Why do you want Al traded...

[Diesel]

[1524]

He makes bad decisions down the stretch, and I have liked what I have seen of Smoove and latley I think Marvin has shown great improvment.

[exodus]

You forgot to add these responses:

-to improve the teams defense

-to free up more money for free agents

-to get something good in a trade (not SNT)

-all of the above

[chillzatl]

I would pick to free minutes for the young player AND becuase he's the only player that we have that can bring us other things we need.

[joannes3000]

I voted no to an Al trade, barring it nets us:

1. A PG that can run an offense and big enough to guard the opponent's guard(s)

2. A PF/C that can provide interior defense and give us a semblance of a post presence when we set up at halfcourt.

3. A scorer/floor leader at the very least that would offset the loss of the scorer/floor leader that Al represents right now.

I'm hoping we don't trade Al for any form of draft picks because at this point we should already be far enough out of the rebuilding phase that we should be going for proven talent versus potential.

[Diesel]

You don't pay a player 14 million dollars and 12 million per year there after and then surround him with immature players and say... GO win.

You are 100% right. We are at the point where we are not trading for picks and capspace. We are at the point where we have talent and we are filling needs through FAcy and trade.

For exodus who says that capspace should be the reason we trade Al. My question is ... What would you do with 29 million dollars that you can't do with 21 million dollars... What FA out there are you trying to get? It's a neat scarecrow you've built there Ex, but it's not alive. IN reality, there's nothing that we can't do in FAcy because of capspace...

We can sign Al (as I have suggested) and then put out a 6 yr 66 million dollar deal on Nene (if that's what you want to do)...

So who is it that you're trying to get???

[exodus]

The Hawks have over 30 million in payroll committed for next year. Al's cap hold would give them less than $10 million for free agency.

And of course you refuse to address the main issue. Over 70% of the board doesn't want Al here next year because they can see that his 18 ppg doesn't make up for his poor D and rebounding.

[Diesel]

if you account his cap hold.. yes... it's over 30.. however, his cap hold is 150% of what he's making. I prospose a starting salary that start at about 8.3 million which would be less than the cap hold and leave us with a lot of money to spend in free agency.

[exodus]

Wrong.

JJ 12

Z 4

Marvin 4.1

Lue 3.5

Chil 2.8

Smoove 1.5

Salim .7

Edwards 1

Donta .7

Ivey .7

That's $31 million before Al's cap hold.

[Johnnybravo4]

Because I want Francis. Then I want to take our left over money and sign Nene. Then I want to draft Aldridge. Our lineup

Francis/Lue

JJ/Salim

Marvin/Chills

Smoove/Aldridge

Zaza/Nene

That is an azz kicking lineup

[Wretch]

It is the way that Knight has built this team. We have too many forwards. Too much redundancy. Too many people who basically play the same spot. It's a bottleneck and guys do not have the freedom to grow.

Al is a good player, but not an identity defining player. He is complimentary. I like his game and his attitude...though as long as he is the man (or thinks he is the man) on this team then we will always be as good as he is. We will only go as far as he can take us.

Getting a PG does not solve this issue. It makes us better, but it doesn't make Al a star. Which is the heart of the matter. For all of our problems, the one thing that has been consistent through all these losing seasons is the same. We have no star and thus no identity. We have no Iverson to give the ball to. We have no Duncan to GET the ball to. We have no Reggie to free up or find. What we have is on any given night SOMEBODY trying to step up and take over. Which leads to EVERYBODY trying to step up and take over. When the truth is, NOBODY on this team is good enough to do that. Not on a consistent basis anyway.

Put Al next to a true star and he would be great. Put him next to the guys on this team, and he becomes a black hole. Not neccessarily in the traditional sense, a pitfall in the offense, but in the sense that everything will take a backseat to him. It's not good for this young team...ESPECIALLY with so many people playing his same position. If Smoove were a SG and JJ were a point...perhaps. If we had drafted Paul and had a 1,2,3,4 of Paul, JJ, Smove/Chill, Al... That would be great. Someone else would be able to grow as the star of this team and not be held up behind Al's position. As it is, no matter how well any of these guys play, they will not push Al off the floor.

Trading him for draft picks and/or another young forward keeps us in the same cycle we've been in. Keeping him means he is a huge cork in the middle of an already crowded bottleneck. Al is not a star. He is good, but he does not have the ability to dominate/take over/carry a team. Getting the ball to him does not give us that "hope" in key situations.

We need to see if a player that we drafted can or eventually will...and trade AL to free up that opportunity...

