tmac13

I agree, If we wait till the 30th to know what Damp is doing we could likely lose out on any other meaningful big guy..In my opinion, Damp is just not good enough to waste 2 weeks waiting on in the middle of free agency. I really believe if Pryz can stay healthy(a Damp cocern also) he could average 8 points and 10 boards..Not much of a drop off from Damp's career highs....And on a different note..What the hell is Orlando thinking?..Trading Gooden, Hunter, and Varejo(sp) for scrub Battie???..I wish we could have got those 3 for nothing..

Almost every poster on this board(except me and a few others) has been very content on being awful this year to ensure another hight draft choice..However, if we sign Damp, along with Harrington, JT, and our promising young players we might be in a position to improve quite a bit. Especially if we add another quality player with the 3 or 4 million we have left to spend. JT, Vet, Ivy Chills, Diaw, Hansen,Donta Harrington, Diaw, Smooth Craw, Smooth, Hendu, Vet Damp, Collier According to what Vets we picked up with our 4 mill and our exceptions on one year deals we could be in the middle of the playoff race....While still developing our young players. Potential additions? Sura, Jon Barry, Damon Jones, James, Steve Smith, Kevin Willis, Rodney Rodgers, Tractor Trailor, Obinna Ekezie, Pryz, Gugliotta, Lindsey Hunter, Charlie Ward, Steven, Hunter, Keon Clark......who else?

The deal is Dale Davis and Dan Dickau for Nick Van Exel...It is looking more and more like either Damp or Swift will be a Hawk soon..

How do you know he is showing leadership and doing a great job running the team?..I am not doubting , its just I haven't read that anywhere. Have you been able to see all the games?

If this is true there would be no need for GS to trade for Nazr and accept the Knicks trash..If we really did make an offer to Damp he could likely be ours. That would leave us about 4 million left to spend..Needs pf and backup point..

It could very well mean we are the proud new owners of a large contract.

Does Cory Violette have any chance of making the team?..6'8'' and 265. He brings a little beef to the table and was a very good player at Gonzaga..So gar in 35 minutes of play in Utah he has 13 points and 9 rebounds....And why are we giving 20 plus minutes a game to a 31 year old journeyman named Rick Hughes?..Surely we could have found someone with some promise to give those minutes to.

I have a hard time believing we would sign Dampier for 9 million plus a season long term. I assume he is doing the same thing KMart did in driving up his value. I believe the only way we could get him anyway is to give him his 9 mill and also sign and trade for Nick the Quick.

Sign Damp Sign Sura Starting lineup looks like this.. JT, Sura, Ivy Chills, Sura,Donta Harrington,Diaw, Josh Smith Crawford, Henderson Damp, Collier That is a competitive lineup..I think the Crawford/Harrington forward combo is a BK special..They can both offensively or defensively play both spots, they are inside and out, and are both very athletic..Damp rebounds and clogs the middle, Chills helps handle and takes the open looks Sura and JT create..

I would start Crawford over Hendu..If given starters minutes Crawford might give us 16 or 17 points a game.

Look at New Jersey and Detroit..Both teams went from being about as bad as we are now to really good in 1 or 2 seasons..They both made good free agent pickups, good draft choices, and good trades..Neither team used the Clipper approach, be bad for several seasons and pray for lottery luck..You can try to win now and develope young players to build your future even stronger..I am sick of hearing how we need to do it like the Nuggets or Cleveland..Both teams sucked for years, both teams had lottery pick after lottery pick, and finally last year, they both got lucky as hell. Even now, neither team is remotely as good as New Jersey or Detroit..I think we are seeing that holding a ton of money and trying to recruit free agents is not easy when you are awful.. Players can get the same deals from several teams, most of the time their own team can match or top your offer, and most of the time they prefer to go to a winner.Sucking is not the key to success...Try to improve this year and become more attractive to next years group of free agents.

Yes, we are gonna suck..That is BK's Clipper plan..Be horrible and hope to get lucky as hell in the lottery, cause that is the right way to build.If you don't get lucky, draft at least 3 guys that are 6'8''..Then trade for another...Then beg any top tier free agent to come and visit, then use you to get a better offer, then sign Chris Collier.

