As soon as we trade Diaw...

[hotboyj]

he starts to get agressive and become the player we all knew he could be

here is a little info from draftexpress on how he is doing in the summer

Boris Diaw- 6-9, SG/SF, Phoenix Suns, 23 years old

Malek Ait-Kaci

Boris Diaw is having a great summer so far, after getting his wish and being traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Phoenix Suns, he’s heading to the European championship as a key player for the French team. While the team is struggling with its defense but also on offense, Diaw is taking responsibility on himself and is becoming more aggressive on the offensive end, taking open shoots and playing one on one when he has to. He’s still the absolute team player who can play any guard or forward position. On a French team which lacks size in the paint he’s very valuable, especially for defensive rebounds. His size, long arms and good vertical leap enable him to crash the glass in front of other big men.

He’s still a team oriented player who has excellent passing ability, but he will surprise a lot of fans who only saw him in Atlanta. As team chemistry is still a big issue for France, he has to create for others but also for himself and has been surprisingly aggressive in the paint. Finally, he’s one of the best one on one defenders on the French team, but has struggled a bit with his team defense during the friendly games as was the case with the whole team. If he can stay on the same path he has shown offensively in the European Championships and then later on in the season with Phoenix , we’ll be able to see the all-around player (defensively and offensively) he was meant to be entering the league. The confidence he can gain in himself playing against some of the top talent in the world here can be huge right before the NBA season kicks off.

I knew it would happen, and its gonna make us look like idiots for giving him up no matter how good JJ does. Maybe its just he is great in Europe and is homesick all of the time he's in the NBA.

[Plainview1981]

It wouldn't surprise me. It would fit right in with

history since the late 90's.

[deester11]

Here's hoping that Diaw becomes what was envisioned of him, but I wouldn't be so quick to discount the fact that for US, he didn't want to be aggressive. Do you honestly think he'll become that player with Phoenix? He has to defer more there, and his passing skills will shine, but I'm not worried about him becoming a scoring machine all of a sudden.

[Plainview1981]

I agree... I don't think he will get the minutes that

JJ did, but he should be more productive there than

he was here.

[WraithSentinel]

I remember reading reports of him making progress last year. Until he does it in a NBA game on a cinsistant basis. Nothing to get all excited about just yet. I think we can all agree Diaw has the talent to be a good/very good player in the NBA. So far his game doesn't translate into the NBA.

[pathway23]

I Hope Diaw does well but I was already hearing reports about Diaw playing as he did in the games this report is describing. Unfortunately it didn't translate into our summer league that well this year and during the regular season this year and last year. I wish him well in Phoenix but he is going to have to prove it on the court as he has reportedly in France here in the USA , now with Phoenix. I don't expect him to blow up offensively but just to become a more useful role player. He could still become a Bruce Bowen type of guy and that is the type of guy that could win a championship but he is never going to be the type of player Joe Johnson will be for us, so since we probably have the best player in the trade, still a good deal for us. So Au revoir Boris Diaw I wish you well and welcome to ATL JJ.

[Nicholasp27]

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its gonna make us look like idiots for giving him up no matter how good JJ does.

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lol

so if jj is a pg and thus becomes a top 5 pg in the nba, we'll look like idiots for giving up a slightly more aggressive diaw?

btw he did this for france before coming to the hawks...he was the mvp and everything...but in the nba he's passive

[Weez]

I'm not sure why people on here bag Diaw like they do...or that is, half the board does.

A couple of notes: unless my memory's playing tricks on me again, didn't Diaw do this some last summer (or the summer before), showing some promise of being authoritative overseas...but subsequently struggling with it upon his stateside return?

If you forgave Diaw for not being able to truly play the point on offense (and on defense), then most here should really have little to complain about...last year he lost out to Smoove and Chill in playing time ~ I'm ok with that.

~ point is you have to look who he played behind (outside of the pg position) as well...

Diaw's a fine BB player. He's got good athleticism, solid fundamentals...but we never had a team that could utilize his skills. Outside of a pf/c who can box out and get rebounds...players with predominantly 'contributory skills' have to have a situation in which to flourish...we haven't had a team that plays 'sound' basketball and didn't need his offense for him to 'valuable' to the team...

[Diesel]

D'Antoni knows exactly what he's getting and knows how to use Diaw... However, I don't think Diaw will be a scoring PG. Phoenix needs a ball handler who can distribute in the absence of Nash... That's what Diaw will be. The Suns got what they wanted from getting Diaw. For us, Diaw was no good because we needed somebody who could score. With Diaw and Collier on the floor, we had 2 guys who could not score to save their lives...

