Wretch

Don't know if his game will translate to the pros like that as he faces stronger competition, but damn...! He looks A LOT like Pippen, maybe even with a little more spring.

I used to have this arguement with a few people around the 'net. You know, the ones who say that we'll never attract fans, and how the fans that do sell out the good games (Lakers, Orlando, Philly, etc...) aren't really fans. As soon as the Hawks establish an identity and start to play with flair, and as soon as Smith fills up a few sportcenter highlights, the fairweather fans will come out in droves. Sportin' the Hawks jerseys and claiming to be fans "since the days of 'Nique." What's funny is that anyone who is a true fan now was probably a true fan back then, so there's no reason for us to say that we've been fans since the "good ol' days." Personally, I don't give a sh#t. We've got a new team baby!!!!! It's just exciting to know that we've embarked upon a new era. Watching the team grow is just as fun as, if not more fun than, watching them win. I can't wait for the summer leagues!

Cap Space, from the University of Dealeverythingaway. "The Hawks are really a good fit for me right now. They have so many holes and what I bring to the table is flexibility. They have the flexibility now to have even more flexibility..." - Cap Space "Obviously we were looking at this thing from a 'take the best thing available' scenario. We had to deal away that pick because it would have stiffened our flexibility. Anyone that we would have taken would have hindered our flexibility. We like the fact that we can plug Cap Space into any position on the floor and if we maintain Cap Space, then he makes everyone else on the floor better by giving us the flexibility to add even more flexibility to our flexible roster." - Billy Knight on the selection

Livingston Gordon Iggy

It's a funky draft and Pavel has been a hot topic for 2 years. They give up a virtual spare part for an IMMEDIATE need. The only thing remotely questionable is how high they'd be jumping to draft him. I imagine they could trade down and come away with even more out of this deal... Great for Dallas...but I hope it doesn't interfere with our draft any more than everyone else already has, and is still probably planning...

But man... I just don't think that's going to make up for him or Hinrich (or JT ) having to guard someone 5 or 6 inches taller. He'll be good on a guy 6'5" to maybe 6'6", but most players will shoot it right over him. I would not put my future on a backcourt that short. If I were looking to move or bench a 6'2" guy, I'd draft him. If I've got a starter that good or better, I'd have to pass or draft him and trade him.

More teams that we have to figure whom they are targeting... Orlando... Charlotte... Chicago and whomever they might deal with... LA and which PG they want... Dalls, whomever they are most likely trying to deal with, and what that teams wants... Interesting, but not encouraging...we need to deal with Chicago on swapping the #3 and the #6 and just take Livingston. Then we need to make sure that we're high enough to take Smith. Livingston and Smith will be a damn good draft for us.

They are drafting for need, not for the best available talent. They've got an A+ prospect in Hinrich at PG. They don't need Gordon at all, unless they would pair him with Kirk and that'd be a waste and would put them at a size disadvantage. They've got Hinrich and Crawford. If they take a guard, it'll be a guy who can run in the back court with Hinrich. Livingston is tall enough to do that, but neither Livingston or Gordon makes sense for Chicago. Trading down would...and I gather that there are teams that would trade up for either of those guys. I can see Livingston falling only if the Wizards and Clippers don't take him...and who KNOWS what the damn Clippers actually want. I don't see a team 3 through 5 that would have really had a need for Gordon, so I really don't see a need for them to have made that trade. Unless they thought Charlotte might have taken Gordon...which they might have threatened to do if the Clippers didn't make the deal with them... Though, that really doesn't make sense either, because if that were the case, then they could have just kept the #2 and taken whomever they wanted and told us to deal with the Bulls.

I REALLY want Livingston. Just the thought of two guys over 6'7" in the backcourt makes my spine tingle. Just imagine the size advantage...and if he is actually as good as he can be... I wouldn't be disappointed with that lineup at all. The problem is, we will have to move up to get both. Livingston won't drop past 4 and Smith is not likely to drop down to 17.

I watch the draft EVERY year and this is the craziest I have ever seen. Everybody has an agenda, everybody's trying to trade, and there's an expansion team thrown right in the middle. It's madness.

...and they don't know whether or not Orlando is going to take him. But the opportunity to move up from 4 to 2 on the CHANCE that Okafor might be there is why they made the deal. It's a good move. The Clips meanwhile have their eye on either Livingston or Gordon, one of which will be available at 4. In the process, they've dumped a contract and picked up a 2nd rounder. The real question though, is whether or not the Bobcats actually want Howard...

He has indicated as much for a long time.

