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If we can't get Aldridge with our top pick then I think we should trade down with New Orleans. Here's my proposal: - ATL trades its 1st round pick to NO (assuming that Aldridge is off the board) - NO trades the 12th and 15th picks to ATL - NO trades J. R. Smith to ATL This trade will allow the Hawks to draft a PG and a Big Man or 2 Big Men with the 12th and 15th picks. Both Marcus Williams and Rajon Rondo are projected to be available at the 12th pick and there are also a bunch of young bigs with potential that should also be available (Patrick O'Bryant, Cedric Simmons, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Saer Sene, Shelden Williams). Picking up J.R. Smith would be icing on the cake because he is a scorer who can play off JJ in the backcourt with his long range shooting ability. Imagine Smoove and J.R. Smith on the wings catching alley-oops on the fast break, man you talk about exciting!!! NO would do this deal IMO because they really need a 2 or 3 that can score and there will be plenty of players that fit the bill at the Hawks spot in the top 5 of the draft. Come on BK, if Aldridge is not available then let's trade down with NO and pick up what we really need instead of drafting another SF type at the top of the draft!

The way I look at it is that the Hawks have to get lucky and somehow get to pick before the Bulls (they own the Knicks pick) because I think the Bulls would pick Aldridge who IMO is a perfect fit for this Hawks team. If Aldridge is off the board and we still have a top 3 pick then I would SERIOUSLY entertain trade offers if I were BK in order to secure a Big and a PG. By the way, thank goodness Smoove missed that jumper, it made a big difference!

Quote: You play to WIN THE GAME!!!! - Herm Edwards

Quote: I agree totally Smoove coming into the League was suppose to be a SF. Alot of people want to see Smith play a position which really has zero exp. playing because we have Marvin Williams here. Like I have said before as has Diesel we drafted Marvin Williams and he is the same player Josh Smith is. It is scary to think how good this team would have been not only this year but for the next 10 years with Chris Paul or even Raymond Felton coulda had the best young backcourt instead we are stuck with a big mess. We made a huge mistake in taking this guy we missed out on some of the best pgs in the last 10 years. If a trade presents it self where we could move one of these SF's for a big time PF or C we have to do it. Bottom line is Smoove is a SF and Marvin is SF none of them have the mindset or skills offensively to play the PF position it takes years and years to master low post moves your not just gonna put someone down there and expect them to be Bill Walton overnight. So one of these guys is going to have to go so the other one flurishes at the SF spot because they will be getting a majority of the minutes. Say we keep Smith here Marvin the 2nd overall pick is not gonna be content playing in his shadow and getting 20 mins a game frankly we cant afford to have the 2nd pick playing a back up role. Face the facts we made a huge mistake we need to move on trade one of these guys and Keep moving forward because when its all said and done we have 2 SFs that are 19/20 both of them cant be stars on this team playing the same position. My thoughts exactly! Of course you can tell by my name that I want Marvin to be traded and not Josh. If either Portland or Charlotte are picking ahead of us and are on the clock and Aldridge is still on the board we need to trade Marvin to one of those teams in exchange for Aldridge. Think about it, both Portland and Charlotte need SF's because they already have their PF's, and both teams wanted to trade up with us to grab Marvin last year. Hopefully his play this year hasn't turned them off and they would still be interested in trading their pick for him. Then we could grab Marcus Williams with our own pick and have this roster next year (assuming Al is gone of course): PG: Marcus Williams/Lue/Grundy SG: JJ/Chillz/D Smith SF: Smoove/Chillz PF: Aldridge/Batista C: Pachulia/Edwards If this happens then it'll somewhat make up for passing on Paul last year but not completely. That being said at least we didn't draft Bogut!

Yeah, looking at our schedule the rest of the year the only game I see us winning is Chicago at home and even that one isn't a given because of the way the Bulls play defense. No matter, I don't want us to pass Toronto in the standings anyway because I want as many ping pong balls as possible in order to get lucky and grab either Aldridge or Thomas.

I agree. I think Delk should have at least gotten the minutes that Ivey has been getting. Maybe they wanted to see if Ivey deserves a long term spot on the team, but we definitely would have won more games this year with a rotation of Delk/Lue/Salim and PG instead of Ivey/Lue/Salim.

