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I really want this guy in the second round but I don't think he falls that far.

^Thanks for the info, twentythree!

If my parents were millionaires and I was having fun in college I'd stay to. The draft will be there for him one way or the other as long as he doesn't have a terrible injury, and even then he'd probably be fine doing something else.

If we get the chance it's got to be LaMarcus Aldridge.

I like Aldridge, Noah, Tyrus, Bargnani, and Marcus Williams.

Maybe this is overly optomistic, but I was thinking that Frye's injury might increase our chances of getting him this summer. A lot of the early-season hype around Frye's fast start seemed to be fizzling out even before the injury, and now he's going to be on the bench for the reset of the year. Maybe that would make it easier for Isaiah to trade us Frye for Al this summer.

I agree, those three are at the top of my list. Ty Thomas also looks good (but he's a little smaller) and Tiago Splitter is interesting but I've never seen him play. If we decided to trade down it would have to be to get Marcus Williams -- I'm starting to think this guy is majorly underrated and could be an outstanding PG, especially for a team like the Hawks with so many young athletes.

We do need another first rounder...to take Marcus Williams. That would be absolutely amazing. I'd like to end up with either Aldridge or Bargnani with our pick, then grab Marcus Williams with, say, the Bulls pick after we trade Harrington to them. G: Marcus Williams / Tyronn Lue G: Joe Johnson / Salim Stoudamire F: Marvin Williams / Josh Childress F: Josh Smith / LaMarcus Aldridge C: Nene Hilario / Zaza Pachulia

Several ESPN writers have said JO will be on the trading block this summer. Since we have a lot of young players and some cap space we may be able to get in on the action, plus BK has links to the Pacers organization and has already dealt with them before. So I think there's plent of reason to speculate. Personally, I would love to trade Marvin and the pick for JO. If we could do that it might make more sense to try and keep Al, too, since he and JO are best friends. G: Joe Johnson G: Josh Childress F: Al Harrington F: Josh Smith C: Jermaine O'neal Bench: Tyronn Lue, Salim Stoudamire, Zaza Pachulia Or, what if instead of resigning Al we signed Jason Terry? Then we could have a very good starting lineup featuring people whose names all start with J. G: Jason Terry G: Joe Johnson F: Josh Childress F: Josh Smith C: Jermaine O'neal Bench: Tyronn Lue, Salim Stoudamire, Zaza Pachulia To me either of those lineups, and especially the second one above, would be serious playoff contenders. In fact, I will probably spend the rest of the season imagining the Hawks getting JO this summer.

And htis guy is putting up impressive numbers in the best Euro league as a 19 year old. I think he could come in and contribute right away.

I think the force of BK's personality and conviction (those that have met him agree that, when the cameras are off, he's an extremely impressive and charasmatic guy) will carry him through until the Hawks start to get some respect. I think the owners, who interact with him on a personal basis, have confidence in him and in his long-term vision. They know that you can't just plug up holes with whoever comes along -- you have to build slowly and suffer through some rough patches. (Yeah, we could have traded for someone like Chris Wilcox, but then again, is that really something that will put us over the top?) When you look at the team and the young players he's brought in, and the cap flexibility we have, and the success we're having compared to last year, I think you have to have a generally positive feeling about what he's accomplished. Of course, BK hasn't been perfect, but he's definitely been pretty good. I think most of us would agree that, while we may have been able to get JJ for less, to have missed out on him altogether would be a far bigger disaster than overpaying a bit for him. And I'm still not convinced that 3 years from now Marvin won't be a big-time player and Paul will have leveled out, so that it won't be universally considered a major blunder. I think Paul will be injury prone and will get worn down over the course of each season, and once he's not a "rookie sensation" anymore people will also see that he doesn't really play any defense. Don't get me wrong: if Chris Paul wanted to play for the Hawks I wouldn't turn him down, but outisde of maybe Isaiah Thomas, championship teams aren't built on players like Chris Paul. What we need most isn't a point guard but some big men.

How can anyone defend Isaiah? He didn't gamble and lose once, he loses every time and never learns his lesson. Look at the list of players he's brought in, look at their salaries, look at their attitudes and reputations, look at their lack of defense, passing ability, or team play: Stephon Marbury Steve Francis Jamal Crawford Quentin Richardson Jalen Rose Jerome James Eddy Curry It's amazing really, how similarly overpaid and overrated all those players are...and when you assemble them all on one roster you actually get a record worse than the Hawks.

Yeah, we have a bad record...I think we all were aware of that. But our play of late is much better than our record would suggest, and when you take into account the fact that we're the youngest team in the league by far, that we depend on young players at basically every position, that these guys haven't played together very long, and that we only have on e real big man on the entire team, you see that there's reason to hope for the future. We have a good young core, plus cap space and flexibility, a top draft pick, and a big-time summer trade asset in Al Harrington. This is a rebuilding project, and to use a dumb metaphor, it doesn't make sense to complain about the architect after he rips down some walls but before he's built the place back up. Let's wait and see how this team looks at the all-star break next season, because I still like the direction this team is going.

