please don't let BK know this, or he might just go after him!!!

I agree with Childress & expirings. I just read that Miller for Ricky Davis (he has an expiring contract) is a rumor, so I would think this would actually be more appealing. Davis is not someone I would expect Memphis to keep after the season, while Childress they can choose to if they want, or try a S&T to get other pieces. thsi just makes too much sense for Billy to be considering it, though. I wouldn't do Marvin for Miller though. And neither would Billy.

Walter, I'm in total agreement regarding Calderon. Unfortunately, so are a ton of other teams, including Toronto! I sincerely doubt we have a shot at Calderon unless we give up Marvin or Smith. Here's a "What if" for you. What if Toronto decides that Calderon at $8M is too expensive for a back-up, so they decide to make him the starter and move Ford. Should the Hawks have interest in Ford at $8M? Injury risk, much shorter, but maybe the fastest player around, and a great penetrator. Can't consistently hit the outside shot though, and we definitely need shooters. Just a thought.

Portland is not doing a salary dump, nor will they trade specifically for expiring contracts. They want to upgrade by trading 2 or 3 for 1. That's why they were involved inthe Kidd talks. They were going after Devin Harris, giving up Outlaw, Jack and Frye. They are looking for someone they can put with Oden, Aldridge and Roy long term. The only trade I can see us making with Portland is for James Jones, Martell Webster, Jack or Frye (I doubt we could get Sergio or Outlaw). If they value Chills more than Webster, a deal could be worked out, or possibly a Shelden for Frye staight up deal. Those are the only ways I see a deal with Portland working out.

I agree with Joe's views of a max player, and I don't feel Josh is a max player. I really don't even like $12M, but I think an incentive based contract that could net him $12M would be fair. And the incentives should be based on team wins, not just blocks/game or things like that. Easier said than done, I know. My all bad contract team is as follows: C - Jerome James ($5.8) - The epitome of a bad contract. Runner up - Theo Ratliff PF - Chris Webber ($19.0 without his new salary from GS). Runner up - Brian Cardinal. I'm giving Kmart a break, as that contract was signed previous to an injury. SF - Michael Finley ($21.7M combined) - Hell, he's barely earning his $3M from SA! Runner up - Antoine Walker SG - Steve Francis ($18.8M combined) - He can't even make the rotation right now in his beloved Houston, and they are looking at picking up a PG! Runner up - Larry Hughes PG - Starbury ($20.1M) - Just incredible. Runner up - SPEEDY CLAXTON Wow, I can't believe Jared Jeffries, Kwame Brown, TMac and the ever popular Eric Snow didn't make this team!

Funny, if we actually did do one of the trades mentioned above (which I DO NOT advocate), #3 might be the one I woudl be LEAST inclined to do. Sam is a UFA after this season, and Maggette has a player option which he is very likely to invoke. We could end up with a #1 pick in the 10-15 range and cap space for JJ. If that's all we can get, there is no way we trade him. Now, I don't agree with trading Joe at this time. While I agree with some of the points Diesel made, the bigger question I have is if we trade JJ, what kind of message does that send the rest of the league? JJ is the ONLY FA who actually wanted to come here, and then after 2 1/2 years we trade him away? Now, I know our ownership is in shambles, and we're not likely going after any name FA's in the near future, but it might take years after our ownership situation is finalized to get rid of the stigma we would have if we dealt JJ now. We need to build around him, not the other way around.

I know on the Real GM board they were talking about amending this with Atlanta possibly getting a Philly 2nd round pick instead of Orlando's. My amendment would be to put full lottery restrictions around the pick through 2012, and if the restrictions aren't met by then, a cash settlement for $2M or soemthing for a buyout would be done. I hate to say it, but we could always fall off dramatically with a key injury (like what happened to Gasol last year with Memphis) and we end up giving a top 5 pick down the road.

I would love to have either Jack or Sergio, but I'm pretty sure I would rather have Jack, as Sergio doesn't understand what defense is. If he was our back-up PG, fine, but as our starter, he has to play D. If he could just play a little D, he's better than Jack though.

Quote: Cut to the hoop...try and get open...create something. "Work your way into the game". This is my main problem with Salim. After he passes the ball off, he never cuts to the hoop, he just jumps around outside the 3 point line, allowing his defender to double the guy with the ball (in most cases, JJ). I was screaming at the TV, telling him to become part of the offensive flow instead of just bouncing around outside the arc. Until he starts moving without the ball better, he's just hurting the team when he does play (as infrequently as it may be). His defender can lay off him a little, as he has to dribble each time before taking a shot. Salim is not the answer here, and he may blow up some place else, but I don't think he will ever do it here on a consistent basis.