Does anybody know what date the ping pong balls start hoppin'?

We could still pass Toronto since they are only 2 games ahead of us, they have lost 7 in a row and Bosh is out for the year.

Didn't see the game but I just caught the highlights on NBA TV. Smoove is looking like a Kirilenko clone more and more every day (17pts, 15rbs, 7asts, 3blks). We won the game without Harrington and honestly it didn't seem like we missed him all that much. I don't think Harrington re-signs with us anyway because of the Hawks ownership situation. Since Belkin is still technically an owner all major signings will still have to go through him is some way or another and I know he's not going to approve of committing $40-$50 million on Harrington, and IMO the Hawks don't need him anymore anyway. In the offseason I think we draft a big, hopefully get something back for AL in a S&T, sign a veteran FA PG and let Marvin and Smoove start a the 3/4 spots. Our young guys are improving by the game and I love what I saw out of Donta Smith, Grundy and Batista against NJ Tuesday night. I really think the Hawks are building something here for the long haul and I'm extremely excited about their potential.

I'm glad you posted this because I was thinking about starting the same thread yesterday but never go around to it. The answer to your question is HELL YES! I believe Ivey couldn't average over 20 points on the AND-1 tour and he definitely couldn't do it in the NDBL like Grundy did all year. Check their collegiate stats and there's also no comparison IMO. Looks to me like Grundy should have made this team out of training camp, especially considering the fact that after the death of Collier we've been a man short ever since. I say let Grundy play a lot more over these last 12 games so that we all can see if he deserves to be considered a candidate to make next year's team. I'm pretty sure he will be a lot more productive than Ivey has been or will be this year. Oh yeah, for all of you Ivey lovers who talk up his "defensive abilities" did you happen to see the Charlotte game? He provided absolutely no resistance at the point of attack to either Felton or Knight when they were repeatedly going inside for layups and assists, so if Ivey isn't playing great defense why is he even on the court? I guess it is to get into foul trouble which is what he does on a nightly basis. My PG's for next year: Starter: Speedy Claxton (FA) or Marcus Williams (Draft) Bench: Lue and Grundy

Quote: Do we want a guy who is benched to give Steven Hunter a starting spot? Are you serious? Would you rather have Al walk away for nothing? By the way, Dalembert still leads the league in blocks per game. I don't care why he's not starting over Hunter (Cheeks isn't a good coach anyway) he'd definitely be starting for the Hawks.

Quote: Iguodala is no more of a shooting guard than either of our Joshes. I can't see Philly doing this deal unless they plan on moving Webber. Iggy started SG when Korver was starting at SF. When Korver was benched Iggy was moved to SF and Ollie was inserted into the starting lineup.

Exactly. Harrington would play SF (which is his best position anyway IMO because of his lack of post defense and shot blocking skills)

Check out this article: Dalembert disappointed by reduced playing time Updated: March 22, 2006, 8:35 PM ET http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2380490 It looks like Dalembert is unhappy and he doesn't get along with Maurice Cheeks. Would PHI swap him for Harrington in a S&T? It might seem far-fetched but considering Al Harrington will probably sign for about $10 million a year and that's what Dalembert makes the numbers should add up. Also, Harrington would add a legtimate 3rd scorer to Webber and A.I. making Philly a lot more dangerous than they are right now. If we could get Dalembert and another big in the draft along with a veteran PG (Speedy Claxton or Mike James even though I think he re-signs with Toronto) I think that we could definitely compete for a playoff sport next year. With Dalembert, Josh Smith and either Aldridge/Noah/O'Bryant patrolling the lane I know our interior defense would get a whole lot better.

Stop dreaming, Wallace is not coming here.

Quote: Why? Get their future point guard who is long at 6'3 with tons of potential and cheap for the next 3 years. Which is exactly why Dallas won't give him up. I believe the Hawks would do it in a heartbeat though.

