pachoo5

Holy hell, Millsap is heads and shoulders above Josh Smith. What stats are you looking at? Take a look at efficiency stats like +/-, Net Rating, True Shooting %, VORP, PER, WS/48, etc., Millsap absolutely destroys Josh Smith because he is 10x the player. You must be looking at misleading counting stats. Look at the stats that actually tell you how much a player helped his team when he played and Josh Smith can't hold Millsap's jock strap.

It's absurd how overrated Demarre has gotten on this board. People are acting like he was Kawhi Leonard. Yes, his loss will hurt but we have players who can do a very good job at trying to replace his production. The drop off isn't going to be huge. And our improvements with size (Tiago) more than makes up for Carroll's loss.

This thread really makes me wonder how many of our fans started following the Hawks last year. People acting like this was some horrible move? WTF? This trade was easily the best move of our offseason, an absolute heist. Sure, it helped the Spurs immensely but that doesn't mean it didn't help us out just as much. We now have so much flexibility with our rotations. Tiago is a legit center and when he played, the Spurs allowed ten less points per game. This is a HUGE pickup.

Why do so many people on here think Thabo can't be a starter? He has been a starter more than half his career. I am guessing people who doubt he can play regular minutes don't know much about his history. Just because he was a backup on our squad last year doesn't mean he can't be a starter for us this year. It isn't as if Thabo is some career journeyman. He was a very high first round draft pick and a starter for five straight years before coming to the Hawks in 2014. He had a better +/- than Demarre all season. His offensive + defensive efficiency also better Demarre's. All the PER stats favor Thabo over Demarre during the past season. Why can't he be a starter for us? There is absolutely no reason why he can't be. I think he could flourish as our starting SF.

Why are you so positive that Thabo would turn into some pumpkin if he played more minutes? Where is any support for that thinking? I've not seen any evidence to tell me that Thabo will turn into crap if he plays 5 or 6 more minutes a game than he was last year. Why would that happen?

Thabo will not be a huge downgrade from Carroll and the metrics bare that out. Actually, when combining their offensive and defensive efficiency scores last year, Thabo was actually BETTER than Demarre. Demarre is a better scorer for sure, but I think Thabo's defense was always better than Carroll's. I just hope Thabo can stay healthy all season to get the minutes we need to get out of him.

i can't believe any Hawk fan would want Josh Smith back. He definitely cost the Hawks more wins then losses during his tenure here. Very selfish player who hogged the ball and chucked horrible selfish shot after selfish shot, trying to be a hero every night. He cost the Hawks so many damned games.

Yeah, I am perfectly fine with Thabo getting Demarre's full time minutes. We need another body though to take Thabo'd backup minutes.

A solid A. Tiago Is an upgrade for our team over Demarre, though they obviously play different positions. Tiago was a much bigger need for us, a true defensive minded center. I think we are going to see Horford playing PF, Sap SF and Tiago C quite a bit this year. I don't think Bud brought Tiago in as only a backup rotational guy...Tiago is more talented than that role. I believe in the Hawks system and think Hardaway can flourish with this team. And I am super pumped that Tavares will be a Hawk and not a lost Euro player. I don't think we will see him much this season but we now know that he will be a big part of this Franchise going forward. Great offseason so far. I expect us to trade for one last piece to replace Demarre. If not, Thabo will not be much of a downgrade from Demarre given similar minutes. I loved Carroll but he simply is NOT worth $15M a year...that is a huge overpayment.

The bottom line is that this move means that Bud and company weren't impressed with the guys left on the board by the 15th pick. If Booker, Winslows, etc. were still available when we picked we would not have traded out.

We haven't been going over the cap in any of the last few years afaik so this is great news.

I would prefer the group with actual past basketball players like Grant Hill or Dominique to be the buyers, not some nameless corporation who wants the Hawks as an asset item on their balance sheet.

Yeah, it's very suspicious how the lottery is done in private still. Why can't the public see the balls drawn live? It makes no sense unless they still want the power to make the balls go to whoever they want.

I think it is going to be Neal as well.

Okafor then Russell.