Kaviar1

I have mentioned this here several times before, that Childress would eventually take over the playmaking responsibilities. That is why Stoudamire fits in so well. He will bring the ball up, dish off to Childress, and will only have to worry about running around getting open.

Those are my sentiments, exactly. BK and Woodson also think that way. However, we cannot pass up Marvin Williams.

You miss the point. No one here is ready to cash their chips in on Josh, but for his own development he needs to be earning his playing time now instead of having it given to him. He has so much he has to work on, and if he already starts, why bother. I have seen this very thing diminish the games and careers of too many young players coming in to the NBA.

No, Childress would move over to SF.

The Hawks org. is making a mistake by just handing over a starting position to J.Smith, because of fan appeal or whatever, when he does not deserve to keep a starting role. He earned a spot earlier, and rightfuly so, because of his hustle. Now, he has not shown that lately, nor the skill set to even play in the NBA. The Hawks cannot reinforce these things in a young player like Josh, or they will ruin him! In the mean time, Donta is busting his butt and showing what I see as special potential, on both ends of the court. I think he may have as much potential as any of the Hawks rookies, which is saying something considering how impressed I have always been with Childress. The other Josh and Smith, however, does not need to crack the starting lineup again until he has earned it!

Your argument can be used aginst you also, in that our guards get more rebounds and more blocked shots than the opponents guards do, our PF handles the ball/shoots/passes better than the opponents PF, and the PG(Diaw) should be able to post-up most of the PGs he plays against. Everything is always a trade-off in this League looking for that slight advantage. And like I said there is nothing wrong with the model the Hawks have, IF they can find that one Big guy.

Al, the Josh's, Donte, and Diaw are all SFs, with one playing PF, SG, or PG better than the others. This is not a bad thing, since SFs are the most versatile players on the floor anyway, and not a bad way to build a team. And this model will work and win, if BK can find us a REAL center to patrol the paint.

The nice thing is, the Hawks now HAVE some "core" players to build around in the future. Josh Smith: A lot of people here talk about how young he is, and if he could develop this skill or that, he could become an NBA Player. Well he already is an NBA Player. He is starting to grab 10+ boards a night, block 2-4 shots a night, and he can finsh. That makes him a Player. Anything developed extra like creating his own shot, passing, ballhandling or a jumper, is going to make him special. Josh Childress: I see some things in Josh I don't think others here see. I view him as a Playmaker. I think one thing that separates the Stars from the Players is whether they can create their own shot or not. Josh has shown signs that he will be able to create his own shot and like few others who can do this he thinks pass first, along the lines of a mentality that Lebron James has. Plus he is a player that makes things happen at all ends of the court. I'd take him agian at #6. Al Harrington: Few have the post-up game Al does, can play solid defense, and is a solid rebounder (for a SF). Even though he is young, I think he has lost a little of the athleticism that he had in the earlier part of his career, due to ACL injury. But due to his all-around skill set he could start at SF for a playoff team.

You ever notice how everyone's creditional's get questioned everytime Big Walk is brought into question? One nice thing about it he is traded, maybe this Board can get back to what it once was, a decent exchange of basketball knowledge and information, instead of "As The Toinne's World Turns".

We'll have to see who is right, time will tell very shortly. Also, I was not suggesting that the Hawks rebuild with Ratliff, Rahim, Wallace, or Mohammed. My point was that three of the four were legitimate Big Men, and will always have some concrete value.

Yes Lascar, I have seen him play many times this year. Trust me, he is not what this team needs right now, an BK will not retain him. He is greatly OVER-valued by most of the fans on this Board. Ratliff, Rahim, Wallace, and Mohammed really had more market value individually than Walker currently has, and look what the Hawks recieved for them. Walker's greatest value to the Hawks right now is that his contract expires at season's end.

I disagree 100%. Reading between the lines, Walker senses tepid response for his services on the FA market, and is turning to the Hawks for that last big contract so he can kick his feet up for the next 6-7 years. This team will never advance in the playoffs with him at PF. He does not like the "dirty" work involved in playing a true PF, he had the ability to become a good one, but that is another story. There have been comments around the NBA that his conditioning is suspect, also, that is why he usually fades in the 4th quarter. Like I have said before, someone with a solid frontline that is playoff bound, will rent him at SF for half a season to see how he fits in. It should be worth a late 1st round pick for the Hawks.

I think this ends what little suspense there was about Wlaker's future with the team, also.

I hear you Tmac, but it could be different this go around. Swift and Watson will not resign with Memphis, I think there could be hard feelings with Swift (maybe Watson) and the Grizz cannot comit to any more long term deals. Since BK brought them both to Memphis, and more pro athletes live in Atlanta than any other city, I think he has a real decent shot at both of them. Also, he will have a better draft position (what if he had had #1/#2 last year)? Now the trading part scares me a little, like I have mentioned before, BK does not always get equal value back in trades. As for Cilldress, I really still think it is too early to tell who will emerge the best draft pick 5-10. I know Deng is the easy choice, but Josh has different upsides that we have not seen somewhat because of the Hawks personnel (I'll keep it general here...don't want to get the Groupies riled up). But, he has to learn to get the dann ball in the hole or all bets are off for him.

You are exactly right Macdaddy, that is why the Cavs were able to play lock down defense in the 4th. I am anxious to see what Donata's jumper looks like. Otherwise they need to really go after a SG in the FA market ot Trade route (NOT the Draft), and whoever starts at PG will HAVE to have a jumper. So let's see: they need a starting Center, Back-up PF (either Al or Josh starts here), Starting SG (Chill off the bench until he finds a 'J'), starting PG. The Hawks sort of remind me of the story with the man and the soup bone, just throw in the meat, potatoes, and vegetables, and that bone will make some wonderfull soup. The good news: BK has the tools (trade, FAs, Draft), to the get the meat, potatoes, and vegetables before the start of next season (whenever that is), and amazingly be a playoff team in the East next season.