OR...

We keep Al and see if we can trade one of our young guys for someone else's, with just as much potential, that DOES NOT play Al's position...(i.e. - a young PG, PF, or C).

I like Al, but it's time for BK to make changes to define roles. With the role of "Star of the Atlanta Hawks" being open for someone other than Al.

[GTWreck]

It would really be a combination of the first two answers. I certainly wouldn't give Al away just to get cap space because the FA class next year is extremely weak.

I would only SNT Al if we could get one of the following:

Legit Big: This is unlikely, but every once in a while, someone becomes available. You pretty much have to take a chance on one who's stock has dropped (like Kwame last year, maybe Nene this year). This will most likely be addressed in the draft as well.

Quality Starting PG: This too will be difficult, although teams are more likely to trade for size. The obvious one here is Steve Francis, although his salary could be prohibitive (almost $50M over 3 yrs).

Young PG + 1st rounder: The draft pick will be used to fulfill our obligation in the JJ trade. I'd love to get Jarrett Jack, although we would probably have to take Ruben Patterson to even up the salaries.

[Diesel]

Team option on Donta that prolly won't get picked up...

1.46 for Smoove.

0.66 for Salim.

after all your cut coners.. that's 28 million in cap space spent.

I'm proposing starting Al between 8.3 -8.5.

That means..

36 million spent.

That leaves... 13-14 million left to spend on other free agents when it's all said and done.

Again... What is it that we can't do in FAcy??

we can run out and get another MAX contract if we so desired.

[Diesel]

GTW, welcome to Hawksquawk..

and you make my point perfectly.

People say we should trade Al for our needs 1 & 5. However, we can't find a good 1 and 5 that a team is willing to give up for Al... Nor does it make sense to trade him just to be getting him out the way.

So the best option is to hold on to him until something better comes along.

however, this poll is just right.

I predict it will expose that most people's motives for trading Al is to make room for Marvin and the Joshes... That being the case, that means we got a lot of people who would move Al for a Box of Peanuts and a bar of soap. Those people are basketball ignorant.

[exodus]

Wrong again. Even without Donta it is still $30 million, and Al's cap hold will be $10 million, leaving the Hawks less than $10 million.

I guess math was never your strong suit, especially if you can somehow round up Harrington's ppg up to 20.

[Diesel]

If it's BK's mission to re-sign Al (as he hinted) then why do you keep mentioning cap hold?? Is it because that's the only way you can put Al's resigning in the darkest light? Al will not make his cap hold. If Anything, BK will resolve that situation as quickly as he can. BUT let's use your deliberately dumb reasoning..

Let's say Al waits til the end of the summer to re-sign.

we still have 10 million dollars to spend on free agents. WHILE that's not quite a MAX contract... What FA is there that we cannot get with 10 million dollars..

There are no more scare crows to hide under Ex...

Name your free agent...

[mudderfudder77]

Someones going to pay Al more than 9 million - maybe Chicago? So you'd offer Al less than you're willing to pay Nene? I don't see that going over to well with Al.

While I am not the biggest Al fan, I could see Chicago offering up 10 mil a year to sign him. We desperately need a goto player and Al is the best of the FA's.

[Final_quest]

If we commit to Al that essentially means we have two max players who are not all stars. Financially, it's very difficult to win in that situation.

Here's the question: Will Al command a max contract? I say, if it's not max it will be close enough to it.

If Al is reasonably priced, which he will not be, we could resign him. Do you guys pay attention to free agency in the off season? Teams overpay to get the best free agents, which Al will be one of the top 3 this offseason. If Larry Hughes can get a big deal, Al will too.

It's about the $$$ to me. Al is not worth it for our franchise.

[Diesel]

So you say Chicago will pay Al above 10 million??

That will just leave them out of the big man sweepstakes... Chicago has less capspace than us, so if they use the bulk of their cap on Al, I assure you that they will be left out in the cold on their real need... "C"...

I don't think Chicago comes after Al unless we do a SNT with them.

You may feel differently, but the Whole world expects Chicago to be a major player in the Nene, Nazr, and Pryz sweepstakes. If they spend 10 million on Al, then they can forget these others.

Also, why spend all that on Al when they had TT and never played him?

[Diesel]

Again, when you ask those questions..

You have to ask who else can offer that same kind of money...

Then you have to ask.. WILL THEY?

I think only two teams can match even an 8 million dollar deal. Chicago and N.O. The question is will they beat it. It will be fun to see this offseason. I don't think Chicago will even try.