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In no particular order.... 1) AJ has given us production and leadership at PG 2) Marvin has become a consistent high-percentage scorer 3) Josh Smith has stopped taking terrible shots and is making a positive overall impact 4) Horford gives us better rebounding, defense, and athleticism in the post 5) Our overall team defense is much better 6) Our entire team is just more mature, understands the game better, and is more cohesive 7) Joe is finally starting to hit some shots lately, which might have something to do with Josh Smith not taking so many terrible shots and AJ's improved PG play

I like that deal, except I'd try to get them to throw in Rodney Carney for us to replace Chills.

I don't want to trade Chill just to trade him, but if we could use him to acquire Calderon, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Quote: It's totally irrelevant. Marvin has been in this league for 3 years.. That's more important than if he had stayed at UNC for 5... You guys who use Age as an excuse is so very misled... Anybody in the NBA will tell you that playing in the NBA speeds up a players development faster than anything else... So why are we still talking about Age. Marvin is a freakin veteran and you want to hold on to his birth certificate. IS that all you got? First of all, Prince has been in the league more years than Marvin and Marvin is averaging more points and rebounds RIGHT NOW than Prince ever has in his entire career. Second, age IS an issue. Playing in the NBA speeds up development, but that doesn't mean age isn't an issue. Players hit their peak between the ages of 26-32, not at the age of 21.

Quote: Sure, Marvin has a consistent shot. However, if I'm in a playoff series, I would take Tayshun over Marvin 9 times out of 9. The reason being is that Tayshun is going to get a steal or Tayshun is going to block a shot or Tayshun is going to distract a shooter with his long reach or Tayshun is going to find the RIP wide open for three. What's Marvin going to do? Tayshun only averaged 3.3 ppg when he was Marvin's age, and he only averaged 10 ppg in 32 mpg his second year. So if you want to compare Tayshun to Marvin at the same age, it's not even close. In fact, if you compare Marvin's current numbers to Tayshun's best seasons, Marvin's numbers are actually better, at least statistically speaking. In his entire career Tayshun has never averaged more than 14.7 ppg or 5.3 rpg. Right now Marvin is averaging 16.1 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Both of them have a PER of 17 at the moment. So you can argue that you'd rather have Tayshun right now in the playoffs - that's understandable - but Marvin's upside is clearly much higher than Prince's. Prince in his prime isn't even outperforming Marvin right now, and I actually think Marvin would be just as effective for the Pistons right now as Tayshun is.

Quote: Looks to me that the dude is finally in shape; I think he was out of shape early in the season. He is able to get up a down for an entire game now. I agree. He looks like he's in better shape, and they said he's been putting in some extra work on his jumpshot, and it's been paying off. Tonight was a glimpse of what the Hawks could be if when they get some production out of the PG spot.

If I had to choose one or the other, I'd actually go after Randolph, because he gives you about the same offensive production and rebounds better and seems like more of a compeitor and doesn't have that heart condition. Neither guy is all that great, but at the same time it would be nice to have a reliable, high-percentage post-scorer. Overall, though, both guys seem to have character and contract issues that make them unnattractive.

I've got to say...tonight the Hawks looked like a well coached team. And BK's philosophy is paying off right now too, with all the long athletic versatile players we've got on the court at any moment. Joe, Marvin, Horford, and Smoove are looking like they've got some chemistry going and I'm loving it. Glad we didn't trade Josh Smith like I wanted us to do.

I argued vigorously for Paul before the draft, but at this point I'd rather have Deron Williams, plus I believe Marvin is turning into a very good player right now, and we probably would never have had the chance to draft Horford or Law if we'd taken CP or DW - so right now we might be in a better overall position anyway. I'm just not sure if the Hawks management should get credit for getting us into this position. Did they purposefully plan to slowly build depth through the draft by taking high-character glue guys (Chills, Shelden) or talented young projects (Smoove, Marvin) instead of can't miss prospects who might get us out of the lottery but not into contention? Or did they try to pick the best available player and just get it wrong?

I think Acie is proving that he's a definite longterm keeper. But AJ and Lue suck. And Speedy doesn't even play and it looks like he's done. So if we want to be a legit playoff contender this season we need to find a way to get a starting caliber NBA PG in here.

I liked what I saw in the Pilly game tonight from Horford: 6-9 from the field, 12 points, 13 rebounds, turn and face jumpshots, a nice spin into the paint for a turnaround J, a couple of nice passes. Overall I'm pretty happy with what he's doing. Whether he's ideally a C or a PF I'm not sure, but he's certainly capable of holding his own as a starting C in today's NBA in my opinion. I could easily see him averaging 15 and 12 in a year or two.

If Josh Smith could find a way to play like this every night (i.e., to take good shots), he could have a shot at making an all-star team.

