Bulldog

well the Hawks themselves list him as a G/F... I just think that it is likely that the Hawks will start their 2 best plaers. Marvin is no PF and he is the star so will start at the 3 spot. That leaves the bench or the 2 spot for Josh Smith.

so will you have Josh Smith or Marvin Williams on the bench? Marvin wont play PF, so that would mean one of these guys, who must be the best 2 players, on the bench. That is why I see Smith at the 2 spot.

What is your verdict? I think the Hawks had a good draft. (A-) Although Bogut might have addressed a greater need, Marvin will probably be the best player in the draft. Josh Smith will stick at the 2 spot and Harrington has to be traded, with Childress firmly on the bench. Harrington could probably be packaged with someone like Diaw for a Center or PF. Harrington for Erick Dampier works salary wise. Last year the Hawks wanted the big man and although his year in Dallas was not a great success his banging in the paint could be very useful to allow Marvin and Smith some room on the wings. It remains to be seen if Dallas would do the deal of course. I think Stoudemire is a good pick too. I dont know why his stock dropped so far. If you shoot as well as him there is always a spot for you in the NBA - look at players like Steve Kerr who stuck around the league for years to come off the bench and drop a 3 when needed. 18.4 ppg on over 50% shooting from the guard spot on a national contender is a pretty good stat. a starting 5 of Lue, Smith, Williams, Gugliotta and Dampier would be an improvement. And if the team can sign a PF like Swift to the line-up it could be even better. I think the team is headed in the right direction.

I think they may put Kurt Thomas at PF with Stoudemire staying at C as he has been so succesful with Marion sliding to the 3 spot. This gives them a much more balanced team. This year they were basically gunners/slashers + Amare. Now they will be more posting up inside to go with that game with Thomas. He can clear the boards and not put so much pressure on Stoudemire to do everything on the boards and in the paint. It is a great move for Phoenix. New York however needed size aven when they had Mohammed and Thomas - so they trade them for Richardson and Malik Roase.... that is some of the dumbest management I have seen in the NBA.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives...or_kurt_thomas/ RealGM - RealGM.com's Christopher Reina has learned that Quentin Richardson will be dealt to the Knicks in exchange for Kurt Thomas and a future conditional number one draft choice. This deal is pending league approval and should be formally announced after Game 7 of the NBA Finals on Thursday. Great move for the Suns although Thomas is winding down his career now (I suppose they think they have 2 or maybe 3 years of Nash at his best), but another TERRIBLE move for the Knicks... The Knicks need size and to deal away there crop of 6-7 wingmen, so they trade their best big for another???? Richardson is a good player (15,6,2), but shot only 39% from the field last year. I just dont understand this move from New York unless they have more moves to come. With this move they have Ariza, Crawford, Hardaway, Houston, Richardson, Thomas, Jermain Jackson, Malik Rose, Jerome Williams...! Basically they have a roster of 6-8 wing guys. Terrible trade for them.

Does anyone know much about Andrew Bynum the 7 foot center from St. Joseph High School? I have heard that he is 7-foot, 300-pounds and athletic and is garnering interest from around the league. Could he be the sleeper of this year who goes much higher than expected. Originally he was projected to go around the end of the 1st round, but could he go as high as Utah at #6? or certainly Golden State at #9 who are looking for size? There always seems to be someone like Tskitishvili with size who is not very well known who rockets up the board...

Would anyone consider this: #2 and Harrington to Detroit for: Darko Milicic, Carlos Arroyo, #26 and next year's 1st round pick. Now I know a lot of you will scream that this is a bad trade. But - Atlanta needs help everywhere except possibly SF. Arroyo is a good (if not great) point guard. Clearly consensus is that Chris Paul is leagues ahead in talent. But remember the draft is always a risk - GMs thought they had all star point guard locks in Antonio Daniels in 97, Wagner in 02, Hurley in 93 and even Jay Williams in 02. None of them lived up the lofty predictions people had for them (I realise this may be unfair on Williams). Milicic would obviously be the important player in the trade. Scouts and other players still say Darko will be great (much like Jermaine ONeal), so getting a young 7 footer with massive potential, a solid point guard and another pick might be a great trade for Atlanta, and they would still have the #26 this year to go for someone like Rudy Fernandez or Hakim Warrick. It is pretty clear that Harrington is not going to be the player that Atlanta hoped for, so Josh Smith might as well take over the 3 spot starting next season. That would give the Hawks Milicic, Arroyo and someone like Warrick in exchange for Chris Paul and Harrington which I think could turn out to be the right move. Anyone agree?

