RealGM Affiliate Mock Draft

[jaywalker72]

Here are the results of the RealGM Mock Draft...

Let me know how I did as the Hawks RealGM...

http://www.realgm.com/src_goaltending.php?articleid=17

[jaywalker72]

They edited (read: they thought I was too long winded) my reasons for the trade and the picks, so here are my unexpergated thoughts...

Trade Explanation:

Jason Terry and Chris Crawford to the Clippers for Lamar Odom, Keyon Dooling, and the 12th pick overall in the 2002 NBA Draft.

Everyone who watches the Hawks daily (about a dozen or so of us) knows that Jason Terry has been playing terrific basketball for almost two seasons now.

His play at point guard last season was terrific, averaging over 20 points a game and 7 assists over the last 50 games (after they finally scrapped the JT=SG project).

He is the heart and soul of the team, and is the go-to guy in the clutch for the Hawks. He single-handedly won games for the Hawks with his blend of playmaking and scoring.

So I traded him.

Pete Babcock has always said that nobody is untradable on the Hawks, ever, as long as the trade made the team better.

With the offer from the Clippers giving a potential Top 10 player in Odom, a replacement at PG in Dooling, and a pick in the lottery (and ridding the Hawks of a 3 year commitment to Crawford), I doubt that Babcock would turn it down.

The Picks:

#12: Amare Stoudemire, PF, Cypress Creek HS

Why:

With Nene Hilario, Dejaun Wagner, and even Jared Jeffries gone at this point, we felt that the size and ability combined with his stated desire to be the best, was too much to pass on, even if the Hawks already had an All-Star PF.

Nobody after Amare seemed to be the right player for the Hawks, who have many tall, but slight players on the roster (Abdur-Rahim, Odom, DerMarr Johnson), and they could use the size that Stoudemire will provide.

The Hawks also lack an aggressive nature around the basket, another area in which Amare excels.

He doesn’t have to play immediately, with Shareef, Odom, Ratliff, and Johnson starting with Dooling, and Toni Kukoc, Alan Henderson, and Nazr Mohammed coming off the bench.

#37: Sam Clancy, PF, USC

Why:

After listing all those frontcourt players AND drafting Amare Stoudemire, why would the Hawks be compelled to bring in another frontcourt player when players like Casey Jacobsen, and point guards like Tito Maddox and Smush Parker available?

Talent and attitude.

Clancy is a fierce competitor, and a talented big body (something you can’t have enough of, right New York?). He brings a fire and aggression that, as stated in the Stoudemire summary, the Hawks lack, especially after trading Terry.

He was the best player left, and adds to the total team talent quotient, which helps in trying to make trades.

Why reach for a player that may not make the team when you can draft someone that could make any team, thereby giving you more trade flexibility?

The Hawks love talented, character guys, especially if they play in the frontcourt. The Hawks would take him and hope he becomes the second coming of Grant Long, a player whose intensity and leadership they still miss.

[Admin]

I cannot see any reason to argue against what you went with. I hate to see JT go, probably as much as you do, but the trade makes us phenominaly better IF we can make sure Odom keeps the tweed away from his lips and doesnt end up suspended for a year. When healthy and motivated he is a far more valuable player than JT by himself, plus we get rid of CCs contract. I hate to see Chris go, but he tries so hard that he ends up getting injured too much. Dooling has major potential to become a force in this league, and we can run with JV at the PG if Dooling isnt ready. I am not sure about Amare, because he is just a HSer, but he has the ability to dominate games on both ends of the court. Too hard to pass that up, like you said and he wont have to play right away anyways. I really think the Clips got raped here in this deal, but I wont complain. With Clancy, I dont mind that pick, but I am not sure I could have passed on Krstic's longterm potential for greatness or Jacobsens ability to shoot from anywhere. I think Clancy could come in and combined with Leon could easily make Nazr expendable in a trade for a big body 7 footer to backup Theo. Not bad at all.

JDub for Hawks GM!

[KB21]

I don't know. If Dooling really had that bright of a future at PG, why are the Clippers trying to get one right now?

I think that trade leaves us without a point guard. Dooling may develop into a Chauncey Billups type, but that's not what I want starting.

I like the Sam Clancy pick. Amare Stoudamire, like pretty much any high school prospect, is a 3 year project at best, IMO.

[jaywalker72]

Would you have traded JT for Odom, Dooling and the pick?

Popular opinion would say that with Odom, he could help with the ball handling....Dooling would be insurance and someone to work with....

Getting Stoudemire would be a project, but he does provide us with something we don't have, and that's a big body down low that attacks the basket and is aggressive on both ends.

[KB21]

I don't believe I would. IMO, that deal would set our progress back a bit. While we would be getting Odom, I see him as a completely unreliable player right now. You can't count on him to be there every night like you can JT. Odom's drug habits have severely decreased his value, which is why you are hearing rumors of an Eric Snow for Lamar Odom straight up deal.

Secondly, with Dooling and Stoudamire, you've picked up two players that have to be developed. The Hawks are looking to make the playoffs now. I don't think they have the time to wait on Dooling and Stoudamire to develop.

Sam Clancy though could help the team immediately. This is a guy I really like. If he were 6-9, he would be a lottery pick. This guy has a great build. He's big, thick, and wide shouldered with very long arms. I think his wingspan is like 7-5. He can score in the post, shoot the open jumper occasionally, rebound, and block shots. If I'm not mistaken, he's USC's all time leading shot blocker. He's got basketball skills, and his body is built well enough that some NFL teams were looking at him as a possible defensive end prospect. Sort of like Julius Peppers.

[MoonKnight]

Why do people continue to think so highly of this player that is frequently off the Court due to character issues and sometimes disappears while on the Court due to passive play? Babcock would not make that deal and I would agree with Babs in this instance. If JT is traded in the near future then we better get a positive upbeat leader type in return b/c our soul and identity (what little there is) would be gone. Sorry Jay but I don't care for your trade.

[Traceman]

I love JT and I have ALWAYS supported him even when many others on this board were down on him. I hope he retires a Hawk. That being said, the fact that Babs is STILL trying to locate a PG with size indicates that he is not completely satisfied with JT's performance at PG up to this point. If we were to make the deal, we would be acquiring a prototypical SF with the ability to be one of the best SFs in the NBA. In addition, we would be acquiring a young PG in Dooling who I think has a ton of potential and worse case scenario, he will end up being an Antonio Daniels clone. Finally, we would acquire the #12 overall pick. The pick could be used to go after a young player with potential like Stoudemire or Qyntel Woods, it could be used to go after a more seasoned player like Kareem Rush or Curtis Borchardt or it could be packaged with a guy like Toni Kukoc to either move up in the draft or for a quality veteran. Any of those options would likely make us markedly better immediately.

I find it amazing that many think this is a bad trade, particularly when the Clips would NEVER do it!

[Guest]

Maybe Sam Clancy is the next Anthony Mason?

[Guest]

Is it true that if Odom gets caught with drugs once more

he will be thrown out of the league?If so,is giving up JT

for possibly the next Micheal Ray Richardson really worth

it?

[MoonKnight]

Lamar Odom simply does not have the killer instinct JT has for being "Tha Man" at the end of games. Only JT (and to some extent TK) have the ability and willingness to take over games late and want the ball in their hands. SAR is a very good player but he is not a clutch player. JT is a very clutch player who would be difficult to replace. Odom is a very passive player, who tends to glide through games as opposed to take them over. Odom will never be a dependable all-star b/c his game is too passive and his off the court decisionmaking is horrible. JT could be a dependable all-star in time. We agree to disagree over Odom's value.

[Traceman]

Agreed!