tmac13

Because he has a very questionable reputation about how he gets alot of his prized recruits and then what happenswhen they get there..Nothing has been proven, but he is considered to be much like Jerry Tarkanian once was.

I hope we do offer KMart a max contract, and I still doubt we get him because other teams will also offer it..It sends a signal that we are serious about winning..I see alot of posts about how Kidd makes KMart or how Swift can give us the same at half the cost..That is crap..Swift can't even beat out Lo Wright for a starting position..He is NOT a smart basketball player, and plays with nowhere near the intensity of KMart..That is the same as saying if Swift logged as many minutes as Ben Wallace their numbers would be comparable, you have to account for the intangibles that make players like Wallace and KMart so valuable...And someone please tell me what Kidd ever won BEFORE he had KMart..He was always surrounded by talent and NEVER won anything..KMarts intensity helped Kidd as much as Kidds passing helped KMart.Kmart is a guy that is respected by players around the league and will help draw other free agents. We don't have to be awful ..Our young guys can develope while we improve...KMarts intensity and toughness are contagious..Who do you want Josh playing against everyday in practice, KMart or Swift?..Planning on being bad and rebuilding through lottery picks is a losers game..A few teams get lucky but most don't.

Some would argue that Huggins is already a pro coach.

I doubt any of the assistants interviewed are going to help with marketing..Unless its a Fratello type its going to be the same boring no-name Hawks to most people. Once again, I just don't understand the blind faith being given to BK considering his history of bad hirings and a complete lack of success with Memphis..It needs to be noted that only when Jerry West come in and hired Hubie Brown did Memphis immediately turn it around.

OK, we have around 18 million in salary cap room after we get all of our picks signed. This is assuming we don't make any trades. We have.. JT,Ivy Childress,Hansen Diaw,Donta,Josh Smith CC, Hendu That leaves us at least 3 people to sign, a power forward and 2 centers..I also think we will sign another point guard to play ahead of Ivy. It might be safe to assume that Hendu is hurt, so maybe another forward will be added. So that means at least 3 players, and maybe up to 5. I agree with most of you that Swift will be a target.I also think that Collier may have earned a shot at a return, especially looking at the lineup and JT being the only proven offensive threat.It also wouldn't surprise me if we make a real run at KMart..I know most of you don't think he is a max contract player, but his tenacity and toughness may be exactly what we need to help teach these young guys how to play..Thoughts?......

I also think we might sign both KMart and Swift..BK wants a defensive minded team full of long armed runners and they both fit the bill. Both are good rebounders and both supply toughness. We would need a full blown center for those few teams that play with a true center, maybe bring Pryz back on the cheap to back up.I think our lineup might end up like this.. JT,Sura,Ivy Childress,Hansen Diaw,Donte,Josh KMart,Crawford,Hendu(IR of course) Swift,Pryz With this team, I think a defensive minded veteran coach like Fratelo might do ok.

BK, still trying to make sure his top secret plan is not revealed, lets the time expire before making our picks..After the draft, he berates the media ...

DerMar was considered one of the top 2 or 3 highschool players in the country his last year of highschool ..He had a much better shot and better ball handling skills than Josh.

Am I the only guy here that doesn't want another skinny, super athletic, 6'9'', project with a questionable work ethic?..I guess the DerMar Johnson's and Darius Mile's of the world have jaded me on that type of selection.

C..most difficult to fill PG.most important PF.the position that seems to set the attitude of the team SG.scorer SF.scorer The reality is as long as you have 2 superior players at any positions it seems to translate into success.

Yeah Diesel, your are talking about the guy from argentina, huge, but couldn't move a lick...You almost have to wonder though,, a guy that is 8'3", if you could just stand him on the defensive end with his arms straight up what kind of influence he could have on a game..Get a ball hog like Kobe who doesn't need anyone to pass the ball to anyway and play 4 on 5 on offense..Of course, I also have a theory that you could get you a 700 pound Jerry Springer show reject, pad him up and put him in goal for hockey..So what do I know.

I hope at the 17 we take one of these 2..Humphries was one of the best players I watched last year in college..He is a true 6'10'' and has a great all around game. Al Jefferson is also 6'10'' with a huge wingspan.. He might be a true center before he quits growing, and he already has a nice low post game.

AHH, so the more incoherent her appears, the more confidence we should all have in him,,,,,Well, it works for the president might as well work for BK.

You think we would draft 2 natural small forwards when we already have Diaw who also seems to be most suited for the 3?

In order for BK's way to work, we needed the 1st or 2nd pick..He obviously didn't get the word to the team to tank to assure this. Instead..we have nothing, and this is as bad as any year I can recall for free agents, just not much to chose from. Besides, what team has built a champion by blowing the team up?..Other than San Antonio who got the 1st pick in a year where a franchise guy was there. Not the Lakers or the Pistons..Both were average teams that drafted, signed, and traded shrewdly.

Well, ok 5, but you have to admit, its hard count Hendu as a player..

Patience...we have sucked for 5 years..Enough patience..Enough bonehead draft choices( I know BK had nothing to do with that)..Enough bad coaching..Enough with the "we too honorable to tank games or hide people on the injured list crap"..The NBA is a business,,the purpose of the business is to fill seats and win games..The Hawks have sucked on both accounts..There is no top secret plan BK has that is gonna suprise the competition..If Babcock had done the same exact things as BK, we would all be calling for his head even louder than we normally did. If he had gutted the team to lose, gaining nothing but a mid 1st rounder, then not been smart enough to make sure we actually lost, we would all be calling for his azzzzzzzzz.

