tomac

I'm not sold on Shabazz. He wouldn't hurt, but Lavine has the talent to be a true star in this league. He just needs grooming. He's already an all-world athlete, and his shooting is improving. I think he's the better prospect. And for the record, I have no clue why they are trying to make a natural 2-guard play point. From what I understand, Zack wants to play PG. In my opinion his best fit is at the 2.

To me, it seems that Minnesota has a few pieces that would fit really well into our system. Currently they are missing vet leadership at the PG position, and Sam Mitchell is shuffling guys left and right. I'd like to use this to our advantage. If we've really decided that Schröder is the future of out PG position, then I propose that we work out a trade that sends Teague to Minny for Zack Lavine and other assets. I'm not sure how to make it work, but I'd love to get Lavine and Deng in that package. Lavine would answer long-term questions at the SG position, and Deng would provide the athletic, shot-blocking glass-eater that we need. Minny would get an all-star PG to lead a young backcourt. They have two legitimate young stars that can benefit from his presence in Towns and Wiggins. We've done business with them before. Maybe we can come out on the winning end of a trade like this. What do you all think it would take to make this happen?

I think that a healthy Thabo absorbs DMC's minutes. Essentially, they can be the same guy, but Thabo has better ball-handling skills. If Thabo can regain his 3-point stroke, there will be no net loss.

Gerald Green or Corey Brewer. I'd go Green because of shooting.

Technically, all you need is 1 year of flexibility before the 1st rise in cap. $22M dollar jump to $89M next year and up to $108M the year after. That's 2/3 more money available than what we have today. Even if they can only drop it to $17M in year 1, that $3M in savings may keep us out of the luxury tax this year (assuming we pick up a few more vets). That assumes that DMC gets a deal similar to Middleton + $1M.

The deal for Sap must be back loaded to account for the rise in the cap. In a few years, $20m may be equivalent to a $12-$13M contract.

If Teague gets you Okafor, then you have to do it. it's hard to find bigs with that much potential. Okafor can turn into an Aldridge type player at a much cheaper starting salary. He's got star potential. Point guard is our deepest position, and Teague (although very good) does not have the killer instinct. Schröder is already a better penetrator, but needs to work on finishing and his outside shot. He has the same issues that Teague had early on, but he is more of a floor general. Schröder wants to direct traffic, and I think that's a a good trait. Teague is the better player now, but in a a few years he won't be. A team with Schröder, Korver, DMC, Horford, and Okafor is nasty, and I'd take it in a heartbeat. I think its just conjecture at this point, but maybe Okafor is unhappy enough to force something like this.

Sap just got offered 4 years $20M from Orlando. I don't think he's coming back to ATL.

Floor - Flip Murray/ Ricky Davis Ceiling - Eddie Jones/ Michael Finley If he can improve offensively & defensively (most importantly), I think the Eddie Jones comparison is dead on.

Nothing wrong with letting the coach pick his own groceries. Player development is key. under Bud, players like Demarre have doubled their scoring output and played smarter basketball. THJ has the tools, now it takes coaching to mold them. He'll be a guy who can go and get his own shot as well. He can be more valueable than anyone who was left on the board. It's not a bad move. As for free agency, if they can pull of signing LMA and re-signing DMC, then we will be highly successfull. We may have to shed a guy like Mike Scott for salary reasons, but we can make up his production. IMHO, LMA is greater than Sap, and would give us a legitimate #1 scoring option. I hope it works out that way.

If they'd agree to this, then you have to trade Teague. Especially if Schröder continues to improve his outside shooting.

Cosign. Had he played in the 80's, he would have gotten his tail whipped by the entire opposing team.

BTW, I really want us to take LaVine. All he needs is coaching to be great. He is the prototypical height-weight-speed guy. I think Bud could make him a monster.

