TheRedStripes

you know...i have to say i think Josh Smith can create for himself a little better than people give him credit for...he is still a little tenative in half court sets i have noticed, he doesnt seem to want to try and do too much, but i have seen a few times he has the ability to beat his man and get to the basket...he also has some excellent passing skills and vision...last night he made a beautiful pass to Ivey underneath the basket...he saw him the moment he got open and hit him with a perfect pass, nobody saw it coming, i also think his outside shot is better than it looks right now, once again i think its due to him not having complete confidence in his game at the NBA level yet, but even when he was coming out of high school all the scouting reports i read said he had an outside shot and could hit the 3, even in the summer league he was hitting 3's...

Al Harrington an all star? that is a ridiculous statement, the only thing Al Harrington has shown me so far this year is why he was the 6th man for Indy and not a starter, the hawks have actually played better since he has been out in my opinion, i think Childress and Smoove will both be better all around players than Al in the very near future, so why would the hawks just keep him around? Billy Knight obviously isnt an Idiot, and right now im loving the way he is building this team, not many guys would have had the courage to come in and blow up the team like he did last year...alright look...he was very aware of how many years Al and Antoine had left on their contracts when he brought them in, their contracts are just long enough to give Chill and Smoove the time to develop a little and then both their big contracts will be gone, Chill and Smoove are the forwards of the future, its obvious

Diesel...this is far and away the best idea i have ever seen you post, and i would do this in a new york minute... if the Hawks could pull all that off...i would be extremely happy

To be honest, im not sure who the first pick should be, but i will say this...it SHOULD NOT be Chris Paul...he is ridiculously overrated, he reminds me of kenny anderson but just not near as good as Kenny was in his 2 years at GT Kenny averaged 23 points and 7 assists at tech Paul averages 15 points and 6 assists maybe the first pick should be Bogut...but i cant say because i havent seen him play enough, i saw him play a few times but i dont think i saw anything that made me say YES he is the guy! its pretty sad that the one year the hawks have a shot at the first pick theres not a guy coming out thats a clear cant miss future star NBA player Marvin Williams could be an option...he is 6'10" and shoots the outside shot well, has a ton of offensive talent... Marty the 7'3" guy who has been working with Sabonis might be another option...he seems to be really athletic and skilled for a guy that tall...to be honest im sort of hoping this guy is awesome and will have some workouts and emerge as the clear favorite, id feel a lot better about having the no.1 pick

i would do that trade, but id trade Walker instead of Harrington, and i have read plenty of times in the past that the Knicks want walker, and walker wants to play for the knicks as well so i think the Knicks might do that deal... i think the Knicks could end up with a top 10 pick so the Hawks could possibly draft Bogut and Gerald Green...if that happened i would be ecstatic

Well KB, i think you missed the point entirely...I do not want instant gratification, thats actually the complete opposite of what i want, trading away your established players for prospects is not exactly instant gratification... This Hawks team is absolutely horrific, in my opinion the players with the brightest futures are J.Smith, Childress, D.Smith, and Diaw...Harrington has been in the league for like 7 years now, he has had PLENTY of time to develop and i dont think he is going to get much better...that is why i feel that it would be beneficial to trade him for someone that would be a better fit for the future considering he plays SF and Smoove plays SF...why not trade Harrington for a pick that could land you a PG or SG that could be a better fit for the team

Actually, trading Childress was probably the thing I was most unsure about, and i like Childress but if he plays SF then Josh Smith will have to play PF and im not sure id like to see that, i think Smoove is better at SF, but honestly i wouldn't mind keeping Chilldress The main reason i like the idea of trading Walker and Harrington for picks right now is that this team is really just terrible obviously i mean they have nothing to lose really, they can afford to gamble because... lets say they keep Chilldress...With Harrington, Walker, and Crawford all off the books they will have enormous room to sign guys and make moves, i feel like last year was a huge step after they got rid of big contracts but they cuold only go so far, now they have the chance to really really start over from scratch

You make good points, i mean it does sound a bit absurd to trade away your more established players for draft picks... however, it isn't quite so absurd when the players you are trading away are Walker, Harrington, and Childress, in my opinion none of those guys really fit, Walkers age and inability to hit a free throw, Harringtons lackluster D and inability to finish undernearth, and Childress just doesn't have the jumpshot to play " shooting guard" the Hawks are rebuilding and right now the player with the brightest future is J.Smith, so i would like to see them build with players closer to his age, and put together a team that can be really good for a long time

I think that would be a great trade, like i said in my earlier post, I would rather trade Walker for a first round pick than just lose him in free agency for nothing

haha...thanks, I appreciate it...