It could be that with the introduction of Shaq in our division that BK may try to get a guy like Dampier..With our current lineup Shaq could go for 50 every game against us. With a lineup of .. JT Chills Diaw Harrington Damp We could be a formidible team..So who knows

I cannot disagree..My only thinking for CC getting alot of playing time is offense..Looking at a lineup of .. JT Childress Diaw Harrington Mihm, Pryz, or Swift I only see alot of proven scoring ability from JT and Harrington..Childress is an unknown, and we know Diaw can't score. I also know that any team with JT at the point is not gonna be good defensively, so scoring is a must.

Ok, it seems that things are starting to fall into place all around in the free agent sweepstakes. KMart, Okur, Boozer, and most of the top-flight big guys are taken..Swift is still out there, but I am not sure I see the need.. I imagine we will use a 3 man rotation for the most part at the 2 forward positions,,Harrington, and Crawford at the 4, Harrington and Diaw at the 3. It seems the east is getting bigger so I am not sure Swift would be practical as a starting center. Dampier is just a lazy player so I cannot imagine BK really wanting him. I think either Pryz or Mihm might get a deal as our starting center.I hope we bring Sura back in to back up both guard positions..He is the only guard that has ever been able to compensate for JT's weaknesses...So where does that leave us..Still pretty bad, but with alot of cash for next year..Or we could even take a chance on Swift for a large one year deal to see if he is a player to keep long term...thoughts?

Thats BS, I doubt the signing of Collier would shake the foundations of the NBA..Its called public relations..This franchise has a awful history and needs to reach out to the fans..

Why do we(Hawk's Fans) have to search so hard for the least bit of information.. Why must we depend on a one line blurb on the espn insider to find out we are even considering resigning Collier? I understand that BK likes to play things close to his vest but why not be at least a little fan friendly? It is hard to believe that the new ownership that deperately needs to grow and excite the fan base would support such fan unfriendly policies.

He is a real 7 footer with offensive talent. Alot of defense is pure effort so hopefully Woodson can help him there. Hopefully we can also resign Pryz. Pryz brings rebounding and shotblocking. Together they are a nice combo.

Lenny has always been known as a defensive minded coach, admittedly he did not have long to work with JT. As far as JT "showing flashes of being a lockdown defender"..I would have to strongly disagree..More guards get their season and career highs against him than any player I can ever remember.

To teach JT to play defense?..Lenny, Lon, Terry, and now Woodson..maybe 4th time will be a charm.

Its hard to believe the uproar coming from so many posters here because BK is actually trying to improve the team. KMart is a top flight player on a top flight team. He is all about winning, he is young , and he has room for improvement..He brings toughness and defense to a team that has none of either. I understand the fear of getting bogged down in longterm deals , but exactly what players are you guys holding out hope for? If he signed the offer sheet, and we were lucky enough to have NJ back away, we would still be in good cap shape.. We would still have 7 or 8 million to spend this offseason, then we would have another 11 million next year for another max player...Its ok not to suck..

At best, we get an all-star power forward who has a winners attitude that will be a huge building block for our future. At worst, we let all the other free agents know we are not cheapskates who only want to land in the lottery year after year.

Last year it was up and down, wide open running basketball, now its Pistons style defensive basketball..In Memphis it was guys like Battier and Gasol, intellectual, under control players, and now its atheletic, 6'7'' defensive types..You guys keep talking about his "style", and it seems to change from month to month..You guys keep telling me he wants long armed defensive type players, so he trades Theo and resigns JT?..I guess I am just confused...

Be bad, be cheap, be young, and somehow hope to get better?..Hinge all your hopes on the luck of the lottery balls?..Sounds like a hell of a plan...and its worked so well for the Clippers.

He seems to be on every teams center wish list.. I know he has a decent offensive game but he is a very average rebounder and defensive player..I think for the money it would take for Okur we could sign Collier, Pryz , and take a chance on Butler..It seems to me that Collier is about Okurs equal in most phases of the game. Pryz is an excellent rebounder, and Butler will be very cheap pure potential.