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If we do facilitate a sign-and-trade with the Rockets, and if the rumors are true that we are looking to tank if we don't get Howard, I would bet we find a third and/or fourth team to take Lin and Asik, and we only take back young players, picks, and expiring contracts.

Would anyone here consider keeping Teague and playing Lin at shooting guard? Then all we'd have to do is sign LeBron James in 2014 (easy right?) and our lineup could look something like this: PG: Jeff Teague / Dennis Schröder SG: Jeremy Linn / Louis Williams / John Jenkins SF: LEBRON JAMES / Jared Cunningham PF: Al Horford / Mike Muscala C: Omer Asik / Lucas Nogueira

If we can't get Howard, does anyone have any interest in Nikola Pekovic? I've never really watched him play, but he's the T-Wolves' 6'11, 27-year old free agent center, and last year he basically averaged 16 ppg and 9 rpg with a .520 fgp and a 20.26 PER. Personally, I think he and Horford would make a solid front court - Pekovic basically duplicates Josh's rebounding and points with better offensive efficiency. Of course, he offers less shotblocking and assists, but he also has greater size and strength, would allow Horford to play PF, and he doesn't take frustrating jumpshots all the time. Anone ever seen him play?

I definitely see what Diesel's saying: Tim Duncan is the most essential ingredient to the success of the Spurs, and you don't get many chances to land a player like that. On the other hand, though, they acquired Tony Parker and Manu and even Kawhi Leonard later in the draft based on great scouting and/or their use of analytics, so that part of the Spurs method may be portable. Also, they play a great brand of basketball that I think can be taught, and they've been very good for a very long time (with a lot of different parts and players), so they've mastered the art of filling out a roster, developing players, and surrounding their core with complimentary parts without ruining long-term flexibility. So I think all of that bodes well for us if we can duplicate it - but ultimately we still need to find a way to land a superstar or two.

The trade machine let me do it; it just said he can't be traded back to the Kings. I really have no idea other than what the trade machine said.

Josh Smith for Thomas Robinson, Chandler Parsons, and Francisco Garcia works under ESPN's Trade Machine. The Rockets have no expiring contracts at all as far as I can tell, but Garcia only has a year left after this one, and we'd still be getting back about $3 million less in salary than we're sending out. Personally, I wouldn't really mind a deal like this given our lack of leverage, although I'm not sure Robinson will ever produce close to the level at which he was drafted.

I was sort of thinking the same thing. Maybe Thomas Robinson ends up here as part of a Smoove trade?

I regarded him as a 2nd round type of player when we drafted him, but I'd never seen him play or anything like that. After watching the first game I'm really impressed; his release is so quick and he does seem pretty crafty. Went head to head with and held his own against the number 2 overall pick in the draft, so you can't ask for much more out of his first game (although it was just one game).

Danny Ferry is the kind of GM I always wished we had - the kind who thinks ahead and makes actual moves that make actual sense.

Danny Ferry is clearly a genius. I've never seen a GM come onto the seen and go this big and this smart in less than two weeks. Congratulations!

For the 48th pick in a weak draft, I'm fine with Benson. 17 ppg, 10 rpg, and 3 bpg are pretty good college numbers, although Hollinger's draft rater didn't like him much - probably in large part because he was a 7-footer and a 4-year player who didn't start to put up numbers until his junior and senior years - most real 7-foot prospects don't have to stay in school for 4 years. But with that said, he has very good height and very good wingspan, and since he isn't particularly strong and won't dominate on the inside offensively, I like the fact that he's apparently skilled from the perimeter and shoots it well. He's a project, but maybe he'll be able to help us down the road one day.

