dj_me

I really truly would not be surprised if we start Diaw at PG and have Delk to back him up. The way he works is in a true PG sense. He isn't worried about scoring, he's worried about distributing the ball to where it needs to go. Diaw / Delk / Ivey J-Chill / D. Smith Harrington / J-Smooth Walker / CC Drob / Collier / Ekezie Anyway you put it, I think Diaw is going to get major minutes. He'll stay in when J-Chill sits and Delk will play SG. There will be moments when Delk will play PG, but I don't see it happening to much. Don't get me wrong, I'd like to have Anderson as well so that we could put Ivey on IR. But why spend if you don't ABSOLUTELY have to? Side note: Any thoughts on Junior Harrington? He played pretty well this off-season.

It's great having you around graymule. You are the light on many a dreary conversations. I wish for you a Happy Birthday and many more in the future!

1. He will NEVER change his mind through listening/understanding another poster. 2. He will NEVER let the topic die/be 'squashed'. 3. He will NEVER allow you to have the last word. And those are just a few. If I tried really hard I could probably come up with at least seven more. – – – – – – – – – – – – With that being said, I'd have to say that random trade thoughts, although posted on the WRONG Forum, are fun to look/laugh at. HOMECOURT would be slightly boring eitherwise. What you could do to defeat these pesky trade proposal threads is exactly what I do... DON'T POST ON THEM. That kills the thread quicker and there then becomes space for more informative items. See above on why arguing with Diesel on these threads are particularly devastating to you and your time. =P

Very nice to hear these words coming from outside this forum.

Quote: Diaw / J. Harrington? J-Chill / Hansen A. Harrington / J-Smooth Walker / CC Dampier? / Collier" Who are you trying to kid? That team is a pile of crap. Not scoring from the guards and a SF playing PG. Very stupid. DID YOU EVEN READ MY POST?! Oh wait, I forgot. You just hear what you want to hear and tangle all the rest of the details. F*ck man, read the details before you retaliate.

A348yagh9ay8 9a8y4r9ah a oh a97 tan aughva And that's all I have to say to you, Hotlanta. Your negativity and tunnel-vision is coming back in a HUGE way.

Walker doesn't really fit in our system. But AI does on so many levels. Essentially, we are trading JT/Hendu for one of the best players in the league (which he still is). That's a win/win in my book. AI is JT upgraded. And this would PROVE to Damp that we ARE going to be better. Diaw / Delk AI / Hansen J-Chill / J-Smooth A. Harrington / CC Dampier / Collier That lineup sounds MUCH better than the one I described with Walker in it. I would love this on so many levels.

How interesting could this be? We DEFINITELY need to get a PG or two this off-season if this is true. Diaw can handle it, but not full time. I know Walker is another point forward-type, but that doesn't make him or PG. Diaw / J. Harrington? J-Chill / Hansen A. Harrington / J-Smooth Walker / CC Dampier? / Collier I don't know about you, but this is scary to me, and not in a good way. If it happens, I will show my total support for BK and not say anything bad about it because I'm sure he has a master plan going for him. If anything, I see this as more capspace for next year. Walker's and CC's contract off in the same year; now that's scary in a good way! Definitely-definitely need a PG!

What's funny is that I'm not sure that we have room on our team for either. We have too many young players that we want to develop and, while I'm not against re-signing Sura, it would slow their development. If we were to sign Sura and Dampier... JT / Diaw / Ivey Sura / Hansen / Donta Diaw / J-Chill / CC Harrington / J-Smooth / CC Dampier / Collier / Hendu Not bad. We seem to have depth, even though it is comprised of rookies and sophmores. Thing is, can J-Chill be our backup SF for a time and can J-Smooth leap into PF so soon? I CANNOT BELIEVE how many players we have that can play multiple roles on our team! It's so exciting!

