MrAloha

As long as Claxton can hit mid-range jumpers, that should keep defenses honest enough. Any threes he hits will be gravy. While he may need to work on the "running the team" facet, that could come with more experience.

... Chad Ford says so". Many people won't believe he has any until they see it in print.

Quote: Quote: Smith will be splitting time at the 4 and Shelden will be splitting time at the 5 when they go small. [/indent] Some people just refuse to acknowledge this and continue to say Williams will be just a 4. Also, I hope JJ doesn't average around 40 minutes a game. He ran out of gas at the end of last season.

Exactly. Our biggest need was a big man who can play defense. Billy Knight thought Sheldon Williams was the BPA for Atlanta in the whole draft. Hard to disagree with that. Who, in the draft, filled our need any better ? Bargnani doesn't play any defense that I've read. Aldridge has the possible injury concern. Thomas is not as big as Williams. Roy or Foye would have been nice, but PG was not our biggest need. I don't believe getting a rookie PG who can't shoot or a combo guard who can't run a team very well would have helped any. Pickling Roy or Foye would have been the sexy thing to do, but getting Williams will help the team the most.

The Oregonian's John Canzano? Wednesday, June 28, 2006 Mocking the NBA Draft?!? Here's my unofficial mock NBA draft... 1. Toronto --- Andrew Bargnani, Italy 2. Chicago --- Shelden Williams, Duke 3. Charlotte --- Rudy Gay, UConn 4. Portland --- Adam Morrison, Gonzaga 5. Atlanta --- Lamarcus Aldridge, Texas 6. Minnesota --- Brandon Roy, Washington 7. Boston --- Marcus Williams, UConn 8. Houston --- Randy Foye, Villanova 9. Golden State --- Tyrus Thomas, LSU 10. Seattle --- Rodney Carney, Memphis 11. Orlando --- Patrick O'Bryant, Bradley 12. New Orleans --- Cedric Simmons, NC 13. Philadelphia --- Ronnie Brewer, Arkansas --- Source says Bulls coach Scott Skiles is interested in a power forward who can contribute right away. Don't look now, but that's not Tyrus Thomas. He's not NBA ready. An NBA scout tells me that Duke's Shelden Williams, a big-time competitor, could be the guy Chicago is targeting, so keep that in mind as the draft unfolds today. --- Andrew Bargnani ends up as the key to this lottery if you ask me. If Toronto really is in love with him, they could easily cut a deal with a team picking in the No. 4-5-6 range and still end up getting Bargnani. He makes things interesting. --- Charlotte, picking third, has to be most worried about what Toronto does with that first pick. Not so coincidentally, Charlotte invited Bargnani in for a workout over the weekend. Strategical move? Or are they really interested? --- Randy Foye to Houston is a virtual lock in my book. He is exactly what the Rockets need, and grandma Foye, who reads this blog, will be happy with this. --- Every year there's one surprising player who slips down the board for various reasons. This year, I say it's Tyrus Thomas, and that reason is that he's far less impressive when he opens his mouth than anyone else in the lottery.

I remember some article a little while back saying the Hawk people were really impressed with Foye when they saw him work out. Maybe the Hawks pick him at #5 if no big man they want is still available at #5. Or perhaps the Hawks trade down and pick him.

If the Toronto Raptors keep the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft -- and that's no given -- it appears likely they will select Texas big man LaMarcus Aldridge. The real issue entering Wednesday night's draft is whether the Raptors will keep the pick. Various NBA sources confirm that Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo is working the phones hard to trade down a few sports, likely to take Italian pro Andrea Bargnani. It would be difficult for the Raptors to justify taking Bargnani first. However, there's a risk in trading down, particularly if teams aren't offering Colangelo much for the privilege of drafting first. He won't know with confidence how far he can move down and still get Bargnani, a player who hasn't worked out for NBA teams because he was in the playoffs in Europe. ******************************************************* Trade talk continues to be a significant part of speculation about the Bulls' plans for the NBA draft. The Bulls could trade the No. 2 pick to a team in exchange for veterans and other picks. Any deal might not officially happen until after the draft, in which case the Bulls would select a player Wednesday night on behalf of another team. Washington guard Brandon Roy is the player the Bulls most likely would draft with a trade in mind, with the Houston Rockets among the teams known to be interested in Roy. ************************************************* Phoenix has indicated that it would prefer to package the two first-round choices (the team has no second-round pick) to move up. If the Suns could get into the range of the 10th through 15th picks, that might give them a shot at a long, athletic wing player in either Arkansas' Ronnie Brewer or Memphis' Rodney Carney. Brewer's attributes (passing, defense and combo guard skills at 6 feet 7) sound like another Razorbacks star whom Suns fans know - Joe Johnson. Carney, a four-year college player, is considered the draft's best athlete. *********************************************** But one NBA source indicated yesterday that Gay might slide if Charlotte does not select him at No. 3, indicating that Minnesota (No. 6) and the Celtics would pass him up.