I do see your thinking, but I have Deron going at 4 to Nawlins who are pretty light at PG and may well take him, so it would be a risk. That would leave Felton which would be a poor result after starting with the #2 pick...

1. Milwaukee Bucks -- Andrew Bogut, C, Utah 2. Atlanta Hawks -- Marvin Williams, SF, North Carolina Traded to Portland for Chris Paul, Joel Przybilla and a protected first round pick 3. Portland Trailblazers -- Chris Paul, PG, Wake Forest (traded to Atlanta) 4. New Orleans Hornets -- Deron Williams, PG, Illinois 5. Charlotte Bobcats -- Gerald Green, SG, High School 6. Utah Jazz -- Fran Vazquez, PF/C, Spain 7. Toronto Raptors -- Raymond Felton, PG, North Carolina 8. New York Knicks -- Channing Frye, PF/C, Arizona 9. Golden State Warriors -- Danny Granger, SF, New Mexico 10. L.A. Lakers -- Martell Webster, SG, High School 11. Orlando Magic -- Antoine Wright, SG, Texas A&M 12. L.A. Clippers -- Johan Petro, C, France 13. Charlotte Bobcats -- Hakim Warrick, SF, Syracuse 14. Minnesota Timberwolves -- Joey Graham, SF, Oklahoma St. 15. New Jersey Nets -- Sean May, PF, North Carolina 16. Toronto Raptors -- Ike Diogu, PF, Arizona St. 17. Indiana Pacers -- Rudy Fernandez, SG, Spain 18. Boston Celtics -- Chris Taft, PF/C, Pittsburgh 19. Memphis Grizzlies -- Jarret Jack, PG, Georgia Tech 20. Denver Nuggets -- Rashad McCants, SG, North Carolina 21. Phoenix Suns -- Charlie Villanueva, PF, Connecticut 22. Denver Nuggets -- Ersan Ilyasova, SF, Turkey 23. Sacramento Kings -- Andray Blatche, SF/PF, High School 24. Houston Rockets -- Wayne Simien, PF, Kansas 25. Seattle Sonics -- Randolph Morris, C, Kentucky 26. Detroit Pistons -- Francisco Garcia, SG, Louisville 27. Utah Jazz -- Roko Ukic, PG, Croatia 28. San Antonio Spurs -- Julius Hodge, SG, North Carolina St. 29. Miami Heat -- Matt Walsh, SG, Florida 30. New York Knicks -- Salim Stoudamire, SG

So does Darko have a break out year next year, or do the Pistons keep him on the bench. I think that will probably depend on whether Larry Brown is there next year or not. Darko played a career high 6.9 minutes per game this year, mostly in garbage time, so again he could not show his skills at all. Looking at the roster I think that Elden Campbell came back and took the minutes that might have gone to Darko. I dont think he can hope for much more than 10 minutes per game and maybe rise to around 4ppg and 2rpg next year and then wonder if Detroit will pick up the team option on him (which they really have to if they still like what they see in practice). There will be many other teams monitoring his progress and willing to give him a chance and I bet that he is mentioned in trade scenarios next year. But year 4 or even more likely year 5 (like Jermaine ONeal)may be the year when we see the real Milicic stand up.

It will never be the Clippers because Sterling wont pay enough - he only maxed Brand because he would have been BELOW the league minimum in salaries paid otherwise...!!! Depending on how the Bulls manage their pay it has to be them who emerge as the best. Skiles is a good coach. They have a history of paying players, and Chicago is a city and market that will always attract players when they need to sign veterans for the MLE etc They have a good young core who could stay together so everything is there for them. They just need that one player who can become a superstar to carry them to a title because as good as their young players are noone looks like they will be a Duncan/Shaq/Kobe type superstar that you need to win it all.

Darko Milicic

San Antonio in 6. Duncan is back to his best and there is no stopping the Spurs. Suns - Heat would have been great to watch, but it wasn't to be...

you have to love Gar Heard for Phoenix back in the day and Jordan vs the Cavs in 89 and Jordan vs Utah to ice the championship, but Reggie Miller vs the Nets in 2002 I think takes it for me... just awesome. You cannot give that guy and inch and I hope he pulls out one more in this year's playoffs...

In terms of winning straight away you would have to say Utah. He would have to compete with Okur for minutes, but with Kirilenko and others like Boozer back from injury this year you would expect Utah to be back in the playoff hunt. Also he went to college in Utah, so you would have to say that the Jazz would seem like a good situation for him. Having said that he would get big minutes on any of the other teams you mention, and of course the Hawks have the most money in free agency, so there is always the possibility of 'pulling a Denver' and getting a load of good guys in to turn it around. This will definitely be an exciting summer for Atlanta.