Keep Horford and draft LaVine or Young. Bring over Bebe. We'll finish 3rd in the east and make a deep run into the playoffs. We had Indy, and we could push Miami with this talent. Who knows what Miami turns into if they win and LBJ opts out anyway. I would also kick the tires on folks like Rudy Gay and Greg Monroe. If the money makes sense, I'd bring ONE of them in. I know that the board thinks that they'd be too expensive, but look at what Sap signed for last year. You never know.

It's all about mentality. Teague has yet to exhibit the "Killer Instinct" over long stretches. He has moments, but overall he's too passive. Schröder seems to be more of a floor general. In the SL, he truly directed traffic. The ball went where HE wanted it to. If Teague would develop this trait, he could be one of the better PG's in the league.

You're right, I got my timelines mixed up. I'm still bitter about that Chicago series.

The last year that Mookie, Smitty, and Deke played together. We legitimately had Chicago beaten in the first round. The refs bailed Chicago out with a no call on MJ for pushing Mookie out of bounds. Then there was the phantom foul on Smitty. If I remember correctly, we lost that game from the free throw line on that awful call. Chicago won the championship that year. We could have made it all the way.

Deke.

Personally, I don't want any more 6'10" centers. I want legitimate 7' ball players who are formidable rebounders and shot-blockers. If I've got to have Jefferson, you might as well just keep Horford at the 5.

I see your point, but half of our roster would be on expiring deals. The vast majority of our roster would have favorable contracts for trade. The point is to give the team flexibility moving forward; that doesn't just come with empty cap space.

Teague - 4 yrs $7M per Tyreke - 4 yrs $7M per Brewer - 4 yrs $6.5M per Korver - 2 yrs $5.5M per Ivan - 2 years $2M per Zaza - 2 years $3M per Scott - 2 years $900K Rookies (1st round) - Total 4 years @ $5M per Horf - $12 per Lou - $5M per Jenkins - $1.25M per This totals out to about $55.15M with trade-able assets. It leaves a few million under the cap for salary flexibility. I think that the new CBA is going to suppress salaries a little, as teams learned from bad contracts given out a few years ago to folks line Deandre Jordan, Turgolu, etc. I could be low-balling a bit, but this would be a team completely built from second-tier talent with an eye to the future. With Horford featured and everyone knowing their role, they could be exiting. They'd have a handful of players who can create their own shot, a few really good shooters, decent on-the-ball defense at the wing, and some developmental board bangers.

If you can't pull in D12 or CP3 [*]Sign and trade JSmooth for picks (2 non-lotto first rounders 2013& 2014) & cash only. He doesn't want to come back. (Boston) [*]Offer for Tyreke Evans and hope that Sac won't match. Play him @ the 2 [*]Sign Cory Brewer [*]Resign Teague [*]Resign Korver (1-2 year offer) [*]Resign 9 to 5 [*]Resign Mike Scott [*]Resign Zaza (1-2 year offer) Draft [*]Noguiera (16) - From Boston [*]Plumlee (17) [*]Tony Mitchell (18) Freak athlete who'll be coached-up [*]Siva (47) [*]Goodwin (52) Lineup Teague/Lou/ Siva Tyreke/ Jenkins/ Goodwin Brewer/ Korver/ Mitchell Horf/ 9 to 5/ Scott Zaza/ Noguiera/ Plumlee Keep your cap flexibility for next year when lots of younger centers enter the free agent class (Varejao, Drummond, Vucevic, Cousins, Kanter, Hawes, & Koufos)

No problem. As a long-time lurker, I figured I could pitch in.