Josh Smith for No. 2 pick + Michael Beasley, Luke Ridnour & Martell Webster works on the ESPN trade machine. I think I'd be very much in favor of that, assuming Kantor proves worthy of a top 5 pick: PG: Jeff Teague / Luke Ridnour SG: Joe Johnson / Kirk Hinrich SF: Michael Beasley / Martell Webster PF: Al Horford / Marvin Williams CR: Enes Kantor / Zaza Pachulia

I thought I'd combine rumors of Andre Miller & the 21st pick for Josh, combined with rumors about Josh and Orlando, combined with rumors of a three way trade with Atlanta, Portland, and Orlando, and here's the best I could come up with that works on ESPN's trade machine (not sure I like it though): Atlanta: trades Josh Smith & Marvin Williams - gets Jameer Nelson, Ryan Anderson, Andre Miller & 21st pick Orlando: trades Jameer Nelson, Ryan Anderson & Daniel Orton - gets Josh Smith Portland: trades Andre Miller & 21st pick - gets Marvin Williams & Daniel Orton Hawks Lineup (probably results in better cap flexibilty and worse defense - still no inside presence): 1. Jameer Nelson / Jeff Teague 2. Kirk Hinrich / Andre Miller 3. Joe Johnson / 21st pick 4. Ryan Anderson / Zaza Pachulia 5. Al Horford / Zaza Pachula

I'd do it - not sure if the Jazz would do it. It works straight up on the ESPN trade machine, though.

Josh Smith and Marvin Williams for Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins worked on the ESPN trade machine. I might like that trade, except in looking at Biedrins's stats, his production is way down for the last two years - not sure why. His PER was around 19 for several years in a row, but the last two years it's been around 12. Anyone know why he's playing so much worse? Anyway, assuming Biedins could get back on track, that would give us a lineup something like this: PG: Jeff Teague / Kirk Hinrich SG: Monta Ellis / Hinrich or Crawford SF: Joe Johnson / Crawford or Wilkins PF: Al Horford / Zaza C: Andris Biedrins / Zaza We'd have more quickness in the backcourt than we've had in a while, but less length; and we'd have more length in the frontcourt, but less quickness. (Edit: Just looked at Ellis's stats a little closer and I don't think I'm a fan.)

I checked the ESPN trade machine on Joe for Gay and Mayo; it works if Memphis throws in one more smaller contract (I used Xavier Henry to make the deal work - not sure how much they like him). I like this trade for the Hawks because we get younger and more athletic with a better salary structure, but I'm not sure if Memphis would like it unless they thought it made them a contender. (Seems lke Conley, Joe, Randolph, and Gasol make for a good core, though, so I wonder if they might be interested.) Anyway, here's the basic team we'd have: 1: Jeff Teague 2: O.J. Mayo 3: Rudy Gay 4: Josh Smith 5: Al Horford Bench: Kirk Hinrich, Marvin Williams, and Zaza Pachulia - and maybe look for someone to play a Crawford/Flip Murray type of role?

I remember a long time ago Howard said he literally prayed that the Hawks would be able to draft him, and I remember CP3 also wanted the Hawks to draft him, and I'm sure they'd love to play together in Atlanta if it were possible . . . I just don't see how it's possible. Getting even one of them probably isn't realistic, but if I could choose one I'd rather have Howard. If we could pair him with either Josh or Al at power forward, we'd have the most athletic 4-5 combo in the league by far. Al would be especially good because he has such a great jump shot and we would dominate the boards, but Josh would also be great - no one would want to come in the lane.

I don't see Crawford as a future superstar, but he's got a lot of potential and I don't understad why we traded him. It seems that Bibby and a pick should have been enough to get Hinrich; and if it wasn't, we shouldn't have done the trade. I would have liked to see Crawford play more when we had him, too.

On ESPN's trade machine I tried trading Teague, Etan Thomas, and Josh Powell for Ramon Sessions and it worked under the cap - and according to Holliner's analysis, the trade would add 11 wins over the course of the season. That number is of course wildly inflated for some reason (not sure how he calculates it, but it probably has to do with the fact that Sessions has an career high PER of 19 right now, which is probably not likely to last - usually he's more like a 12-16 PER guy). Personally, though, I think the Sessions trade could be very good for the Hawks - not flashly, but helpful.

