macdaddy

We got something for Walker rather than having him around for 20 more games on the worst team in the league. While unlikely we could have Walker back for next season (unless there's a rule I don't know which is likely). He's a FA, liked it here, we make him happy by getting him into the playoffs with his old team. IF they don't want him we could sign him. I know it won't happen, but if it did we'd have a 1st plus Walker for nothing.

I'd like to see us find a good veteran PG. I'm talking a real starter. I know its not easy but Ivey has shown promise. We need someone who can really lead the team and teach Ivey.

I thought you had to be on a roster by 3/1 to be eligible for the playoffs with that team. Is that not right?

Kmart doesn't have enough complaints about his own team he has to he has to rag on ours. It doesn't sound like he wants to play here. It sounds like the opposite.

Plus Korver is something the Hawks desperately need: a good long range jump shooter.

So did we get an 2005 pick. I saw it reported as a future first round pick. That's good but I'd like to see us make a trade for a player at some point. I guess that's offseason stuff. It would have been good to get GP sooner so we could trade him to a contender for something else. Maybe a backup center or 2nd round pick. I'd be surprised if he put on a Hawks uni.

Since we have the worst record in the NBA I don't think BK feels the need to make a trade now unless someone offered some real talent. The only player we have that would have to be traded now as opposed to the offseason is Walker. And that's only if we don't want him next year which I'm not convinced of. Everyone else can be traded in the offseason.

Whether you agree with the strategy or not, I'm saying that BK believes in tanking. I think he will make sure we close to the bottom (or top depending on how you look at it).

I think Vescey makes up deals. He's been saying that the sixers would definitely trade AI every year for the past 4 years.

If we start winning games I think you will see BK do some things to slow us down. We may see Al and AW gone or at least some interesting injuries.

I hear what you're saying but the thing you have to notice about this is more than the spectacular dunks. Its the preparation, showmanship, and performance. This kid was in high school last year! He was picked by most to win it so he had a bunch of pressure going in. His dunks were by far the best and he nailed every single one. Not a miss on 4 straight difficult dunks. That's clutch. My only complaint with Smoove is sometimes his body language makes him look like he's loafing. Like in the rookie game it looked like he was just in pre-game warmups. But there again its just the rookie game.

I'd like to keep Walker but the reason he's not bringing in as much as we expect because he may be gone at the end of the year anyway with nothing to show for it. I'd really like to get Korver in some kind of deal. Having that outside threat would be huge for our team. AI wants to win now and Walker would be big for them. But if it goes down I think BK will get something significant out of it. Walker is one of his guys. He only gives away players he doesn't like.

Quote: Seeing what we have in the young guys is FAR more important to me than winning at this point in this season. We are 10-40 for goodness sakes! Its a good point but not really the issue here. I think Donta looks good too, but I'd just as soon see what we have in Ivey or Diaw (both young guys) when the game is on the line. And another young guy Smoove was on the bench too. So I don't see the argument that Woody was more concerned with development than winning. Whatever the hopes for Donta are (point-foward or guard or whatever) the fact is that he hasn't played this role all season and has had limited minutes in the positions he has played. So lets see if he can run the offense in the 2nd quarter not the end of the 4th.

Well said Lascar. Diaw's claim to fame is ball handling whether you agree with it or not. Donta is not on the team to run the offense. Certainly not when it counts. No one is blaming Donta for the loss. I blame Woody for playing him out of position. If you want to let these guys learn on the job the why not let Ivey learn the point rather that Donta since that's his position.

The refs may have been terrible, but the question is still why is Donta who has been at the end of the bench most of the year bringing the ball up in crunch time? You may think Diaw sux but Ivey is sitting on the bench too. And why is our best rebounder (and one of the few players who have shown some clutch play this year) no where to be found at the end of the game? I'm not knocking Donta. He's just not who I want to have the ball when it counts. Did Smoove foul out or something? With Harrington out he's obviously our 2nd best player and by far the best rebounder and defender. Why would he sit at the most important part of the game? I like Woody but you have to say these are some questionable decisions I tank...I mean think.

Its very strange. Sometimes I feel like he forgets to make substitutions, but tanking is a much better explanation. The problem is we are going to have to have Ekezie play point to stay worse than Charlotte. Walker's airball was bad but that's what happens when you don't have a solid point bringing the ball up. Your scorers don't get the ball where they need it.

I saw parts where Demarr looked really good. Apparently he hit a lot of threes. He did get totally stuffed by Smoove on a 1 on 1 fast break but managed to get the ball back and put it in and complain to the officials about getting fouled when he so obviously got rejected. But, he looked really good offensively, but to me Childress is a better all around player. I didn't see enough last night to really compare their games but it still didn't seem like Demarr was starter material, but he definitely is a spark off the bench. Its amazing he's back and playing in the nba considering what he's been through.

Maybe I missed something. I was fast forwarding through a lot. Where was Smoove? why was Donta at point instead of Diaw. I think we're tanking. You are on the verge of putting away a decent team and you are going to let your 2nd round pick who just got into a game a few weeks ago run the offense?

I think Al is a really good player and I like having him on the team. All I'm saying is that when you are shopping midseason trades can you get something significant for Harrington? Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we know can bring us something significant in return is Walker. Again I'm not saying Harrington isn't a good player, but how many small forwards are there in this league that could put up the same numbers as Al being the 2nd option on a bad team. The other thing working against Al is expectation. He was picked by many if not most to have a 'breakout' season. While he's put up good numbers I don't think you can say its really been a breakout season. And while he is young he has been in the league for while and played on a good team. If you are looking for a trade what is he bringing to your team that you don't already have and how much is he going to improve. As far as value goes he has much more value to us than he does as trade bait. I don't think his trade value is as high as we expect/want.

I would like to keep Walker too, but I don't think BK will do it. Walker is really the only player we have with much trade value. Harrington won't get us much because he hasn't broken out the way everyone expected.

I agree that we need shooters. Adding Peja would make this a respectable team next year. Just think if we added Korver how much better we would be offensively and he's not Peja. I like Harrington but it looks so far like he can't be our 2nd option on offense for us to be successful. Walker is great inside we just need that outside punch to make us difficult to defend. At some point we have to bite the bullet and acquire some proven talent to win. Draft picks are great but you're talking about ping pong balls making the difference between us having Howard and Smoove and a very bright future (nothing against Chill) versus tanking another season for the lottery.

I think its a great point though. We don't even comment on the game much as far as who is playing well and who isn't, why we lose, what's the coaching like. Its now everyone trying to be the GM when so far I haven't seen anyone suggest or predict a move that the team has actually made. Well except for maybe something like signing Kevin Willis. I'm not trying to be critical but personally it gets boring reading trade proposals that will never happen...but losing gets boring too so I guess we'll just wait it out. Looking forward to the slam dunk competition anyway.

Man it was just days ago that the site was full of Diaw sux, Diaw doesn't get it, he'll never make it in the nba. Luckily he seems to have plenty of confidence in his game. Off topic, Bob Neal made a good point last night that this team despite the losses does scrap. The record is horrible but it is a lot more fun to watch these guys than last year's bunch.

Finally getting the ball out of Walker's hands in foul time. Why'd that take so long. Delk really nailed that one down. Someone mentioned trading Harrington which I'd be ok with, but I think he's getting too many minutes. He's not as good as Toine and can't be expected to produce 40 minutes a game. Since we have some promising players and not competing for a playoff spot I'd like to see more rotation at the 3. We have guys who can play.

I'd take on McKie for sure. I'd throw in Diaw if they want him. He'd be a good fit because they wouldn't want him to score. He just needs to find AI.