The only change I would have to the 1st team is to have Wade there instead of AI. But one thing I noticed throughout the voting for all NBA 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams a lot of guys received votes - like about 30 players and there was no PJ Brown. So who was the fool that voted for him in the MVP race at 5th best in the whole league? He clearly didnt even vote for him to make the NBA 3rd team this time round. Are they different voters?

I agree. Most underrated - Hinrich and Duhon. They didnt even make the list and again like Detroit they got it done on both ends. Duhon is a good defender and distributor without scoring much and Hinrich was at times sensational. I dont think they are near to being the top tandem, but they do get a little slept on.

I have read a lot about the Hawks going for Samuel Dalembert in the offseason and maybe avoiding Bogut in the draft for this reason. I just havent seen a reason to be convinced by Dalembert. He does have some attributes like his shot blocking and has occasionly even looked like he could be an all-star and is 7 feet tall. But he's just had his best year averaging 8ppg and 7.5rpg. I do not see that as a reason for at least $10m per season which Atlanta seem to be ready to pay if reports are true. Anyone agree that the Hawks should leave him, let some other team overpay and go for Bogut?

Every year there is a player who seems to really improve in the playoffs, who is given a big contract and then disappears after taking the money. This year...Jerome James. he is already on $5m per year in return for 5ppg and 3rpg in the regular season...in the first round of the playoffs he came alive with 17 and 9.5 per game. He has slowed in the conference semis but still has averages of 14 and 8. and he's 7-1. Teams cannot resist the combination of size with the lure of productivity in the right situation. Fearless prediction - he gets a contract of equally hilarious proportions to Adonal Foyle and disappears back to the bench to destroy the salary structure of some gullible team... Anyone agree?

Since pre-season are (I was quite surprised with Korver at #21 and that Josh Smith didnt make it): Top 25 Players: 1. Shaquille O’Neal 2. Tracy McGrady 3. LeBron James 4. Stephon Marbury 5. Kobe Bryant 6. Allen Iverson 7. Carmelo Anthony 8. Vince Carter 9. Dwyane Wade 10. Steve Francis 11. Tim Duncan 12. Ben Wallace 13. Paul Pierce 14. Kevin Garnett 15. Yao Ming 16. Amare Stoudemire 17. Emeka Okafor 18. Jason Kidd 19. Dirk Nowitzki 20. Allan Houston 21. Kyle Korver 22. Steve Nash 23. Jamal Crawford 24. Ray Allen 25. Chris Webber

I dont think he's that great. Krstic is the way to go for the Nets. He should be a very solid player for years if he stays healthy. Collins is 7 foot and shot 41% this year. He also played a more than 30 minutes a game and only managed 6ppg and 6rpg and under a block a game which for a 7 foot center is poor. He is obvioulsy going for his blocks but fouls rather than gets the rejection. He has shown that he is never going to be a force, but rather a serviceable back-up. Krstic though played only 26 minutes a game and averaged 10ppg and 5rpg shooting nearly 50% and that includes the games at the start of the year when he was finding his feet. So clearly as he is only 21 years old, he is going to be a player to watch.

Larry Hughes must be up there too after winning the steals title... But I would give it to Camby too.

The Nugz are the hottest team in the NBA right now and they have taken home court advantage from the favourites for the title. Does anyone think they can actually win the series? If they do that people may talk about a possible title in Colorado... Who would have thought that before the All-Star Game... My call - Spurs win the series.

he did average 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game and had a pretty low turnover count. He is just an efficient player and I think will be a stayer in the league in the mold of someone like Shane Battier. ie dependable good player. I would vote for him 1st team anyway for his performance this year. I do hear the votes for Carlisle - he has done a great job, but he has had a fringe MVP type quality player in Jermaine ONeal for MOST of the year. Skiles has taken a team that is mostly rookies plus the guys he inherited and got way way more out of them than any previous Chicago coach of the last 7 years. I think as they have been so good for a large part of the second half of the season people are starting to take for granted the job that he has done which is an outstanding one. Did anyone think looking at their roster they would be #4 in the East? I didnt think they would make the playoffs...

MVP -Shaq All-nba 1st team: shaq/nash/AI/lebron/amare 2nd team: dirk/duncan/tmac/dwade/arenas 3rd team: yao/KG/marion/vince/ginobili ROY: okafor 1st team: gordon/okafor/howard/deng/iguodala 2nd team: jr smith/childress/nelson/kristic/josh smith Coach: Skiles (noone else has got the Bulls playing playoff ball and he has had more rookies than anyone - amazing job) (2nd Carlisle) MIP: Bobby Simmons 6th Man: Ben Gordon Defensive: Camby