My take on Belkin if he gets the Hawks: He may love owning an NBA team but he doesn't give a rip about Atlanta. His first priority will be to move the team to another city where he can make more money than he can in Atlanta. He will run the Hawks into the ground until the NBA lets him move the team (or forces him to sell).

If Head is not going to be a starter why bother to make the deal? In my opinion, if you're going to trade down from a high draft position, either pick up a second high draft pick or a starter. Not for someone who can't beat out Tyron Lue at starting PG for us.

Quote: Quote: Yotam Halperin, G, Israel Halperin excelled in the Euroleague last season and followed up with a similar performance at the Reebok Eurocamp. In the past week, the Suns and Pacers have raved about his play in workouts against higher-ranked players. As a savvy combo guard who can shoot, Halperin is often compared to San Antonio's Beno Udrih. But Halperin is actually a better shooter with has more court vision, and he's bigger. The fact that he could become Israel's first NBA player is also intriguing. Israelis are NBA fanatics and could provide a boon in the form of a new market to the team that drafts him. He could go as high as the Suns at No. 27 and probably doesn't slip past Hawks at No. 33 . Wonder if this guy is ACTUALLY on BK's radar for our second round pick. Doesn't say whether he's "long" or not or anything about his defense specifically, but it does say he's a combo guard. As for Sene, who to believe ? Ford's gushing blurb or the Philly workout. Since the Philly workout has been the only non-complimentary thing I've read about Sene (that I remember), I am leaning towards believing he can be a very good big man. Not saying the Hawks should pick him at #5, but wouldn't mind if we did, I guess, or trade down and get him.

Well, if this speaks badly about O'Bryant's effort. It has to equally speak badly of Sene's effort. Can't only critize O'Bryant here if this indeed is not a smoke screen. But, then again, maybe King trying to talk O'Bryant or Sene to drop to where they pick.

The Hawks could have a deal in place to trade down and then pick Willaims.

(

Based on what he did in college, I agree. But it seems with many pre-draft workouts, what a player did or didn't do in college isn't as important as what he does in the workouts against other players. It's been mentioned often that a player's stock can rise or fall based on pre-draft workouts. So, if O'Bryant continues to have great workouts, should the Hawks pick him at No. 5 ?

Note Ford said: Quote: " O'Bryant likely will be the first guy of that group taken off the board. Given his size, athleticism and skills around the basket, he could go as high as Atlanta at No. 5 and the Wolves at No. 6. His backstop is the Hornets at No. 11. This, of course, could just be Ford-speak. But, if O'Bryant continues to impress at workouts, should the Hawks pick him at No. 5 ?

From the previously posted Chad Ford article: "What won't happen, I'm told, is the Hawks reaching for a point guard like UConn's Marcus Williams. Some have speculated that the Hawks will go for Williams because he's the best point guard on the board. Two things shoot a hole in that theory. First, I'm told that the Hawks don't feel he's a great fit for their system. Second, Williams is a far cry from Chris Paul and Deron Williams, two players the Hawks passed on because they felt they didn't have the talent Marvin Williams did." What is the Hawks "system" and how why is Williams not a good fit ? How far apart is Marcus W. from Deron W. ? What kind of PG do the Hawks want ? Are Williams and Iverson that different ? And who told Chad Ford that Williams is not a great fit ?