Quote: I don't think Charlotte passes on Morrisson and I don't think Chicago passes on Aldridge. I definitely don't see Chicago passing on Aldrige and Shelden to get Morrison and Harrington. They need help inside. The word out of Chicago is that they love Morrison because he can flat our score and they don't have anyone on their team right now averaging over 15 pts a game. They already have Chandler so Aldridge would be too much of a duplication since Chandler and Aldridge are both good rebounders and shot blockers with limited post up skills. Chicago loves Harrington because he can post up and demands a double-team. I don't think Chicago would want Shelden over Harrington because they are looking for a proven veteran scorer. As a matter of fact Chicago wanted to trade their pick to Indiana in exchange for Harrington a couple of years ago during the draft but Indiana refused so they had to take Deng instead.

I'm really looking forward to the draft and FA. Here's my plan to make the Hawks a potential playoff team next year: 1) With our top 3 pick choose Aldridge. Even if Charlotte and Chicago (via NY) get the first two picks I think Charlotte picks Gay and Chicago picks Morrison. That's leaves Aldridge for us. 2) Trade Al during the draft for Chicago's other 1st round pick and use it on Shelden Williams. Shelden Williams would provide immediate help with rebounding and shot blocking which we desperately need (you know what I'm talking about if you watched the Seattle game). If Shelden is gone then choose the best PF/C with those same traits. 3) Sign Speedy Claxton (he's an unrestricted FA) as our starting PG in 2006-2007 I love his game. He almost beat us single-handedly when the Hornets came to ATL without Chris Paul. If you look at his stats during the games that Paul has missed they are very similar to Paul's except for the number of rebounds (Paul is unreal in that category considering how small he is). Here's my 2006-2007 Lineup: PG - Claxton/Lue/Stoudamire SG - Johnson/Childress/D. Smith SF - M. Williams/Childress/J. Smith PF - J. Smith/S. Williams/Bastista C - Pachulia/Aldridge/Edwards Of course starting positions will have to be earned during camp so if Aldridge beats out J. Smith for the PF spot then I won't have a problem with that either. With Speedy pushing the ball and Pachulia/Aldridge/S. Williams crashing the boards these new players would be HUGE additions to the talent base that we already have. I could definitely see us pushing for a playoff spot with this young, exciting roster.

Shelden...he'll help immediately in two of our areas of need - rebounding and shot blocking. I would hope we could trade down with someone and pick him in the #6-10 range though and also get another pick or player.

Because Billy is a bad GM.

Woody blew it tonight. Until we get a real defensive center who can play interior defense and block shots Smoove has to be in the game at the end. Damn, we looked like the Falcons defense trying to stop the run tonight with Al and Zaza acting like Keion Carpenter and Bryan Scott! Until Woody figures this out we will continue to lose games like this. No way we blow the lead tonight with Smoove in the game at the end blocking shots and getting big rebounds. Come on Woody, wake up man, stop costing us close games like these!!

The Hawks won't make the playoffs until they get a real PG and start playing much better interior defense...period. Face it, this is a REBUILDING year, and maybe if we make the right moves in the offseason we can challenge for a playoff spot in 2006-2007.