I think Aldridge is the guy we need. Not only is he 6'11, but he's 6'11 with extremely LONG arms (he's rumored to have a 7'5 wingspan). He's only a sophomore and didn't even play much his freshman year due to injury, but he's producing and putting up big-time numbers. He's also fairly polished on offense, with a nice shooting stroke and a variety of back to the basket moves (turnaround jumpers over either shoulder, hook shots, etc.), plus he's a pretty decent rebounder and shotblocker. I just think he's the best choice out there for us -- hopefully we either get the top pick, or else a top 3 where Gay and Morrison go ahead of him. Other than that I like what I hear about Tiago Splitter, and then after that maybe either Bargnani or Shelden.

Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Jamal Crawford, Jalen Rose, Quentin Richardson, and Eddie Curry all have a few things in common: they all love to shoot, they all hate to pass, they all hate to defend, they're all overrated, and they all make too much money. Oh, and one more thing: they all play for the Knicks thanks to Isiah Thomas. That's one team that, by comparison, makes you feel good about being a Hawks fan. Both teams are at the bottom of the standings, but we actually have a better record despite having about a third of their payroll and a much younger team. Remember when the NY media voted BK the worst GM in the league? They should have looked a little closer to home.

JJ's problem is that he's a bit of a 'tweener -- he doesn't have PG skills, but at 6'4 he's a bit undersized as an NBA shooting guard. Because he's a little slow of foot it will be tough for him to gaurd much quicker points, but he'll be undersized (and still a little slow) against NBA 2-guards also. He may also have a problem getting his shot off against longer, more athletic 6'7 players on a nightly basis. Morrison, on the other hand, is 6'8 and therefore has a natural position in the NBA -- small forward. He will still be slow of foot, but at least he won't be undersized. Plus, SF's are typically a little slower than SG's so it will be easier to hide Morrison on defense. I was once a JJ basher, but I'm coming around to him. I just don't think he's a high lottery pick like Morrison.

I think Luol Deng may have been the right pick.

Paul is great on offense, but that's not really the Hawks' problem anyway. We need some defense and rebounding around here.

The guy I'm most impressed with in this entire game by far(meaning the one guy I would choose for the Hawks if I could select any player out there), is Dwight Howard. That guy is an impressive physical specimen. In fact, I think I'd rather have Dwight than Amare Stoudamire because Dwight can defend and rebound and his offensive game will come along soon enough.

We need Aldridge. He's 6'11 with a 7'5 wingspan, and plenty of athleticism and skill. I think he has the potential to be a Chris Bosh / Rasheed Wallace / Jermaine O'neal type of player. If we miss out on him, though, I would definitely think about trading the pick.

I would actually think about that trade even though I'm a big critic of Marbury. I like Frye as a power forward better than I like Smith at that position, and with JJ we would have someone who could allow Marbury to play off the ball as a 2-guard on offense. (Then we could trade Lue to, say, the Lakers.) This seems like a pretty good team to me on paper, but I'd be afraid Marbury would find a way to make the rest of the team unhappy and continue his losing ways: G: Joe Johnson G: Stephon Marbury F: Marvin Williams F: Channing Frye C: Zaza Pachulia Bench: Royal Ivey Salim Stoudamire Josh Childress LaMarcus Aldridge

NOT EVEN CLOSE -- it's ALDRIDGE!!! Williams is OK but come on...Aldridge is 6'11 with a 7'5 wingspan, he's two years younger, and he's already far more skilled on the offensive end of the floor. And he's going to be equal to or (probably) better than Williams on defense. I don't hate Williams, but he's not in the same league as Aldridge in terms of being an NBA prospect.

Zaza gets his shot blocked a lot because he's always going to the basket aggressively and he's always getting offensive rebounds in traffic and trying to score...plus he can't jump. Childress gets blocked a lot because he hardly ever takes jumpers and is always attaking the basket (and because he's skinny).

The only problem I have with JJ being our full-time point guard is that he has trouble guarding some of those small, really quick pg's. I still think our biggest need is a big man (hopefully Aldridge and Nene will take care of that), and after that a pure point would be really nice. I also woulnd't mind a combo-guard like Jason Terry who could guard the one but play the two on offense.

I think the Hawks will definitely get the number 1 pick. Why? Because if the NBA hadn't changed the rules Greg Oden would have been available, and with the kind of luck the Hawks have we're destined to finally get a number 1 pick just when there's no true impact player. On the bright side, that means we get Aldridge.