Okay...heres a little plan i came up with for the Hawks because i was really bored...I know none of this is going to happen, so dont bother telling me that theres no way its going to happen, because...i already know that...but anyway its just a dream...a hope...a wish...and just what I personally would like to see happen in the next few years Trades trade Walker to get a 1st round pick I like Walker, but I would rather get a 1st rounder than lose him in free agency for nothing trade Harrington to get a 1st round pick I do not like Harrington...he doesnt block ANY shots and he just isn't the type of guy id want playing power forward, obviously J.Smith is the SF of the future trade Childress/2nd for another 1st round pick Childress is pretty good I like him, but he doesn't shoot the long range shot well enough to play 2 guard, and again...J.Smith has SF locked up 2005 Draft 1st Round Andrew Bogut I have seen Bogut play a few times, and I believe he is going to be a very solid NBA Center, he has the toughness to go along with his offensive skill Gerald Green Obviuosly haven't seen this guy play but from everything I have read he seems to have the potential to be a future star 2 guard Rudy Fernandez Extremely athletic, with very good shooting ability from outside and at the free throw line, said to be like a Ginobili clone Adam Morrison he steps it up in big games, and is a pure scorer...a poor man's Larry Bird... 2nd Round 2nd Round select B.J. Elder he hasn't played well this year with his injury and his toughness/desire is questionable, but the guy can light it up on occasion 2006 Draft Sergio Rodriguez I have seen 2 of Sergio's games, and he is an absolute wizard with the ball...very unselfish, can beat his man off the dribble with ease, and has Jason Kidd type court vision 2005 Free Agency Stromile Swift I have always liked Swift, when he gets the minutes... he puts up the numbers, not a bad free throw shooter, and just imagine the high flying alley oop, and block fest with him playing beside Josh Smith at the forward positions... Outlook For The Future Possible Future lineup PG: Rodriguez/Diaw/Ivey SG: Green/Fernandez SF: J.Smith/Morrison PF: Swift/ FA pickup or draft C: Bogut/ FA pickup or draft The Hawks would be loaded with young talent, if all of the draft picks end up panning out, this team could be incredible, not to mention the payroll would be pretty minimal so they would have the flexibility to make moves depending on how the young guys develop. It would take a few years obviously for this team to be winners. In the meantime this team would be very fun to watch with J.Smith, Swift, and Green throwing down alley oops, and finishing with insane passes from Rodriguez, and also just to watch these young guys develop would be better than watching a team with veteran players lose game after game. A few of these guys have potential to be serious stars. I think this team could end up very balanced and a nice mix of American and European styles of basketball.

Chris Paul is terribly overrated, Bogut would be the wiser choice for the Hawks. I just read the scouting report on him at www.draftcity.com and he seems to be the real deal. He really seemed to dominate the international competition, and according to this he has a lot of toughness...i think it would be unwise to pass up a player that skilled, big, and not afraid to be physical.

The Hawks should try to make a deal for Tabuse, he looks to be better than any point guard that the Hawks have on the roster and he is the 3rd stringer for the Suns...

This may have been the worst Hawks game I have ever had the displeasure of watching. I am afraid it will be a very long season. Josh Smith was pretty impressive, I think he will develop into a very good player.

I totally agree with you on this one, I was really hoping the Hawks would pick JR and Josh before the draft and when i heard them say " Josh Childress" i was pissed, he sucks, i knew he would suck...and so far he is proving that he sucks, he may turn into a pretty solid NBA player, but hes certainly not as talented as JR and well this is just another huge mistake by the Hawks in the draft, but i guess we should be used to it by now...

In my opinion the Hawks should really forget about Dampier, he is very overrated right now, just because he had one mediocre season that doesnt mean he should be getting paid, he is a bit too old to be a major piece of the rebuilding puzzle, and i fear if they sign him it could be Alan Henderson all over again... I would really like for Billy Knight to go after Swift, he is very athletic and still young and i think he would be a nice fit for the type of team it looks like they are putting together... I would also really like to see the Hawks make a deal for Skita, i know theres a lot of people on this board who dont agree, but i would really try to get him for the philly pick and donta smith, I would hate to see Diaw go, i really like Diaw, but if the Hawks could get him for Donta and the philly pick, id be all for it... I dont see the Hawks doing much this season...probably at best they will be a couple games out of a playoff spot, but if they can get Swift, and Skita, and keep Diaw, things will be looking really good Ok if all this happened...it would be a team full of If's...but If Diaw, Swift, Skita, J Smooth, J Chill, reach their potential, If Harrington reaches his potential in a starting role, this team could be awesome with a couple more good draft picks and a free agent or 2( Point guard, and center hopefully..) One last thing...im not really sure if the hawks should consider JT a big piece of the rebuilding...I do like aspects of his game, he can score and he is lightning quick, but the fact that he is such a tweener and plays no defence makes him a much less attractive player, id like to have a pure point guard but JT is such a good scorer he could be valuble down the road as a player who can come off the bench for isntant offence, so i suppose id either keep him for that purpose or try and trade him for younger players or draft picks, im sure some team will need a good scorer around the trade deadline, oh and if they could get rid of JTs contract too, next season with Hendu and CC coming off the books they would have a lot of cap space...but like i said im not totally against keeping JT for a scorer off the bench down the road...what do you guys think?

I was just reading on a Devner website that Skita wants to be traded, with Martin coming over, he doesnt think he will get much playing time, The nuggets are looking for wing players, SG/SF types, I dont think the hawks could do a deal for any of the rookies, Sura and Diaw would be the only players i could see them trading although im not sure if they would trade Diaw either...maybe a sign and trade with Sura and a second rounder, Denver is putting together a pretty strong team and i think Sura could really give them a boost. Skita is much younger but Denver looks to be ready to win now.

You know...that is not a bad idea id love to see the Hawks get Skita, i was just reading that he is doing really well in the summer league, had 2 games in a row where he had over 25 points, I honestly dont know what the Hawks could give Denver for him though...Although i do think Denver would possibly make a deal, i dont think I'd give up any draft picks unless they were second rounders, But yeah...good idea he could end up being really good the guy is only 21, 7 feet tall and he can shoot the 3.