red2play

?If Paul wanted to be here, he would have made it known and would have taken a home town discount.  He could have signed last yr but decided to let his contract play out and go for more money.  I personally think he wanted to use us in a bidding war to get more money.  That being said, I wish him the best and its not like he didn't get his money, he's making 30 mil a yr.

The entire league (with the exception of the wizards), even the nuggets with only paying him 90 mil (when people speculated he would get 200 mil) have started to realize that long term BIG contracts don't work.  Each team is trying to work through the draft to make a team.  GS built its team through the draft and then added one big player which helped make them two time champs.  Millsap opted out, hoping for the big contract, not the Hawks and I'm sure it was talked about.

9 minutes ago, Hotlanta1981 said:

Tanking doesn't work. The Hawks haven't really did it and they have a bunch of rings to show for it.

You think an old David West is better than Sap? lol

At 32?  You think PM is a spring chicken?  and I love how people want to complain about MY OPINION, even when I said its not popular.  Whoever gives the max will regret the contract soon enough.

MillSap shouldn't be a starter even.  I think David West is better than Millsap (just my thoughts which I know is in the minority).  I just want to start over.  We need to let the medium tier players go somewhere else.  Paul Millsap is good  but not great.

When you take on bad contracts, you normally get picks, not lose them.  We could have asked Dwight to take less to buy out his contract and kept the 31st pick.  There were many other options too.  This was just a plain bad GM move and perhaps it might be a forboding telling of what's to come.

We should clear the cap as much as possible and then take on one and two year contract dumps to gain picks.  You then use the picks to make a team.  EVERY successful team has done this.  Celtics, Spurs, Golden State, Thunder.  If you look at those teams, they made great draft picks and then had a culture that allowed them to flourish.  Golden State would NEVER had gotten Kevin Durant if they didn't draft well and the Spurs is the same.  The Thunder had all time great picks, Durant, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka and Reggie Jackson but they let them go.  Jimmy Butler was drafted 30th, none of the GSW's were drafted very high except Curry (if you consider 7th very high).  I LOVE DH but we weren't going to win a championship with him.  Its time to get draft picks and wait for the team rebuild.

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2017/1/25/14395024/dwyane-wade-jimmy-butler-rip-bulls-teammates-after-loss?yptr=yahoo

https://twitter.com/i/videos/tweet/824465913693016064

Wow, we really deflated them.

I'd rather see him go and go after Blake griffin or somebody with a future than tying up money for a 2 yr stint that will take us nowhere.

In 2020, Lebron will have retired.  Its very likely it will be a lottery pick.  PRAY that we get the 2020 pick.  Before Lebron James, they were a 19 win team.

47 minutes ago, Alex said:

Then why take on their salaries?  I am not well versed in NBA trades, but does it follow the idea in the NFL that trade for the contract and the player comes with?  

1 hour ago, andpau said:

Mo    -   2,2 M.

Dun   -  5 M.

Both are not going to play any game with Atlanta..

Hope they find someone to pay them..Or am I missing something?

They didn't have the cap space to include Kover's 5.5 mi, so we took on some of their cap space.  I believe Bud is looking at the 2019 or 2020 picks when LJ is 37 and won't win anymore championships.  Stacking up picks so that we can be competitive after LJ retires is a smart thing.

To me, it depends on the protected pick and from who.  If the cavs give the pick, then its worthless.  I hope we get some good talent.

If you ONLY compare us to GS and Cavs then our ceiling might not be that high but if Prince turns out like J Butler (which I think he has the potential to be )  And schröder turns out to be better than Teague, then we would be that third power team.  SA without Duncan or Parker (age) isn't in that tier anymore and next yr if Durant leaves GS, then we would have a shot at a title, assuming Howard doesn't decline.

I wish him the best, I wish that he had been more aggressive.  I don't see why they traded Hill for Teague but whatever.  I don't like the Young and Jefferson being on their team.  They won't have interior D.  They SHOULD have begged D West to come back and gotten a real center like Horford.

Two yrs from now, one city will be happy and the other will NOT and the unhappy city will have two more yrs of unhappiness. 

Al Horford is 6'7" not 6'10" and a half a yr older than Dwight who's 6'11" with one less yr on his contract.  Not to mention 40 million less on the contract.

We lacked rebounding and interior defense.  Lebron went to the hole at will in the playoffs, not anymore.

When Al Horford comes back, I'm going to cheer for the yrs he gave us.  I'll leave the boos for the Celtic fans who will realize their mistake and I also don't blame Al for accepting a contract that will clearly be his last BIG payday.

The only thing I'm kinda sad about is not seeing Al Horford in his natural position of PF alongside someone like Howard.  I think he got cheated out of most of his career.