DerMarr's strange accident... Hendu's strange illness... Babock's long reign of terror...oh wait, that'd be on Kasten...

It's like a symbolic reminder that no matter what our franchise tries to do, there is always somthing that puts us on the NBA's back burner. The Bobcats are barely out of the womb, and already they are set to make a splash. Meanwhile, the Hawks as usual can't get any attention for the curse on our franchise. I know we can still come away with a good draft; and from the outset I was in favor of sitting tight with both our 1st rounders...maybe acquiring an additional one or moving up. But I am sick to DEATH of our luck just twisting up in the strangests ways...

(as someone said in another post) something about selecting the player that we wanted at #6...and he believed that to be Howard. Now Bickerstaff says no mention of Howard in the players that he's interested in. And The initial word out of the Bobcat's draft was that they didn't want to build around a Hssr. Okafor is the guy that the Bobcats want and Bernie came all out and said as much after the draft lottery - making jokes about how Ok's back was REALLY bad. Perhaps this deal was made in case Orlando selects Howard? The Cats could not afford to miss the opportunity if LA was willing to deal. If Ok is taken 1st, perhaps the cats will trade down... Or just maybe Howard will fall through the Bulls, who obviously don't need another hssr, and a PF at that, and the Clippers (obviously), through the Wizards (who already have a failed HS experiment in Kwame)... To us...? That's very possible. Especially considering that Howard has not worked out for the Bobcats, or anyone else for that matter, and hadn't planned on it.

Worst thing that happens, we select Livingston best thing that happens we screw up this Bobcats/Clippers BS.

Then an impromtu news conference would make sense. If they were planning a pre-draft news conference just to answer questions, that would have been announced long ago. News travels fast though; so by now, we should have heard something.

He was more concerned about winning than he was about developing players; when it was apparent that we were in a developmental phase. As soon as JT would make a mistake, Lenny would yank him...eventually to the point where JT would only get sparing minutes in the waning moments of games. He wanted to bring him in slowly, but it got to a point where Lenny locked him outside of his 6 man rotation. I know that Kruger did the most damage, but Lenny set it up for him.

What D says is really what's making me lean towards dealing him. It's true that he hasn't had the kind of help that he needs, but very few PGs NEED the kind of help that he does. The need is the problem. It forever links our PG and SG positions. You can't get a guy to come in and play SG, unless he can handle the ball. So not only are we crippled by having a liability with JT, but we eliminate prospective available talent because we need a specific compliment to one player. If we keep JT we either A) bring him off the bench or B) force him to play PG - with or without ball handling help.

That's supposed to happen AFTER the draft, and I believe there is still one person left to interview.

...but JT has redefined the role - in a bad way. It's not all his fault, but I don't expect guys to come in and turn out like him. People that pass on talent because of what happened with JT are going to shoot themselves in the @ss. First of all, PG is the MOST DIFFICULT position to play in the pros. Players come in, even with years of college PG experience, and struggle mightily to adapt. However, they are forced to sink or swim. Usually, the good "combo" guards turn out like Francis, Davis, or Marbury. JT is an example of what could happen, not what will happen... Guys like Gordon come into the league ALL THE TIME. This hasn't changed over the years. The difference is how they were developed. LENNY WILKENS AND LON KRUGER COMPLETELY F#CKED UP JT'S DEVELOPMENT. They molded him into what he is and establihed him to the league as a SG in a PGs body. Now the world thinks that there is a new type of player coming into the league.

Orlando, Okafor. This was the plan all along. They just wanted to milk the shot clock for all it's worth. Clips, Gordon? Not if we're dealing JT to them. He's too short to play beside JT in the backcourt.

Then why in the hell would TMac agree with a trade to the Clippers? Yes, the Magic could trade him regardless, and it's a hell of a deal for them; but I can't imagine the Clips giving all that up for a guy who will opt out after a season...and what is his incentive to stay? A perpetual lottery team owned by a tightwad and managed by morons? *lol* What's more interesting is the source of this rumor - Chicago.

I expect Howard to go #2, but true to Hawks ill-luck form, we'll probably be @ssed out by the same strange factor that has oddly screwed up our franchise year after year. The current flavor of Screwin' the Hawks Over...? Start with two large cups of TMac. How often is it that a star player just loses his wenis? What a whiney wuss... Mix in a little expansion team jumping in the 1st year that we have a decent pick without Babcock at the wheel... Sprinkle over the top a few trade throw-ins suddenly showing game, tapping us further and further away from the the bottom of the lottery and... Viola!