Thanks for the clarification. To me, J-Smooth is a little to big to be playing SG. He'd have difficulty guarding the pros at that position IMO. I think he'd be good the first year or so at SF but I really hope that he can make the leap to PF pretty quickly. He seems more fit to play that position than Harrington does. Now, if we were to get Nene, I believe that he would be playing C for us which allows for Harrington to play PF with J-Smooth developing behind him and Diaw at SF. I think this would also cancel the need for Dampier. JT Hansen Diaw Harrington Nene If we were to get Dampier as well then our lineup would probably look like this. JT / Diaw / Ivey Diaw / J-Chill / Hansen / Donta Harrington / J-Smooth / CC Nene / Hendu / CC Dampier / Collier / Hendu In this version, not only would Hansen be restricted in minutes (development), either Donta or Ivey would have to go on IR.

Diesel - I noticed that you have mentioned J-Smooth at SG a few times in the past week or so. Are you mistaking J-Smooth (Josh Smith) with J-Chill (Josh Childress)? From what I've read J-Smooth is a SF verging on PF, far from being a SG. On a side note, I see Hansen starting above J-Chill, at least at the start of the season. I believe Hansen will fill the role Sura played at the end of last season. JT / Diaw / Ivey Hansen / J-Chill / Donta Diaw / J-Smooth / CC Harrington / CC / Hendu Dampier (hopefully) / Collier / Hendu

Oh God, let this be televised. Er... Wait, nevermind that. To scary I think.

Who better to have as a Veteran big man helping to teach our young guys. I think he'd be good for us. Sign him for three years at a good price to be ready for the big men that appear in FA then. JT J-Chill Diaw Lil' Al Divac I think I'd still like to have Dampier, just don't want to pay to much for him.

I like him as well, though this could be a product of me being a big Wildcats fan. If I remember him correctly, he does seem to fight the BK mold. Could someone comfirm or deny that?

*crossing fingers* ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith... ...please get Livingston and Smith...

I really don't expect anything to happen until Draft day for the simple fact that people get really excited when Draft day deals go down and we could use the momentum of that to our advantage. Imagine a great Draft day trade going down, then we follow that up with the announcing of a great new head coach and then we manager to sign some big free-agent or trade for a great talent. We could use that to start camp and to start the season. Also, to go along with the Draft being right around the corner, here's my wish list for ATL- 1.) Livingston - I think that he is the perfect compliment to Terry. Diaw could come in occassionally at point for him and still play at SF. I think the combination of Livingston, Terry, Diaw, and Sura could be very dynamic. 2.) Josh Smith - I think he's going to be the superstar of this draft. I have a feeling his going to be some what V. Carter-ish, including maybe having an injury within the first two years. The reason he's 2 though is for the simple fact that he very well could be a star and we are not entirely sure that S. Jackson will be back. 3.) Howard - He is a local product, plain and simple. He being drafted by ATL would garner King James-type hype (minus the KNOWN skill). My problem is that I have a feeling that it is harder for a big man (PFs & Cs) coming out of high-school to become a force than it is for, say, SGs and SFs. Just my thoughts.

If we do land between 3rd & 6th these are the players that I would most want us to take... 1. Smith - I would really hate to pass up a kid that really has the potential to Kobe or Carter-esque. I love how Jackson is growing and all, but Smith is going to be a WHOLE lot cheaper. This may also save us from NEEDing to get Kobe or Tracy, although... JT/McGrady/Smith... hm? 2. Livingston - He would be an automatic fit. Sure, he's not a PF or C, but he can rotate with Diaw (who would also rotate with Jackson) and Sura (who would rotate with JT). This would be a very quick and diverse back court. 3. Howard - If he drops, which I sort of hope he doesn't. I don't trust the transition from HS for bigger players.

