NickJYD

Very true. I actually look forward to reading this board every day. I am on a private Falcon board on AOL, and I am always in dispute with the guys on the board that think Vick cant pass, and that the Falcons would be better off with a passing QB like Matt Schaub. Its nice to be united with fans of your hometown team.

It has to be Zaza.

How can we have a press conference for a guy that isnt on the team yet with a trade that isnt finalized? Is Zaza a major free agent pickup?

I think its more likely he gets bought out by the current guys.

Has anyone heard that Belkin is holding up the JJ trade?

I love it when people make incredibly strong statements that imply that everyone else is an idiot when they are the ones that are wrong. Belkin is NOT the frickin majority owner. Go read Marc Steins article to enlighten yourself. He only owns 30% of the team which is less than 70% and is also less than the 40% that the washington group owns.

I have no problem with Steins piece. he thinks its good for us to get Joe, and it would seem to me that he probably likes what we've tried to accomplish this summer. Hes just stating facts. Lost in the previous responses to this article is the sentiment that the deal will get pushed through whihc seems to be what most all of us want. I came away from the article feeling better about things and slightly more optimistic.

Agreed. I vote no on getting shareef.

His house in Phoenix??? He is holding a press conference by himself? Because we cant hold a press conference with him. Do you think this shows confidence that the Hawks feel this whole situation will be resolvd by then, or do you think they thought today would go their way..in which case..that JJ presser aint happening.

I'll take the attendance issue on. The Falcons had poor attendance too, but when Blank put a true WINNER on the field, then games started selling out on a regular basis. Josh Smith is going to sell tickets on his own, but getting a winning team will allow Phillips to be packed the way it should be. As far as Belkin being allowed to do what he wants...whats the point in having a GM and 8 other owners if one single owner standing by himself thinks hes a basketball genius. Belkin is cheap, doesnt want to spend money, and will only lead to more disappointing seasons for the Hawks. As for JJ not selling seats on his own, that might be true, but hes one of the top 5 free agents in this years nice free agency class, and he will help improve the team, which will lead to a winner. If you look at the Pistons, they have no superstar player that sells tickets all by himself. But, they have a talented group of guys that form a great TEAM. JJ would be a part of a team that is young, athletic, exciting and one that would have a bright future. The style of ball and the type of players we have now is much more exciting than any of those crappy Shareef teams. This is something non-Hawk fans refuse to recognize. The Hawks cant attract bigtime free agents having just won 13 games, unless we overpay. We are overpaying for JJ and giving up quite a bit, but JJ would immediately improve us, and he would help us get better players in the future by the fact that he helped us become a better team.

They bring up a good point on the radio....if this were LA or NY, then Stern would already have intervened and allowed the JJ signing to happen. Unfortunately, we are the Hawks and people like to urinate on us. Ultimately, I pray that Stern will do the right thing by stepping in and helping us improve our team. I hope he realizes that he has to act quickly or we might lose out on Joe.

I gave the guy congrats for being another Hawk hater. I also gave him props for not mentioning Bobby Simmons on his list. The guy is a solid player that is going to be vastly overpaid next year. Finally, and the main reason my question didnt get answered in his chat was that I told him he should shave his bushy ass eyebrows so he might be able to see an actual NBA game and be able to decipher talent a little bit better.

790 thinks Stern will step in and remove Belkin. I wish I was as confident as they are.

The difference is that Sterling is the primary owner of the Clipps. The Belkin situation is different in that he is in the minority as far as the direction in which eh wants the franchise to go. Hes outvoted 70%-30%.

I love it. BK has come off like a complete badass in this situation.

This is odd. Im eager to hear from one of the owners or our GM on this. Seems like if we go ahead full speed, sign Joe, that they wouldnt be able to undo this deal even if Belin was reinstated.

Seems like if Belkin is given back his governer position at some point....JJ will already be a Hawk. I think Belkin has to get bought out now.

No ruling...so can we get JJ today after we get Gearon in as Gov?

It seems strange that nobody is calling 790 to talk about this Hawks situation. There have been no calls about the Hawk situation this morning. Lets start calling in guys!!!

Agreed. But if we get JJ locked up, we may throw Eddy a bone. If he gets insurance, we may throw him a nice sized contract.

