RamblinCharger

Grant seems like a solid player that could contribute off the bench, but don't we need (or at least most of us think we need) a starting caliber SF? I think grant could be very good, but I think it might take a few years. I would like to see us get someone that can help us win now.

Shabazz would be nice, but I'm not sure that they would make a trade for a guy that can score pretty well and is a cheap contract that could come off the bench or start for them. We're several days into free agency now, and I'm starting to think that we're just going to stick with the guys that we have, and that won't be such a bad thing IMO, because I think we have a deeper team now that is going to be pretty good. If we need someone in the middle of the season we could always make a move at the trade deadline to have someone for the playoffs.

Can Scott not play SF? I know his defense is suspect, but he has the size and seems to be a little quicker than Milsap to me? Since he likes to play on the wing maybe giving him solid minutes every game would help his confidence and we could see him bust out.

Not great stats and a pretty inefficient shooter, but if we get him hopefully he'll fit in well.

Big mistake on this post....some of you know nothing about the Spurs system

And did you just compare Harris to Sap? Harris isn't on saps level period and he has a long way to go before he's a teams best player

Haha "big mistake on this post"

Demarre isn't going to get exposed in Toronto. He's pretty much has improved his game each season, and has been a beloved role player wherever he's gone.

What he'll become, is the premiere 3 and D player in the league. It's no need to hate on the guy, simply because he's not with us anymore.

People simply need to trust Bud, and understand that it was HE who had been in the Spurs organization 20+ years, and saw firsthand how they operated. It's Bud that is implementing the Spurs style of play here. He's not green to this.

Be more concerned about Bud staying away from the Chardonnay and the Grey Goose, than him constructing this team the right way.

Demarre will score 16 ppg on 43% shooting and grab 6 rpg. He's not elite and wasn't worth the money. He's a solid player and nothing more. Give Thabo 38 minutes a game and he'll put up almost identical numbers. People fell in love with his attitude, but I don't think people really watched his offensive game when he wasn't wide open for a corner 3.

Hating on Kent for no reason. You'll change your tune soon enough.

Really wish Milsap just wanted the guaranteed money and took his max EB rights, which is think would've been 4years/$74 million or so. Pretty close to what Orlando offered and we would have some serious cap to work with.

Double post, sorry, on the phone.

Do we not have the MLE? We didn't pay any luxury tax last year and the MLE this year is 5 million. We should be able to bring in a quality bench player for 5 a year, drop Mack and Scott and have 6 million or so to fill a wing spot. Also, the cap isn't set. It wouldn't shock me to see the cap go up to 73-75 so the jump isn't so significant going into the next off season. Guys in the front office are paid 6 figures (at least) to figure this stuff out. They'll get it done. Also like someone else mentioned, we might just say screw it, and pay the tax for a quality wing that Bud likes.

Cavs just re-signed Shump to 10 mil a year.

Love to max, Irving to max, Thompson to max. Lebron not even signed yet. $240 mil just from today's commitments.

Find it hilarious the best player in the world needs $60 mil over the cap more than other teams to field a winner for him.

And we can't even sign a SF.

Come on guys. Do a little research on the NBA cap. They had bird rights to Thompson and Irving so in essence they don't count against the cap. We'll be able to make room. The cap will probably end up close to 70 million for this season, give or take a couple of million. If we signed Milsap to a back heavy deal where he makes say 16-17 this year and 20 or 21 next year when the cap takes a big jump, we'll be sitting around 65 million (roughly) as a team. We will probably trade Mack and Scott to get about 5-6 million back. That will give us about 8 million in cap room. We will also have 5 million for the mid level exception and possibly 2-2.5 for the bi-annual exception. I would look for us to sign a wing player for 5-7 million, a veteran PG, and another big defender.

Hazer is on fire. I'll include you on my staff when I get that assistant GM spot.

Thank you. I love all of these moves, and I guarantee we'll find the cap room that we need to add another wing player. I don't care about stars. We needed a rim protector in the playoffs and we needed a scorer or two that could create their own shot and we beat the heat. I also have to think that we'll get better as a collective group playing together. Have some faith guys.

Salary cap is going to be 67-70 million this year. I read some rumor that it could be even higher, but let's say we've got (rounded roughly):

Horford-12

Splitter-8?

Teague-8

Korver-5.5

Thabo-4

Scott-3.3

Mack-2.5

Dennis-2

THjr-1.5

Muscala-minimum(not sure if it counts towards cap)

Daye-minimum

We're looking around 47-48 before signing sap. If we sign sap to a back loaded deal we've probably got 3-4 million left to work with. If we trade Scott and Mack that puts us around 8-9 to work with. I think the MLE is around 5.5, so let's say we sign Milsap (which I think we've come to an agreement), and use the MLE to sign someone like Gerald Green or Jae crowder, and then use the bi-annual exception to sign a 3rd PG. that leaves us about 8 million to go after 1 more really solid piece or a couple of decent pieces to fill in the bench. Sign me up Hawks. I'm ready to be assistant GM.