Quote: DJ, How do you define the team's direction? I know the team is rebuilding, but how? I do think the coach will have a role in determining the rebuild, and Billy and Stotts seem to be on the same page. The team seems to be fitting more and more into an up-tempo, versatile-style of play. There are many players that we do and/or will have that fit this nitch. I believe that ATL will find someway to get either Howard (not too excited, but would fit better than...) or Smith (could be huge, but we already may have Jackson). I'd also love to pick up Livingston (the more I think about him, the more I like him). Wishful thinking... JT / Livingston Sura / Hansen Jackson / Diaw CC / Howard / Hendu Collier / Pryz / Ekezie

That and the fact that Sura & Jackson were tearing sh*t up! My vote is for Stotts to stay. I've been on the Stotts bandwagon since he came on. I was sort of upset when he couldn't get things going with the roster we had, but, IMO, we're now heading in the right direction and he deserves a legitimate chance.

Another reason I'd pick those two over Okafor and Howard is, as mentioned in another thread, I believe that it is harder for bigger players to make the transition. Plus there is the fear of Okafor's back. I'd rather go with a couple quick, skillful, aggressive, scoring players with very nice court-vision.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but if there was a possibility of getting Livingston AND Smith, I'd trade JT. Everyone else can fight over Okafor and Howard, I want these two young cats. What would be ideal would be if somehow one of the two's stock falls so that we could pick him up with our mid-first. That or, instead of trading JT (seeing as though he clicks with Sura and Jackson) send away our mid-first, a second, and some money considerations. JT / Livingston Sura / Diaw / Hansen Jackson / Smith CC / Hendu Collier / Pryz / Reb

...out of all the high school to pros, how many of the flops are big men? It just seems to me that they have a harder time making the transition because they HAVE to bulk up and learn how to post as well as other things that come along with that type of player. As big men coming from high school, they still seem to play more with there face to the basket as a G/F would do. I think it's much easier for SG/SF to make the transition for the simple fact that they can just go in and play. Sure, they may struggle a bit with the pacing, defense, speed, etc. at first, but they can still get in there and score, get some decent assists and rebounds as well as other stats. Kemp started out as a SF, didn't he? Garnett plays much like an SF Kobe - SG TMac - SG Lebron - SG/SF 'Melo - SG I'm sure there many more that have and haven't made it. Just thought I'd bring up a point.

First, I must say that I only watched the first half. Second, I didn't see what all the hype about Howard is. He seemed sort of stiff, almost clumsy, and not as aggressive as I thought he would be. I didn't like Smith's first two shots of the game, even though he made the second one. It seemed WAY too planned out. But then, as the game went on, he seems to be the ONE player most ready for the NBA transition. It would be nice to have him, but that's not what we're really looking for, IMO. I really think that to be successful in the upcoming draft, Atlanta needs to SOMEHOW land Okafur. He's the man for us. If we can't get him with whichever pick we get, we trade our earliest first round and either our mid-first round or two second round picks for him.

For me, the biggest surprises of the year are... 1) Orlando blows, and not in a good way. 2) Cleveland is very much up-and-coming. 3) Phoenix lost its drive. 4) Denver is tough as nails. 5) Milwaukee is d@mn good. 6) Utah is better than expected. 7) Philly's (or should I say AI's) drop from greatness.

I've come to the point where I'm satisfied where we're at. We're playing as an actual team and I keep hearing from different news sources that the Hawks are starting to have a pulse. Even here, this sight has gone from all negative (which is why I stopped posting) to postive thinking. In my opinion, we've made just enough trades and don't really need to go any further. Let our team grow together. Keep EVERYONE that shows a they want to play. I kind of like the idea of being an actual TEAM rather than being one or two ALL-STAR's team. We experimented with that and it didn't work. We have always seemed to produce with our so-called scrubs, so let them produce. LET Jackson be the first option. LET JT run around like a chicken with it's head cut off. Let CC contribute his hard-nosed skills and pray that he doesn't get injured again. Let Diaw develop into a star or whatever he may become. Let Sura come in and give us our second wind. Let Pryz start and get his blocks and such. Let Rebraca come in off the bench and get some scoring and rebounds. Let Hendu come back healthy and contribute behind CC like we all know he can. Let Hansen have more time on the floor, I see him developing into a stellar back-up. JT / JV Diaw / Sura / Hansen Jax / Person CC / Hendu Pryz / Rebraca / N'diaye