By Jeff Schultz - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution It’s a clean start on the spreadsheet. It’s an exorcism everywhere else. From a pure basketball and financial standpoint, Hawks general manager Danny Ferry has the freedom to do almost anything he wants. He has a roster with only three guaranteed contracts for next season. He has four draft picks. He’s looking at a potential free-agent class that includes Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. He has salary-cap space and, therefore, trade leverage to acquire solid players for below their relative market value. “We have a rare opportunity this summer to do some things right that will help us in the long haul,” Ferry said. It’s the perfect offseason soundbite. But this is sort of like that time when you were growing up and your family decided to rent a trailer and drive through seven states for vacation, but everybody fought and nobody slept, a bear stole your food, Dad lost his wallet, you lost a shoe in the river, the dog died and on the last day lightning hit a tree that fell on the trailer, which, of course, wasn’t covered by insurance. God speed, Danny Ferry. Building a winning and respected organization is difficult under any circumstances. Ferry’s biggest challenge, however, may not be finding the right players to align next to Al Horford, but distancing the organization from past missteps, a decades-long hangover and, to that end, getting wanted players to come here. Atlanta long has been a desirable destination for NBA players as an offseason home. It hasn’t had the same attraction for those looking for a place to earn their living and pursue a championship. Ferry won and competed for championships as a player and in the front office in San Antonio, and he reached the finals once as Cleveland’s GM. But convincing players, analysts and fans that he can successfully transform the Hawks, even after an admirable job in his first season, will be a major challenge. On the court, the team has reached the playoffs six consecutive seasons (something only four other teams have accomplished). But the franchise never has celebrated a second-round playoff win since moving to Atlanta in 1968. In recent years, the Hawks more often than not have been viewed as a punch line or a headache, whether it was the overspending on Joe Johnson, the seeming ever-present drama around Josh Smith or the blur of botched draft picks (all together now: no to Paul, yes to Marvin Williams). Since Ferry’s hiring, there has been an orchestrated effort by the Hawks to distant itself from past problems with ownership, including, but not limited to: mismanagement, courtroom drama, public hissy fits, dishonesty and attempts to sell the team as recently as a year ago. Isolated setbacks and embarrassments can fade quickly when they involve respected organizations. Not so with the ones that don’t provide enough highlights on game day. The Hawks were among teams fined for tampering three years ago when Atlanta Spirit partner Michael Gearon referenced impending free agent LeBron James in an interview. The bigger public embarrassment probably came in the 2012 playoffs when Gearon publicly criticized officials and Boston’s Kevin Garnett, which not only drew another fine but a verbal knockout blow from Garnett following a great playoff performance against the Hawks: “First off, I want to say thank you to the (Hawks) owner for giving me some extra gas tonight. My only advice to him is next time he opens his mouth, actually know what he’s talking about — X’s and O’s versus checkbooks and bottom lines.” Ferry wants to get past that. He needs to get past that. This is a credibility war — not for his own credibility but his employer’s. The fact is, we can punch holes in almost every NBA organization, save San Antonio. Nearly every team has significant issues involving players, ownership, management, coaching or finances, even Miami (any takers for Chris Bosh at $19 million next season?). It didn’t help Ferry’s cause when it was learned last week that a season-ticket representative possibly put the team in position to be charged with tampering (and fined) again by referencing the Hawks’ possible pursuit of Paul and Howard in free agency in emails to potential ticket buyers. The obvious gaffe was not committed by Ferry or anybody in basketball operations, rather the sales department (which possibly lacks much in the way of oversight). But it was another negative headline that feeds into perception, another shot to a franchise’s credibility at the worst possible time. “Every little thing matters,” Ferry said. “Everything adds up, and we have to do a great job in every aspect of the organization. We are still in the mode where we have to build strong from the inside out and work our way up. But we’ve made positive strides. “We have to show a commitment, from ownership to the front office to coaches to everyone involved, that we’re working to build a strong organization with highly competitive people who are going to win. We have to show that.” Ferry is smart, earnest, hard-working. His hiring probably is the best decision this ownership group has ever made. But it’s far easier to strip down a team than it is to build it up. If a team falls off a cliff merely because one free agent never came or a draft pick blows up, then the structure probably was too fragile to begin with. This is about changing a culture, Ferry said, “building an environment that’s competitive and an atmosphere that’s caring about big things, small things and the people in it.” And just like any business, the question is what happens when you open the doors.

Hawks: Doc Smitty Nique Horford Mutumbo Alltime: Magic MJ Doctor J Duncan Hakeem