From the Sun Times: Curry's agent, Leon Rose, said the Atlanta Hawks remain interested in the restricted free-agent center even though they haven't offered a contract. Atlanta is the only place Curry has visited, and Rose broke his silence with the media to put a more positive spin on Curry's sliding market appeal. ''I called [Hawks general manager] Billy Knight on Friday, and he assured me that their extending an offer sheet to [Milwaukee Bucks reserve center] Zaza Pachulia did not mean they no longer have interest in Curry,'' Rose said Sunday night. ''The Hawks still have $13 million worth of salary-cap room left, and they are still interested in Eddy.'' Asked whether any progress was being made in Curry's negotiations with the Bulls, who have been hesitant to extend anything beyond the $5.2 million qualifying offer, Rose said: ''I won't say that no other offer has been made, but talks continue with the Bulls, and it's business. It is true that we also are exploring insurance options [outside of Trustmark, the league's group carrier] that include Lloyd's of London, New York Life and others.'' The Hawks extended a five-year, $70 million offer sheet to Phoenix Suns guard Joe Johnson and a four-year, $16 million offer sheet to Pachulia. But a power struggle between owners has held up the sign-and-trade acquisition of Johnson. The Bucks didn't match the offer sheet to Pachulia, so he's Hawks property. Rose said he was compelled to break his media silence to clear up reports suggesting that Curry's trip to Atlanta ended on a negative note when Curry, accompanied by fiancee Patrice Coye, trimmed a two-day stay to one so Coye could return to Chicago for her wedding shower. Curry and Coye plan to get married Aug. 20 in Mexico. ''There was a mix-up in communications regarding Eddy's stay and the shower, and I may be to blame for that,'' Rose said. ''Eddy and Patrice said they wanted to attend a concert by Destiny's Child while they were in Atlanta, and they had told the Hawks about the shower. I may have given Eddy the wrong impression that the concert was Thursday night, the day he arrived, when the concert in fact was on the next night. So when Eddy returned to Chicago on Friday for Patrice's wedding shower, it was what they had planned to do all along. "As for Eddy not taking any physical examination, that also was not something that had been definitely set up for that visit. I told the Hawks that if they were prepared to go further into the talks, Eddy would take an exam.'' Rose said the bottom line is that Knight assured him Curry's visit went well and ended on a positive note. ''And it's my understanding that they still have interest in acquiring him,'' Rose said. Rose refused to comment about whether any other team had expressed interest in Curry, but no additional visits to Atlanta are scheduled. I find this interesting. Perhaps if the JJ situation gets resolved, we make a run at Eddy. Anyone have numbers on what we would have available after the Zaza, MW, and JJ signings? I think wed have about 10-11 million left in cap space.

That could be Shareef like numbers....good numbers but on a really bad team. The points he scored in Cleveland were much more significant and his stock was much higher back then. Boozer, although a solid bball player, is not what the Hawks need....especially at that awful contract he has.

Good to read a jaywalker article....kinda like the good old days.

We cant do any trades until Belkin gets overthrown. That said, I dont really want Boozer. I love Duke, but Boozer isnt worth the money he gets paid. He was very good in Cleveland because he had Lebron. That guy is overpaid, and I might rather have Al than him. I definitely wouldnt want to take on his contract.

Thanks for the post Jay. I am usually a Hawk optimist. In fact, now that we have most likely signed Zaza to a contract, I like the guy twice as much as i did before we signed him. That said, if we (the majority ownership and BK and the fans) lose tomorrow, we are absolutely screwed. Belkin could ruin the rest of the offseason for us, block the JJ trade and ultimately screw us for as long as he stays around. You would think that he HAS to get bought out now, but we need this ruling in our favor tomorrow in order to save the offseason. BK isnt going to make moves when he might get blocked. If we do buy out Belkin, it could take a long time, and we cant have our franchise in limbo while we wait for this to get done. Does anyone remember how long it took to get this ownership deal done? This situation just sucks. As I said earlier, its not only unfair to us, JJ, the majority ownership, but in a huge way to BK. His wings have been clipped, and he has basically been rendered useless until Belkin gets overthrown. What a frickin nightmare.