I wondered about this until I read it in the above article. Josh Smith does not have the hands to match the rset of his body. He played PF against the Wizards and posted up several times, with the same results each time, the ball was striped away. Otherwise he played well there, and the Hawks took the lead with him at that spot. I know Willis has very short arms, and it did not keep him from leading the League in rebounding. Some of you may dissagree, but bad hands is what killed Cal Bowdler's career in the NBA. The nice thing about Josh is that he can play multiple positions, and this should not diminish his value.

If the Hawks get Dalembert, Swift, and a Taft, Josh will have to play somewhere, and SG is the only place left. But he still does not have (but will have) an explosive first step off the dribble, and a consistent jumper. It would work during the regular season but would get exploited in the playoffs, the defenses would smother the paint on a team like that. Josh may loose some of his weak-side rejections if he played in the paint, but he would make people think twice about coming in the lane and alter more shots too. If the Hawks do not get someone to be the Enforcer in there, then he is the one that is going to have to step up to the plate. BK has some leverage going into the summer, for the first time in a while, to mold this team however he wants.

You are rambling again Diesel. Harrington is soooo valuable to the Hawks right now and in the future that Walker is an after thought in comparison. You do not find players everyday in the NBA who can post up the way Al can, plus his fundamentals are solid at BOTH ends of the floor. Playing SF, Al plays further from the basket and does not get as many boards. Walker has no business playing PF, but could not keep up with the SFs in this League. On a perfect NBA team I would not want Al playing PF either, which does leave the Hawks with too many SFs. Lets hope Josh Smith hits the weight room this summer, and solves that problem for us, because he should to be playing close to the basket for obvious reasons.

Sort of what we already knew, Silas on Josh Smith: "Steal at 17? Hawks guard Josh Smith was a steal at No. 17 in the June draft. Since moving into the starting lineup, he's averaging 10.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.9 blocks. ''He's been awesome,'' Silas said. ''He's really athletic. He's shown that. He's concentrating on rebounding and shot blocking. He has a chance to be really good. They made a smart choice there.'' The 6-9, 225-pound Oak Hill Academy product had an NBA season-high 10 blocks against Dallas on Dec. 18. ''He's capable,'' Silas said. ''He has great timing and leaping ability. He has a little nastiness to him.'' The Morning Journal/Ohio Also, James said the Hawks are much improved over the last time the Cavs played them. Many in Cleveland are saying they are a much better team than their record indicates. Here is to the Hawks to continue improving this year and to continue losing. We still need that franchise Big Man, that only a high draft pick can provide.

Let's put it this way Tip, Mr. Walker's value in the League is obviously at an all time low. And if Rasheed could only net the Hawks a mid 1st rounder last year, what do you think Walker is going to bring?

What am I happy about #8? I am a Hawks fan from way back. Like any biased fan, I want to see my team on the recieving end of lobsided trades, and have every draft pick bring a franchise player! The Hawks did not give up a lot to get Walker, they should not feel stung with what I said they will get. Dallas should feel slighted though for what they gave Boston.

Looking through Hoopshype.com this morning only helped confirm what I knew the League already knew about Walker. I hope no one expects major returns in any trade involving him. Here are a couple of noteworthy clips: "It's also important to note that, contrary to several reports, Danny Ainge has no trader's remorse over sending Walker to Dallas. He saw how the Mavericks had him back on the market two months later (for the same reasons Ainge moved him) and how that club left him unprotected in the expansion draft." Boston Herald "The Knicks delimma, however is they need an upgrade on defense, and Walker is not known for that aspect." New York Post I think, do to the quicker than expected development of last years draft picks, that Walker needs to go sooner rather than later. He has not made the most of his talent since coming into the NBA, and takes up a colossal portion of the offense. He's not what I would consider a role model. A trade involving Walker should net a draft pick somewhere between 25-30.

Good points. I am confident that BK ,as much so as any GM in the League at this point in his career, will make the most out of his draft positions. He excells in that area, and with a rebuilding program under way that is where a GM should be strong. I am confident that he will put together a playoff squad within the next season or two (based on the core of young talent he has/will assemble: Al, Josh & Josh, Royal, upcoming draft pick, and FA signings). The question in my mind is will BK be able to tweak a playoff level team to get the most out their overall talents. BK has never had experience in this area, and personnaly based on previous trades he has made, I do not consider this his strong suite. He did exactly what I would have done in getting rid of all those mega contracts last season, but he should have gotten more for players like Rahim, Nazre, Ratliff, and Wallace (Terry was addition by subtraction, Walker should have some market value). I hope he can grow in this area as well, such as he did with player/draft evaluations.

The problem with AW, and the reason he has moved around, is that he has refused to buy into a "role" for his team(s). In Boston they really needed a PF and someone to post-up, rebound, and play interior D. AW wanted to be all-world and loft three pointer after three pointer along with whatever else he could think of. Even LeBron James knows his "role" for the Cavs and plays within that. All great teams are made of great players that have bought in to their roles on that team. AW has never quite gotten it, now on the downside of his career, it is obvious he will have to settle in at SF for a team with a very solid frontline.

Thanks for asking Employee #8. Actually I go way back with the Hawks, I used to cover them and sports for the biggest radio station in town during the late 70s & early 80s (I was going to college at the time). I still follow their progress from afar now. I'm more of a Cavs fan with the Hawks a close second, hence the name Kaviar (used to post under Caviar and other names as well). Let me just say this though, I agree with SayStar1 100% on Walker, but I really like Billy Knight. He needs to stay and rebuild this franchise whether he does it with Woodson or not.