Hawks' coach (foolishly?) is optimistic By Chris Perkins Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Sunday, December 04, 2005 Mike Woodson might be crazy. Entering the weekend the Atlanta Hawks coach had a 15-81 record in one-plus seasons on the job. Your source for the Heat Latest Post headlines There are reports that Atlanta, the NBA's youngest team, has a generation gap in its locker room that is threatening to divide the young and the older. During the exhibition season, center Jason Collier died from a heart abnormality. Then the Hawks started the season 0-9. Yet there was Woodson last week, sitting in his office and smiling while counting his blessings. "It's the greatest job in America," said Woodson, who served as an assistant for three seasons for Larry Brown and played for Bob Knight at Indiana University. "I try to tell my players that. This job is the best job in the world." Hawks have look of a loser That doesn't mean Woodson likes to lose. He was an assistant coach with Detroit for two years ago when the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the NBA Finals. Woodson, who has been in the league since 1980 as both a player and a coach, is used to winning. But that's not going to happen anytime soon in Atlanta. The Hawks consist of forwards Al Harrington, Josh Smith, Josh Childress and Marvin Williams, who so far is taking the Darko Milicic path for No. 2 draft picks. The guards include Joe Johnson, Royal Ivey and Tyronn Lue. Atlanta's center is Zaza Pachuila, and he might be the most productive player at this point. And that's what tells you Woodson might be crazy. He has this cast of characters, his team is losing, and still he enjoys coming to work every day. "You lose anywhere, and it's tough," he said. "But I'll say this — it's been fun coaching. From a coaching standpoint, I don't know if you will find too many coaches that say that when they lose." Remember Pat Riley when the Heat was going through that 25-57 season that would be his final one as a head coach? He was miserable. Remember Stan Van Gundy when the Heat started out 0-7 the following season? He was miserable. Ask any coach who is losing and he's miserable. Woodson, one would suspect, is also miserable. But he says his job remains fun because his players are trying to learn and trying to win. "We just haven't gotten over the hump yet as far as being able to win on a consistent basis," he said. A history of dysfunction That's crazy talk. Atlanta will never be able to win consistently with this roster. That has been the case for the Hawks for the past few years. They're a bad team. They have it written all over them. Bad teams lose consistently and they never learn to win consistently. Atlanta has all the earmarks. It has s been slumping since the 1998-99 season. Since then the team has had four coaches — Woodson, Lenny Wilkens, Lon Kruger, Terry Stotts — ownership has changed, player turnover occurs at an alarming rate and no one attends the games. In the grand scheme of things, Woodson should be praised for realizing how fortunate he is to be an NBA coach. Just 30 men in the world hold that job. With his positive attitude, Woodson should be held up as an example of someone who appreciates what he has no matter how badly things are going. Then he spins this gem. "We've played 13 games," Woodson said last week, "and I truly believe we could easily be 6-7 or 7-6." Perhaps Woodson wasn't crazy when he took this job in August of 2004, but he definitely seems to have lost his mind now.

ZaZa can play the 4 and Magloire and can play the 5. Re-sign Al and he can play the 3, get a legit PG and bring the young guys off the bench (Smoove, Chill, Marvin, Salim).

Hawks need Paul, not Williams posted: Thursday, December 1, 2005 | Feedback I'm mad. I'm not even an Atlanta fan, and I'm upset with the Hawks. First, let me say this: I believe Marvin Williams will be a special player someday. But … The Hawks blew it by not drafting Chris Paul, or even Deron Williams. Most of the league's talent evaluators will tell you to draft the best player available, regardless of position or the makeup of your roster. Exhibit A is always Portland, already equipped with Clyde Drexler, passing up Michael Jordan for Sam "I Am (Hurt)" Bowie. But the Hawks were something of a special case last June. I mean, look at their roster: They've got nothing but swingmen and forwards. (That remains true even after they traded Boris Diaw and two first-round draft picks for Joe Johnson and spent $70 million to sign him -- with the spin that he was going to play the point. What convinced them that Johnson was their point guard of the future? I don't have a huge problem with them giving JJ $70 bills because he's nice. But he's not a point guard. Sure, he can dribble the ball upcourt and initiate the offense, but Atlanta needs a real PG who can organize its young, talented, exciting mess.) The reason I'm mad is because I would love to see Paul bring JJ, Al Harrington, Josh Smith, Josh Childress, Salim Stoudamire and the surprisingly productive Zaza Pachulia together. Paul and JJ would be one of the best backcourts in the league. In Oklahoma City, Paul's talent and leadership has turned what was arguably the worst roster in basketball into a near .500 team. What would he do with a lineup of legit thoroughbreds? Truly great PGs don't come around that often. This draft had two, maybe even three (Ray Felton). While Marvin Williams will be good eventually, you've already got J Smith as your four of the future. J Smith's not playing three over Big Al. Big Al's a keeper -- tough, mentally strong and talented. Atlanta would only make things worse by moving him. As it is, the Hawks are not as woeful as their record suggests. A ton of their games have been close, which underscores my point that if they had a true playmaker like Paul leading them, they would have already erased their image as the league's laughingstock. And the team doing the most laughing? The New Orleans/Okla. City Hornets. -Chris Broussard