Sheds a sort of different light on things: Each team in the league is required to make at least one selection during the entire draft. Also, league rules prohibit a team from trading away future first-round picks in consecutive years. This rule was created partially as a reaction to the practices of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the early 1980s. Ted Stepien, who owned the team from 1980 to 1983, made a series of trades for players of questionable value that cost the team several years of first-round picks. The trades nearly destroyed the franchise; the NBA pressured Stepien into selling out, and in order to get a solid local owner (Gordon Gund), the league had to sweeten the deal by giving the Cavaliers several future bonus draft picks. Note, however, that this rule only requires each team to have a first-round pick, not necessarily their pick. Some examples illustrating this rule follow. These examples assume that the 2005 NBA Draft has already taken place. For the purposes of this discussion, let us assume that the San Antonio Spurs have no first-round pick in 2005, but have their first-round picks, and no others, in all future years. The Spurs may freely trade their 2006 first-round pick, since its 2005 pick is no longer a future pick. However, they cannot trade away their first-round picks for 2006 and 2007, or in any other consecutive years. The Spurs make a trade after the 2005 draft, picking up another team's first-round pick for 2007. Now, the Spurs can trade their own 2006 and 2007 first-round picks, since they still have a 2007 first-round pick.

Assuming no player BK really wants is available at wherever the Hawks pick, draft a player a bad team wants (e.g.: Toronto) and include the player in a trade for the bad team's first round pick next year (would probably have to Top-2 or 3 protected). Assuming that BK thinks next year's draft will be better than this year.

Belkin's mess: http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/ha...0223belkin.html

Yes. Thanks. I understand what you are saying. But can the Hawks trade their 2006 first round draft pick to some team this year to acquire a player or a 2007 draft pick from another team ? Would it be allowed knowing that they may have to give up their 2007 1st round pick next year ? Thereby trading their 1st round pick away for two consecutive years ? Just curious.

Isn't the rule: a team cannot trade their first round draft pick for two consecutive years ? Are the Hawks allowed to trade their 2006 first round pick regardless of whether Phoenix gets the 2007 pick ? Or will it be "frozen" just in case ???

Quote: jj/lue/ivey/salim chill/salim/delk/jj marvin/chill/smoove smoove/marvin/batista/andersen zaza/andersen/batista Al is a forgotten man already !!!

He will NEVER get anything done his way. Say he wins the court decision on Tuesday and the Johnson trade falls through. (Phoenix won't accept any changes to the original trade.) What is his plan ? To hope that other owners will sell out to him so he can get a majority and control the team ? Even if he wins Tuesday, I doubt any of the other owners will sell out to him. After that, the other owners will make sure he won't be able to do anything he wants. As long as Belkin is the governor of the ownership team, the value of the franchise would never increase or maybe even drop some. After 3/4 years, he would be forced out as governor then. He'll never get anything he wants after that if it differs with the other owners. He will just be ignored. Just what can he be thinking the future holds for him with the Hawks ? Remaining with Hawks will not be a pleasant experience for him. And his reputation in sports will be ruined further.

Quote: Mullin also states that the long term problem is that Belkin wants to spend X amount of dollars, whereas the other owners want to spend to the cap. Belkin can't see as far as the end of his nose. If the Johnson trade goes through as is and we get Pachulia, that brings us up to only about the minimum team salary (assuming Johnson's cap hit is 12 million). The minimum team salary, I believe, is around 37 million. I don't see us getting another high priced player this year unless the salary is offset by trading Harrington. After this year, I only see spending big bucks on a center. And, of course, eventually extending contracts to current players. Most good playoff teams are over the cap or near it.

I think Salim would be more attractive to Phoenix than Childress because of his 3-point shooting and overall high scoring potential. Which probably fits more into their offense style than Childress. Also, Salim is from the U. of Arizona so he would have great local interest and would soften the blow of losing Johnson to their fans. I don't want to trade either Childress or Salim. They are both exciting players that have alot to offer. Salim could be really exciting with his scoring potential. I was hoping to trade Harrington for a decent big man. So I don't really want to include him in this deal. But if push comes to shove, I guess I would. Why not give Phoenix both first round picks in the 2006 draft since it is supposed to be weak ?