I think that the lack of big name FA's have more to do with management than the crowds. Obviously management prefers 2nd tier than top tier agents and we give up our cap space to help out better and bigger markets.

I don't like the fact that we are accepting players to free up room for other teams. I like the fact that we didn't go berserk over Josh Smith leaving and traded Joe Johnson away but then after holding firm, get Tiago Splitter to help out another team? If we wanted to pay big money, we could have gotten Deandre Jordan, Omer Asik, Greg Monroe, Brandon Wright, etc.

So, if we accept other team baggage, what does that make us? I don't see LA taking baggage, not even the Knicks. If the Hawks want to be a premier team, we need to stop believing we are the trash of the NBA. Even the Texas teams aren't taking on other teams cap space.

Its worth losing lots of pieces if you can get LMA. I say we offer Shumpert 7 mil (which the Cavs won't match), get LMA max and then see if Sap would go for 9 mil a yr. Our cap stands at 43 mil. We can afford Aldridge + SAP and Shump.

I care more about ownership that's willing to spend money rather than a group that focuses only on doing enough to make a profit.  Oh yeah, and someone from ATLANTA born and raised if possible  Those are the two criteria that I care about.

Our whole team is role players. I am so tired of the middle of the road mentality this ownership and this team are in. I love the Hawks, but man I just wish they could do something to be better than a middle of the pack team. Maybe before I die I can actually see this team actually get out of the first 2 rounds....I am 40 so what let's say another 40 years? Maybe at least once.

Paul Millsap is on Team USA and Horford would be too, if not for the injury.  I personally believe that Jeff Teague is the truth and he showed it by destroying George Hill and then pulling Paul George's defense away from the rest of the team.  Korver is our Ray Allen.  If those are role players, then 99% of the league are also "Role Players".  There's a reason we make the playoffs every year and this year we will go beyond the first rd.

Dallas never has trouble.

NJ hasn't had trouble.

Chicago never has trouble.

Cleveland didn't have trouble.

Miami didn't have trouble.

Houston is on the fence... they were just out GM'd.

 

But here's the thing...  Rich Cho goes to Charlotte.  Charlotte gets big Al and now Stephenson... not to mention Heyward.

Portland always seems to get who they want.

Washington is also very successful as of late.

 

Lowry chose Toronto.

Phoenix can get players too.

Who did Portland get? or Phoenix?  They can get players and so can we.  Lowry chose Toronto and Horford chose Atlanta, big whoop.  We are talking about attracting free agents. 

Miami attracting free agents?  You mean Luol Deng? He's not Carmelo AND the LOST Lebron.  Chicago has always had trouble, since MJ left.  Gasol at 34 will help but he wont carry the team. 

Cleveland couldn't get ANYONE last season.  No LeBron, no dice.  Again, we are talking how to attract FA's.

My response to that is that we have the SAME issue as at least 20+ other markets.  This ISNT a tax-free income-tax state.  We aren't CONSIDERED a MAJOR market that spurs interest outside of basketball.  There are two markets that everyone loves.  That's LA and NY, period. 

Miami isn't considered one because everyone has seen D Wade go for YEARS with no help until Lebron came over.  You would also think that OKC, Dallas and Toronto would be prime locations seeing how the fans in those states go wild over the basketball teams but they still don't get Free Agents.  The Bulls are the top team in attendance but they still couldn't get Lebron, or Carmelo.

They don't care about attendance,  Fan Fever or ownership troubles.  They want marketability and rings.  That's how it is.

26 of the 30 teams have the same issue, including San Antonio.  How to attract players?  Good Drafting and good players from FA.  Who have the Spurs added in recent years.  Patrick Mills?  Boris Diaw and they traded for Kawhi Lenard.  If Kevin Durant leaves OKC, watch them fall like a rock.  There's only a few teams that get the big name FA's and unfortunately, we aren't one of them.

Evan Turner isn't a bust, he's not found a team that has the coaching to get him to the next level.  I think Bud would be PERFECT for him.  Not to mention he can be had for a bargain price at this point.

I think a front line of Gasol and Noah will be pretty good. Gasol is the best low post player in the east now. We have no one on our roster that can match up and guard him at 7-0. Miami will of course be down but with Bosh and advent up front they will be a tough matchup.

I know we all love the Hawks but we are about 5th or so in the east.

Just no.  Rose is done for so having two good low post players almost mean nothing, Look at Detriot for an example.  Miami is certainly not as good, LJ can create his own shots, pass the ball and provide leadership, something that Deng can't.  The Wizards lost Ariza and PP is SUPER slow.  I would say that the Pacers and the Cavs are better but not by much.