cowa

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see how Mason/1st for Childress/Jones works from a salary cap perspective. Childress can't be traded until after the draft, and at that point, the 8th pick is worth about $2.4M. Mason is at $5.4M for next year, meaning they can take back anywhere between $6.16M and $9.9M. Since Chills at that point will be BYC (can only take back 50% of his salary), Chills doesn't work. Marvin/Jones for Mason/1st works either before or after the draft, but not sure I'd do that one. Must be better value out there for Marvin.

Actually, if the Bulls do take Rose, a Bibby/Speedy for Hinrich/Hughes deal makes a ton of sense. Bibby's deal is up after this year, and Sefalosha can play the point as well. If Speedy ever comes back, it's a plus. And Speedy's contract only has 2 years left. Hinrich has a long term contract that would hinder them from getting into Wade/LeBron sweepstakes in 2010. this just clears out a ton of cap room for them, while giving Rose a one year mentor that they could in turn move at the trade deadline for a legit big. This would also allow them to sign both Deng and Gordon if they so chose to, with just a one year luxury tax hit for Bibby instead of multiple years for Hinrich/Hughes. From a salary cap / financial standpoint, this is probably a much better fit than Beasley. Also, I've heard that they really like Gooden at the 4, so I'm just not sold that they go for Beasley.

I moved down here from Boston back in 2007, and I agree with your statement... except for Eddie Andelman. that guy is a supposed legend in Boston, yet he's just Steak Shapiro's mentor. He used to talk about food and the dog track, as he spit all over his microphone! The part that kills me about Mike Bell (who I actually think is funny when he's on his game) is that he puts down the Hawks, yet says he's not an NBA fan and never watches it. He'd rather spend his time talking about NASCAR. I agree with most of the opinions above. 790 needs to get a new signal, move Mike Bell back to Mayhem in the AM, and move somebody to the afternoon show. I think Chuck Smith went to the NFL network. The stews aren't really even a sports program, they are just an entertainment program helping with ratings. For 680, get Perry to stop talking politics, get Rude to supply something sports related, get Beau to say anything critical or truly inciteful, and get Kincaid to just stop talking.

NY would move Curry for Zaza and Speedy. No need to move Bibby and Marvin in that scenario. Not that I'm advocating trading for Curry, just that I don't want to give either of those guys in a deal where Curry is the main piece coming back. Bibby will either be signed to an extension or moved, but if we move him, I think a team to look at is Chicago. A really bad season, a need to shake up their team, new coach coming in, and the team wasn't happy with most of their players. A deal like Bibby for Hinrich and Thomas works salary wise, and seems to make sense if they truly want to shake things up. Hinrich and Gordon are too small to really team up, and they are grooming Sefalosha for the PG role. If they commit to Gordon this summer, Hinrich is likely trade bait. Thomas is now blocked by Gooden, and Chicago loves Gooden. Thomas acted immaturely this past season, and they may just want to move him. Bibby is expiring, and could groom Sefalosha into being a PG. The reason I like this is this deal is all about getting better defensively. Hinrich is a very good defender (and can handle defending the SG if neded), and his outside shooting has been getting better. It's not as good (or as streaky) as Bibby's, but it's not bad. Thomas oozes potential, and depending what you do with Smith, he is another asset that could be moved down the road if necessary. And he is another very good defender, and solid bench help is also a critical need. If championships are built around defense, this is a move that would take us in the right direction.

Getting back to the original post idea, I think another idea is to move Zaza alone to Utah for Jarron Collins (bum) and Morris Almond. Zaza is certainly an upgrade over Collins, that would probably be a nice fit as a back up to Okur. Plus, he's an expiring contract. Collins is also an expiring deal, but at $2.1 compared to Zaza's $4.0. Almond is overkill for Utah when they traded for Korver, and they already have CJ Miles and Brewer. Almond is a long range shooter (and that's it), but he's on a low paying rookie contract and is the type of 3 shooter we need (if he doesn't get sent down to the D League like this year). this is a low risk deal, that could pay off big if Almond can hit his shots. Plus, he's not the defensive liability that Salim is, as Almond is 6'6". And lastly, Collins has 6 fouls to give every night!

I like Raja Bell, and I like the 15th pick. The thing I don't like is moving JJ to SF. Right now, he has a size advantage almost every night, and when the opponent decides to put their SF on him for defense, it causes a mismatch for our SF (Marvin or Chills, whoever is in the game at that point). By making this move, you lose your size advantage, with Bell being 6'5, he will be average size at best, and JJ at 6'7" will be smaller than the average SF. You lose JJ's ability to back down his defender due to size, which is worth a lot in the 4th quarter. Marvin isn't the second coming, and from a value perspective this might be fair, but I don't think it helps teh team move up.

Wasn't the packaging of a S&T the whole reason that Chicago was able to attempt to package PJ Brown for variuos high salary players last year (even though it never happened)? And what about Keith Van Horn in the Jason Kidd deal? It is very difficult to orchestrate such a trade, but as far as I know, you absolutely can package a S&T player in a deal.

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.