Bleak info on the Hawks

[herschel4heisman]

I don't know how specifically accurate this is but a guy on the Hawks realgm website who has had reliable info in the past just posted this.

*No free agents this offseason. No matter who wins what court hearing, the Hawks people in place now are expecting a very, very long trial and appeals process. What this means to us is that there will be no free agents or outstanding salary added because of the legal ramifications of adding more salary and who would be responsible for paying it. Plus the value it would add or detract to the franchise.

*We are looking at the draft accordingly: trade down to get a point guard and still get a big man (Shelden Williams). The feeling on Shelden is that he may never start for us but we need a big man who can board and play some defense on the interior. Shelden is the most ready to do this and BK feels we have enough "potential" on the team already and we need to start adding more "proven" young guys or rookies to the mix.

*The Houston trade seems very plausible as it addresses the point above. Since we can't add free agents or trade for salary, trading down to get two rookie contracts (Luther Head and Shelden) will give us two young guys with very good college pedigrees.

*Inside the team jaywalker heard firsthand that the situation is bleak. If Belkin gets control of the team almost all of the employees will be fired. Not just big names, going down through the organization to remove anyone "loyal" to the old owners. And it was repeated many times over that Belkin wants to run the team as cheaply as possible and will treat the team as the "Atlanta Clippers" by going with a minimum payroll that the Donald Sterling Clippers did for about twenty years.

*If Belkin takes control, BK and Woodson are 100% fired. Joe Johnson would probably be moved because Belkin never privately approved of his max deal.

*BK has turned down trades that would bring in salary because of the ownership fiasco. It is entirely possible Al Harrington walks for nothing because if we do a sign and trade we still have to bring back salary for him. As noted above, there are legal reasons why the team may not be able to add salary.

*BK has turned down a lot of trade offers that all want the same three players: Josh Smith, Marvin and Childress.

*They won't say it publically but the Atlanta Spirit are very happy BK has avoided overpaying for any talent so far. They really do believe in Joe Johnson and BK will not overpay for anyone just to "convince" them to come to Atlanta.

*Depending on who is calling the shots, expect more pressure to be put on Woodson to run a much more wide open offense this season. The feeling is that with a point guard being brought in (See Hou/Atl trade) and having an inside defensive guy who can run (Shelden) we absolutely have to run an up tempo game to take advantage of our young talent. Woodson's job, even if BK is here, is going to depend on an improvement in the win column and specifically putting out a fan pleasing product to bring in more tickets.

*We are still paying Jon Koncack on his monster contract. Just kidding. But really, what were we thinking giving that guy such a huge deal back in the day?

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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*Depending on who is calling the shots, expect more pressure to be put on Woodson to run a much more wide open offense this season. The feeling is that with a point guard being brought in (See Hou/Atl trade) and having an inside defensive guy who can run (Shelden) we absolutely have to run an up tempo game to take advantage of our young talent. Woodson's job, even if BK is here, is going to depend on an improvement in the win column and specifically putting out a fan pleasing product to bring in more tickets.

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Luther Head avg. 2.7 APG in 30 MPG. This guy is not going to be running a fastbreak (I hope). This is really scary. BK's gone off the deep end. One year, the very wrong year to do it with 3 franchise Pgs available, he's all about (very questionable and proven absolutely wrong to this pint) BPA. The next he's about reaching to fill holes with good role players. What if we had drafted a franchise Pg last year and were free to draft whomever we wanted this year? What a bumbling series of drafts this could become.

W

[deester11]

Shelden may never start? That's insane. Why would you draft a bench player? I believe if we draft Shelden he would start. I think that would suck, but that's me. BPA should be the way to go...not necessarily forward, but Best Point? Available C? If Aldridge is not there and we're not taking Foye or Roy, trade down and maybe grab O'Bryant or Shelden.

[Lascar78]

well assuming that you agree that shelden will never be a starting center, you have marvin-smith-chill-shelden at the 3-4, two of which will obviously not start.