[Nicholasp27]

diaw can score...he just chooses not to

[Blunt91]

So will Diaw be a better backup for Nash than Barbosa? To me Barbosa has better handles but Boris has better Courtvision(actually Bo sees the floor verywell for a tallguard). Neither one are great at running a set offense.

[chillzatl]

nothing he does, short of becoming a 20/10 player is going to make us look bad. But he's not going to become a 20/10 player, now or ever.

Also, what he does in some euro game means jack. That's how he got drafted in the first place, doing good in euro games. he can do that well. But it never translated into consistant play in the NBA and I doubt it will this year.

Considering that Nash is still going to be holding the ball more than anyone else, Diaw will be nothing more than a poor spot up shooter or an outlet guy that plays defense.

[Diesel]

I think Diaw will be a lot better than Barbosa.. Barbosa is probably the fastest guy in the world with a ball in his hand, but his biggest detraction is lack of court vision...

Diaw sees the court very well and is a little more patient.

[Dejay]

Does anybody see him putting up 20/6/6 like JJ? Until that happens, we STILL got the better end of this deal by a metric ton. And as for his summer league exploits, I really don't take stock in that. That and $20 will get you a good entree at Applebees but it won't do you much good if it doesn't translate to games that matter. Dion Glover won a summer league MVP a few years ago, remember? That did him a ton of good once the real season started because he still couldn't outshoot me around the perimeter.

[Guest Walter]

takes more than any comparison of Diaw and JJ!?!

A likely mid-first, but one as high as #10 from LA or Boston and our all but unprotected 1st two years from now will undoubtedly land Pheonix some talent. For example: The mid-first this coming offseason could get Guillermo Diaz. The next, with all the extra out of HS talent not entering the draft, could be anyone 4 or lower.

Even more important than that. If JJ can't credibly run an offense or play the Pg position more than half the time (24 MPG), then that negatively effects existing talent and the team continues to have two huge holes to fill despite spending $70 million dollars.

Diaw has alot of talent and could be a part of the equation that results in us getting the lesser part of the deal with Pheonix. Time will tell. Just don't begin to believe that if JJ is better than any PART of what we sent in exchange for him, that the deal is in our favor.

W

W

[Plainview1981]

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nothing he does, short of becoming a 20/10 player is going to make us look bad. But he's not going to become a 20/10 player, now or ever.

Also, what he does in some euro game means jack. That's how he got drafted in the first place, doing good in euro games. he can do that well. But it never translated into consistant play in the NBA and I doubt it will this year.

Considering that Nash is still going to be holding the ball more than anyone else, Diaw will be nothing more than a poor spot up shooter or an outlet guy that plays defense.

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The Hawks already do look bad to most people... It's fair

in some ways. I mostly got on board once the negotiations

got so hot and heavy... Really though, when you look at it

Joe Johnson isn't a good enough player that he is worth

Diaw, two first round picks, and a 70 million contract.

That's all alot to give up for a player that doesn't really

have any accomplishments and is not a superstar.

[Weez]

do we need to restart the discussion on getting any valued young FA to come to Atlanta makes the deal slightly more palatable, period?

seriously...we had this discussion. about how Dikembe was the last player to sign here of any note? 10 years ago?

if Phoenix struggles this year, and by that I mean more than a 5 game decline over last year...and JJ thrives at all/ the Hawks win say, twice as many games...the announcers will talk about this (thus mentioning the hawks in a good light) every game...

[chillzatl]

ho hum.. imagine that, he's not good enough, not worth it.. to you of all people?!? SHOCKER

[Gray Mule]

Why shoulen't we? He's a good kid. He played, at least

for a few minutes, all five positions for the Hawks.

Pretty good defender. Pretty good ball handler. Not

a bad shot, even if he did hesitate to shoot so much of

the time. His passing was very good here.

If J.J. is a failure, it will make the Hawks look bad

in this deal. We did give up a lot to sign him.

All that being said, I sincerely believe this was a very

good deal for the Hawks. We needed scoring. We needed

a P.G. We traded a bench player plus future draft picks

to fill our need for the upcoming season.

Sure, we sacrificed a couple of unknown future players

plus Diaw for our present need. We could have waited

a couple of more years to see who we might get or go

for a known player who wanted to be here and contribute

this upcoming season.

[Plainview1981]

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ho hum.. imagine that, he's not good enough, not worth it.. to you of all people?!? SHOCKER

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It's a deal that had to be done once things got into

deep talks. But he hasn't proven to be worth 2 1st round

picks, a decent backup, and a 70 million contract to

boot. It was a better deal for the Suns. Didn't they

also get some kind of 5 million exception?

Go around and read... I'm not the only one who believes

that's alot to give up. If JJ can't play PG this can

start looking like the deal for Lorenzen Wright from a

few years ago.