We suck, we suck, and we suck some more. We trade away most of the team and in the end receive one mid 1st round pick. Then we aren't quite smart enough to pull off the tanking of games to get a better lottery chance so we end up 6th. Then we all still hold out hope that mid 1st round pick we so cleverly acquired for most of our team along with our not so smart win at the end number 6 will be traded to get us number 2 and some hope. Then,,the Clippers, the team that WAS smart enough to tank and got that 2nd pick screws us again....NOW, We have 4 players, no coach, and some top secret plan that Billy Knight has in his head..Thats all we have...It sure makes it hard to shell put again for the season tickets when the Hawks give you NO HOPE. Nothing to look forward to..I am about sick of BK working so damn hard not to reveal his top secret plan while others are moving and giving themselves a better shot..At least name a damn coach so free agents might start crossing us off their list.......

I am not saying that we shouldn't go for Howard, but the Chicago experiment, trading a proven talent like Brand to pin all your hopes on 2 highschoolers developing has not worked yet.I just think we need a balance of young talent and proven vets..Indiana has proven you can be very competitive while developing young guys..Being all young and bad, hoping for more good draft pics hasn't worked so well for Chicago, the Clips, Boston or Washington. San Antonio and Orlando are the only teams that have really benefited from being bad and getting completely lucky twice in the lottery, and they both had 2 overall 1st pics with consensus can't miss guys coming out.

As hard as I try I cannot get very excited about drafting 1 or possibly 2 highschool players and crossing our fingers hoping they develope..I know some of them turn into LeBrons and KG's..But some turn into to Darius Miles and Kwame Brown..They may take 3 or 4 years to have any impact..I, am TIRED of the Hawks sucking..I don't wanna wait 3 or 4 years to compete for a playoff spot. I would be very happy to see us trade both our 1st picks, 6 and 17, to move up and take a talent like Howard..But we shouldn't kid ourselves, Howard is not a LeBron, he is not an immediate impact player. He is a great talent who plays a little soft for his size..In 3 years he may give us the same kind of numbers that SAR gave us the past 2 seasons. I say move up. grab Howard, then still go all out for KMart, he is atletic, plays tough D, is battle tested, still young and wants to win..His attitude and ability are exactly what the Hawks need.. Then resign Jax, Sura, Pryz, and Collier..Use the 2nd rounders on point guards to see if we can find a gem..

Mourning was a very similar player college, and about the same exact size..Okafor looks like a real 6'10'' guy to me, and thats big enough, especially in the east..Hakeem, Mourning, and Moses Malone are all 6'10" guys with long arms like Okafor that have done pretty well.

I have been a Hawks fan since the early 70's and I have to say Nique seems to become a better player every year since he retired.. The truth...Nique was a high scoring no passing ball hog who NEVER won anything of consequence and NEVER made those around him better and NEVER had the respect of the other great players in the game..I remember a Charles Barkley quote before a Philly/Atlanta game..He said"any team with Dominique as its goto player is never gonna win anything". I know Charles is a big mouth but he only said what everybody already knew..Nigue should never be mentioned in the same breath with the great ones, cause he simply was not one of them. He was a great athlete, a great scorer, but he was also a dumb basketball player, who played mostly for his own stats. I know I will get flamed for this dose of truth on the ever growing legend of Dominique, but it is the truth. Anyone who watched him game in and game out, saw the reactions of Doc rivers and Mike Fratello to his selfish play, saw the total lack of respect the likes of Magic, Byrd, Jordan, Isaiah, and Barkley gave Nique, know exactly what I am talking about..

It seems alot of people on this board are sold on the Hawks drafting Dwight Howard if we have a chance..There are a couple of people that even want us to trade current guys to get 2 draft picks in the top 5 and draft 2 highschoolers..My question is, how long do we want to wait for players to develope? I am from Atlanta and got a chance to see Dwight Howard play a couple of times this year..He is a dominating highschool player, no doubt..He is not a skinny kid, and he moves fluidly..The player that kept coming to mind as I watched him was Danny Manning(before the injuies).. That being said, he is not remotely in the same class as Lebron James in skills..His competion the 1st time I saw him play was a 6'5" slow footed high school junior..The 2nd time was an athletic 6'4" senior who gave Howard a few fits because of his quickness. The point is I am wary of a 6'10" 250 guy that prefers the "Danny Manning" style of play against guys that are not remotely as big and talented..He may be a great NBA player, but we shouldn't kid ourselves that he will do for us what Lebron has done for Cleveland. There is also the chance he might be more of a Kwame Brown as opposed to a Kevin Garnett in the long run.. Kevin Garnett..top 5 NBA player..True Superstar..really came on in his 2nd season.. Kobe Bryant....same as above Lebron James...best 1st year highschooler ever Amarie Stoudimire..probably the 2nd best 1st year player Jermaine O'Neil..very good player..took about 4 years to develope Kwame Brown...Considering draft position..has to be a bust Eddie Curry...see above..remember the "Baby shaq" stuff..lol Desagna Diop..an even bigger bust than the rest..I remember people on this board wanting him, calling him the "Shaq stopper"..lol Tyson Chandler..the Bulls traded Elton Brand for this guy..so far not so good Leon Smith...mental illness..its not just a condition..its an adventure Darius Miles..remember how bad we wanted him..career backup..bust I know there are a few I forgot..But in the Howard or Okafur debate, I would at least consider who has had more impact on the league..Kenyon Martin( a very similar player to Okafur), or Kwame Brown?

We have a hardworking group of players with a little talent that when rested can compete with anyone..However, we are so thin(8 players) we will never win back to back games and really can't get on a roll.. So, in essence, we will be fun to watch part of the time and tired as hell the rest the time.

What is the 1st year price for a max salary play(Kobe type)?