JETSET

Ferry took two stashable first rounders and dumped salary while flying to L.A. to meet with Dwight when Dwight was a free agent. Pro tip: get your facts straight before you try to diss some one unless you want to become the joke.

A lineup of George Hill, Batum, Paul George, Noel, Cousins would disagree.

With a lineup stacked with wings who can create for themselves and others off the dribble, I need a veteran 3nD PG who can lead the team while Russell develops. I found the perfect fit in a guy who has the best defensive rating average of any PG over the last 3 years (3rd among all guards) along with a career 37% 3pt%. At 29 years old, he had the best season of his career last year. His running mate missed the season which increased his usage and he responded well with averages of 16 pts 5 assts 4 rebs on 48% shooting. His team was 10 points better per 100 possessions when he was on the floor. At 6'3" with a 6'9" wingspan, he is capable of playing the 2 spot when needed. He will also bring valuable playoff experience and familiarity with Paul George. We select George Hill PG: George Hill, D'Angelo Russell SG: Paul George, Nic Batum SF: Carmelo Anthony PF: Nerlens Noel. Danillo Gallinari C: Demarcus Cousins @Spud2Nique you are on the clock

@ATLHawks3 You are on the clock at 3p if @IheartFerry doesn't show by then.

Word is that GSW is going to recruit KD hard next season. Could you imagine a trio of Curry/Klay/Durant. The rest of the league might as well quit for a few years if that goes down.

I find it interesting that Korver and Hardaway Jr. seem to have a lower ratio of wingspan compared to height vs every one else and they are supposed to be our two best shooters. I wonder if there is any correlation there. and I guess the old adage that white men can't jump is true after all.

Nice pick cap.

His shot chart from 2013-14 is incredible. I tried to embed it and I can't figure it out. I don't know if there is another player in the league who distributes his shots so evenly across the floor while shooting a good percentage in almost all of them. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fancy-stats/wp/2014/06/23/carmelo-anthony-has-plenty-to-offer-in-free-agency/ halfway down the page

Well that's easy. If we only win 45-50 games, we aren't good enough to win a championship. When's the last time an NBA team won 50 games or less and won the title? I would imagine that the list is very small if there are any at all. How often have the Spurs only won 45-50 wins since they have had Duncan? The only time was in a lockout year with fewer games. The only big time player the Spurs have had is Duncan. Parker and Ginobli wouldn't be anywhere near the hall of fame if they didn't win those titles.

I agree with the playoffs and particularly matching up with Lebron. I disagree with his absence costing us regular season games. I have probably been Thabo's biggest supporter on this board since he got here. I understand that his absence was big, it just surprisingly didn't cost us games during the regular season.

Winning 45-50 games is piling on wins? Cleveland is the only team in the East that can be confident against us in a 7 game series. The Hawks will win 55+ again this year.

Did the quality of play decrease? Yes, some. Did we stop winning games because of it? No. This discussion is centered around winning games and Thabo's absence did not result in us losing an irregular amount of games. The losses only started piling up when we had multiple players out at the same time.

He may make the all-star game but it will be because of a ridiculous usage % and taking a ton of shots which leads to gaudy numbers while losing a ton of games. With that said, Lillard is still a quality player. I just wouldn't take him over Teague or give him a 120+ million dollar contract.

Yeah that's where he is likely going to end up with Noel being the backup center. Noel can share floor time with Cousins sometimes depending on matchups.

Look at that division though. They get 16 games vs Brk/Bos/Phi/Tor. A lineup of Galloway/Afflalo/Melo/Williams/Lopez is good enough to win 35+ if they stay healthy. That's one that I probably wouldn't bet big on but I would pick over before I picked under.

You are crazy. Lillard is about to get exposed this year imo. That was Aldridge's team, not Lillard's. and Teague may have been around since 09 but let's not act like he was given free reign to do what he wants like Lillard was. Teague has only been a starter for 4 years and he is only 2 years older than Lillard. I would rather have a general (Teague, good defense, good playmaking, good scoring when needed) than a heroball type of guy at pg unless it's Westbrook.

I think all of these Overs look good. Would probably limit myself to only 2 or 3. ATL Over 46.5. NYK Over 32.5 Utah Over 40.5 Sac Over 32.5. Mem Over 52.5 N.O. Over 46.5

I will be going all in if this ends up being the win total line for the Hawks this year. http://gamingtoday.com/race_sports/nba/article/54866-Predicting_NBA_season_win_totals#.VaezWvm8p0Y "Atlanta Hawks: (40.5 LY), finished 61-21: Last year’s top overachiever. Will be bigger with Tiago Splitter and Edy Tavares alongside Paul Millsap and Al Horford, but need point guards Jeff Teague and Dennis Schröder to take another step forward. Kyle Korver and Thabo Sefolosha returning to health also essential. Projected wins: 46.5" They have the Heat, Raptors and Wizards projected at 47.5. The Bulls and Cavs are also higher which puts us at 6th in the East. These fools are clueless. Just more disrespect towards us which works out very well for betting futures.

I'm not taking Lillard over Teague. Lillard is the definition of all flash and no substance. Outside of making a couple of clutch shots, he is an inefficient chucker who is a complete liability on defense. Portland would regularly mix up their defensive assignments and have Mathews or Batum guard the PG while Lillard was hidden on the weakest link on offense. I remember the game this year where Lillard didn't make the all-star game and he made instagram posts crying about being dissed and said he was going to come out with a vengeance. Everybody was acting scared and thought Dame was about to go off on the Hawks that night. Instead, he shoots 6/20 for 13 points with 11 assists 6 turnovers and went home with a L.

Barring major injuries, they are winning 55 at a minimum. This team and system was built for the regular season and they will excel in the regular season as long as they are mostly healthy. It's why the Spurs are always in the top 2 or 3 in the standings in the West, even in years when they suffer injuries. Our offensive system produces consistent easy shots which is a huge bonus in the regular season.

Once again, more incorrect statements from Hots. Our play did not start to suffer when Thabo went down. We were 15-6 in the first 21 games without Thabo, before losing 3 in a row to SAS/GSW/OKC while having other players out. One of those 6 losses was to Philly when we rested Korver/Carroll/Millsap/Pero. Another was the game before the all-star game when we were cruising against Boston and then mailed it in during the 2nd half and ended up losing by 1. Do you have anything else?

My lineup isn't set yet and the starting lineup will change. Melo will be in it though. Melo became underrated when it became popular to hate on him. He's a legit superstar and one of the better players in the league and he would actually have a supporting cast around him. Melo with a good cast is a very dangerous player. His ability to play off ball and spot up shoot are elite compared to most "superstars".

I'm not so sure of that since Parker looked done last year. The Spurs were better with ***** on the court and Parker on the bench.

I need shooting and I have this gentleman rated as the best stretch 4 left. His career 3pt% of 37% forces defenders to play him tight which opens up his deadly penetration game. He will only need to play around 20 minutes a game which will hopefully help him stay healthy. While being injury prone, he is a lethal offensive weapon when he is able to lace his shoes up and get out on the court. His shooting will provide spacing for Cousins to work down low and will help open up driving lanes for Melo, George and the rest of the gang. At only 26 years old, his best days of ball are ahead of him and we are happy to welcome Danilo Gallinari to our team. A stipulation of his contract will require him to shave his pube beard. PG: Russell SG: George, Batum SF Melo PF: Noel, Gallinari C: Cousins @AHF you are up next

I can agree with that. I can't agree with his assertion that we won 60 games only because teams were taking it easy against us.