I'm glad some of you aren't running the team, although I do wish some of you were in my fantasy league. Easy money.

I am not negative. I call it like it is. The Hawks will always be an after thought. They aren't serious about winning. They signed nobody in free agency. This team might is taking a step back in the wrong direction. While it may not be a huge step, it's a step in the opposite direction of what legit teams strive to do. Bottom line is that this team isn't getting better.

what major moves did we need to make though? We got to the ECF and it was our teams 2nd year together. We have slowly checked off our needs. We added a player that has the ability to score on his own either off the bench or possibly in a starting role, we added a big man that plays well on both ends who can defend the rim and rebound, and unless we don't resign Milsap, we bring back 3.5 all stars (Kyle .5) and a better bench. I imagine if we resign Milsap that we will trade Scott or Mack, or both, and sign a veteran pg to the MLE, and try to come up with 5-7 million in cap space to then go after a solid 3&D guy to start or come off the bench and play 20+ minutes with Thabo and Baze (who will be our next Carroll btw). So in all we will end up better, at least in the playoffs in my opinion. We weren't going to add those huge name free agents, because we simply didn't need to bring in a star, which could change our chemistry a lot, when we just got to the ECF. So everyone, for the love of Hawks Basketball, please calm down.

Alex are you always so negative? Why was demarre so great? Because he gave effort? He scored 15 a game and played good defense. Hell, if Baze played as many minutes as demarre I think he could put up similar numbers. I don't know how our team that got to the ECF has gotten any worse in anyone's eyes. I just don't see it. Most likely we add a pretty good center that plays both ways, we add a SG that has talent and will probably flourish in our system, and we'll most likely bring back everyone else except demarre. I mean if we add one other meaningful bench player I think we've really upgraded our team. I just really don't understand what everyone saw in demarre. He's a slightly, and I mean slightly better player than Thabo, and I think everyone will see that this year when he plays for an average team with an average coach. His percentages will drop considerably and we'll all be saying "wow, glad we didn't pay 15 million per for that"

They broke off negotiations for some reason. I mean they're already having to pay taxes supposedly. It's possible I guess if we offer him a max deal, although couldn't they just sign him for 5 years and whatever his max is with the bird exception?

It would help us save a couple million in cap this year though, and then we could try to sign a shooter and a solid backup center and we would have ourselves a squad.

Only thing milsap gets by signing with the magic is no state income tax in FL. Other than that I see no reason why he wouldn't be back with the Hawks. Also for those that say splitter is starting so Al can play the 4 please stop and think. We have a good guy coming off the bench now to be a rim protector and he'll be able to play with Al or with milsap. We'll still have Korver, baze, Thabo, and THjr to play the 2-3 spot. I imagine we'll pick up another shooter, or a diamond in the rough 3&D guy. So our main 10 on the roster should look like this

1. Teague, Dennis

2. THjr, Korver

3. Thabo, Baze

4. Milsap, moose

5. Horford, Splitter

Deep Bench: Mack (or veteran if Mack is traded), Scott (I could see him being traded as well), and then I can see us getting a good shooter or good defender to add off the bench.

Overall I think we would be better as a team with this group, and we would be a better playoff team if everyone is healthy. We added offense, and we got a rim protector and rebounder. I personally don't think we'll miss demarre much since we'll have a group of 2-3 guys that will make up for his play. What do you guys think, do you agree?

I think Blazemore is gonna shock a lot of Hawk fans this summer and really improve his game. His handles aren't as bad as Carrol's were before he improved. If Baze comes in and puts in the work that Carrol did, there's going to be a big improvement. Bazemore will be a better player for us next year.

I agree, I think he could turn into as good of an offensive player as Carroll. He's never been with any team for more than a year or year and a half, and he seems like a good guy that will work hard. If we can develop him over then next 2-3 years I think he could be a starter at SG after Kyle. He shot 36-37% from 3 last year, if he works hard and plays more consistently I think he could shoot close to 40% from 3 and in our offense he could turn into a guy that scores 14-18 ppg. Demarre had worse numbers than baze before he got to Atlanta, and he turned into a solid starting wing.

You guys are really over reacting. THJ has been in the league for a couple of years now and we needed a guy that can score. He was on a crap team and put up decent scoring numbers. I think we did okay. I wanted grant or RJ Hunter, but I think we did pretty well with the trade considering we are trying to win sooner rather than later.

This is what I wanted. This should help keep Bud here for a long time. The only way I can see him leaving now is if San Antonio offers him Pops position when Pop retires. Let's go get some stuff done this off season now that this is behind us.

I think considering the new cap he's worth 8-10; anything over that we need to let him walk for the good of the team.

I'd be happy with green at 8, but anything over that and I think it's a reach. If we sign Sap back I still think we should try to work the money where we could also go after Monroe, and then work with what we have at SF, possibly including our draft pick.