In an ideal world, to guarantee ourselves a chance of making the playoffs, we would need: (1) A legitimate, healthy, starting quality NBA point guard in his prime, with Law as his backup. We don't need a star, but for the next year or two, we could use a solid veteran (but not broken down) staring PG. (2) A legitimate, healthy, starting quality NBA big man who demands a double team in the post and can rebound and block some shots. (3) A better coach.

I like the idea of Biedrins, but I have to admit I haven't seem him play much. But the idea of getting a 21 year-old center who averages 10+ rebounds and 2 bpg, while shooting 60% from the field, is appealing to me - especially when you take into account the fact that Josh Smith takes as many shots as some of the most dominant scorers in this league but is shooting well below .400% from the field.

Personally, I like what Sothron posts. But even if you think it's B.S., there's really no reason to make different versions of the same tired joke over and over again.

Let's look at Shelden's numbers in his first twelve games versus Horford's numbers in his first twelve games and see who looks better. And don't forget that Horford is playing against starters while Shelden was playing against backups.

Quote: I think they are scared to move a "franchise" face like Smoove without getting an easily recognizable (but affordable) face back in return. Biedrins is also due for his own contract so they may feel it would be trading one contract problem with another. I can understand those concerns, but man...Josh Smith just isn't fun to watch anymore. And we're not winning. And it's not like people are turning up in droves to watch the Hawks right now. So I personally wish they would do something to help the team win - like getting Biedrins...or Gasol or Calderon or somebody.

Quote: When he starts breaking out, i'll make sure to bring back some of these post. It's possible, but I've never been crazy about Josh Smith's game even on his good nights. To me he's an exciting 'tweener who can fill up a stat sheet but can't post up, dribble, or shoot a jumpshot. If he goes to Phoenix he'll probably make the Hawks look bad, because he could be a great player there, but at this point I'm ready to choose Marvin and Horford over Smoove, and if that's the case, we need to make a move before we overpay or lose him for nothing.

Right now we have some relatively attractive young players in Smoove, Chill, Zaza, and Shelden, who are playing on cheap contracts, and we can mix-and-match them with the expiring contracts of AJ, Lue, and Lo. So to me, now's the time to make something happen. Let's get an all-star in here, or at least a potential all-star, at PG or C. Failing that, let's at least get a starting caliber player at either position who's in his prime and doesn't have injury problems.

Quote: shees, a horrible game, and everybody wants to trade the kid. I know he had a horrible game and everything, but let the kid redeem himself. This is not Josh Smith's first terrible game. He's a tantalizing player, but I don't want to pay him a ton of money, especially when I actually like Marvin and Horford better at his positions and they'll be cheaper for longer. Plus Josh Smith is a player that a couple of GM's out there might like enough to offer something good in return. I'd trade him for Biedrins or Gasol or a nice first-round pick or maybe even for someone like Shawn Marion. I don't know, but I just think now is the time to cash in and trade him for a PG or C who would fit in with this team better.

Build around JJ, Marvin, and Horford - trade anyone else to get the right balance of players in here. Fire Woody.

I've seen enough of Smith right now to know that, if we want to get better shortterm (and maybe longeterm), he would be the guy I'd trade. His shot selection sucks, he can't really handle the ball, and he has no touch around the basket. He does a lot of great things, but I really can't even say that he's fun to watch anymore - not enough exciting dunks and too many shots that just make me feel sick. I don't want to pay him $9 or $10 million a year or whatever he wants - give me Biedrins or any other solid player we could get in return for Josh. I know a lot of people loved him after he scored 38 points, but it seems like he has about 10 of these 3-15 games for every 21+ point games he has.

Horford can play C...but I still think Horford plus Biedrins is a more effective, well-rounded and efficient front court than Smoove and Horford.

SERIOUSLY - I WOULD DO THIS TRADE, SMOOVE FOR BIEDRINS STRAIGHT UP - RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

I just looked up Biedrins stats this season: 13.1 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 2.1 bpg, .607 fgp. WE NEED TO DO THIS TRADE RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Biedrins gives us the size and length we desparately need, he rebounds better than Smoove, he blocks shots at about the same rate, he's still young with upside, and he even scores about the same per game but gives you over .600 percent shooting from the field. Basically, that means Biedrins could replace Smoove's offensive production without all the terrible shots. And he fits in with our whole quick, long, athletic, and versatile thing because he's athletic and fairly mobile and can run the floor and guard two positions. With Biedrins and Horford at the 4 and 5 spots, suddenly we would have more size at both those positions than almost any other team we played, but we really wouldn't have much of a drop-off in terms of quickness and athleticism, and we'd probably have a more efficient offense. I'm down with this - please get it done!!!!!!!!!!!!