I agree that Crawford has a scorer's mentality, but there's plenty of room for scoring PGs in the NBA. I also think his handles are fine; he's deceptive and aggressive, and he's a threat to hit the jumpshot, which gives him a big advantage over Teague right now in my mind. It also seems like the team performs better and more cohesively with Crawford at the point than with Teague, and I haven't noticed Crawford turning it over all that much (whereas Teague, for some reason, seems to be turning it over left and right). I'd just like to see what he can do in NBA games at point--if he could play at that position he would become much more valuable, and I think he can do it (at least as a solid backup down the road, maybe even as a starter in a few years.)

After watching the summer leage games, is anyone else as impressed with Jordan Crawford as I am? I see a lot of potential for him at PG; and if he could pull it off, he'd go from being an undersized SG to a fairly big PG. In fact, I personally believe that Crawford is a better PG prospect than Teague: I think Crawford has a better feel for the game and is more aggressive, plus he's a better shooter, is nearly as quick, and handles the ball and passes as well or better than Teague. I think Teague is the better defender, but I'm already wishing that they'd give Crawford Teague's minutes this year. Anyone else feel the same?

I missed the earlier post, so sorry to post it again, but I'm glad to see that others would consider it--trading Josh Smith will always be controversial and hard to do, since when he's on he's a great player and exciting to watch, but in a case like this I think it's worth the risk.

Chad Ford's most recent mock draft has Cousins dropping to the Warriors, and I remember there were a lot of rumors that the Warriors liked Josh Smith for their small ball, running style of play. So what about putting together a package where we trade Smoove for Cousins? (Not sure how to work that out from a salary perspective, but for now I'm assuming they could find a way to get it done if both sides were agreeable.) Here's my argument for why we'd want to do this: Cousins measured in at 6'11 with a huge wingspan and a 9'5 standing reach, which, according to Ford, is basically the same as Dwight Howard, Greg Oden, and Brook Lopez. Hollinger's computer system also ranks Cousins as the number 1 prospect in this draft (and it seems to me from following the draft the last few years that Hollinger's system is pretty good--not perfect, but probably a little better than the actual draft order in terms of predicting future performance). So in Cousins we have a legit center who is huge, long, fairly athletic, strong, and young, with a ton of upside. To me, this may be our best and only legitimate shot at landing a real big young talented center anytime soon. And I'd love to see Horford at PF with Cousins at C--I think then we'd have an athleticism AND size advantage almost every night at both positions, instead of just a quickness and athleticism advantage. Josh Smith is a great player, and this would be a risky move, but right now the best teams in the league have a considerable size advantage over us inside, I'd like to see Horford move to PF, and I can't see Josh Smith as an effective SF because that would emphasize his weaknesses and take him away from his strengths. Thoughts?

To me, Josh Smith has always been the most exciting Hawk to watch because of his athleticism, but even so there have been plenty of times over the last two or three years when I really, really wanted the Hawks to trade him because it seemed like he would always take bad shots, make bad decisions, and shoot a low percentage for his entire career. Now I'm extremely glad the Hawks had more patience than me, because if he keeps playing like this he HAS to be an all-star. I used to worry that the combo of Smith and Horford didn't give us enough post scoring to have an elite offense, but those guys are holding it down lately in every way possible these days.

I totally agree with this. Teague has great athleticism, can get in the lane seemingly whenever he wants, and he's done a great job of breaking down the defense and coming up with kickouts and assists, and he's been good in transition (either finishing or creating a shot for others). He's also had a lot of drives to the basket where he put it up off the backboard and didn't get a bounce, but it looks like he will straighten that out before long. But if he can't hit jumpshots, it might get a lot harder for him to use his quickness - and his form isn't all that good. He shot pretty well from 3-point range at Wake Forest, but I'm not sure what kind of a jumpshooter he'll be in the NBA.