The day after.....

[BornandDieHawks]

I have time to think about what happen last night and I still do not like what I seen. Now before you think here is another "Bash BK tread or SW tread" it's not like that at all.

I actually do not have a problem with the pick at all. Anyone who watch this team last year knows our biggest need was on the interior. After reading about our second rounder, I am cool with that pick, although I was not looking for another forward.

What I have a problem with is the way the whole draft was handle. I do not understand why we have to identify and let the world know who we were going to pick a week before the draft. I don't care if Sheldon was the only person we wanted. We should have had the world thinking there was another top player under consideration along with SW. I don't see any downside to bluffing a little to get more in the pot, but instead we showed our hand as soon as the cards were dealt.

I believe we had a good draft but next year I hope we have a different strategy.

[Lascar78]

you're acting as if BK or the media went on TV two weeks the draft and told everyone that we wanted BK. Stuff got leaked, quite a different situation.

[BornandDieHawks]

I know it got leaked, but damn why no other team picks were leaked. Regarless, that's even more of a reason to put someone else name up as a potential pick to throw everyone else off. I am sure every team had who they really wanted but there were also two or three names associated with the team so when the commish announced the name so were surprised.

[Guest Walter]

H not only abandoned his philosophy (which he should have done the year before, not this year when doing so would have been more advantageous rather than detrimental to the team rebuilding effort), he broke the silence code every GM must be expected to keep.

The ONLY reason he still got SW was because NOBODY in the NBA wanted SW remotely as much or enough to trade for him.

In short, BK [censored] up telegraphing our pick but [censored] up more drafting a player nobody wanted enough to care about knowing our draft intentions.

W

[Lascar78]

While we didn't know about the trade, we've pretty much known for months that Chicago was getting Ty Thomas.

We knew that Toronto was getting Gay or Morisson.

We knew it was overwhelmingly likely Toronto would get Bargnani.

[Traceman]

BK said he never made a promise to draft Shelden because Shelden said the Hawks never made him a promise. If BK is lying, then so is Shelden. Does that mean Shelden has no integrity either?

[Plainview1981]

Quote:

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I have time to think about what happen last night and I still do not like what I seen. Now before you think here is another "Bash BK tread or SW tread" it's not like that at all.

I actually do not have a problem with the pick at all. Anyone who watch this team last year knows our biggest need was on the interior. After reading about our second rounder, I am cool with that pick, although I was not looking for another forward.

What I have a problem with is the way the whole draft was handle. I do not understand why we have to identify and let the world know who we were going to pick a week before the draft. I don't care if Sheldon was the only person we wanted. We should have had the world thinking there was another top player under consideration along with SW. I don't see any downside to bluffing a little to get more in the pot, but instead we showed our hand as soon as the cards were dealt.

I believe we had a good draft but next year I hope we have a different strategy.

---

They better cause they likely will not have a first rounder next year.

[Lascar78]

exactly man. It makes no sense for us to promise, the GM says we didn't promise, the coach said we didn't promise, the player says we didn't promise, but some rumor said we did so everyone else must be lying? Please.

[Plainview1981]

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exactly man. It makes no sense for us to promise, the GM says we didn't promise, the coach said we didn't promise, the player says we didn't promise, but some rumor said we did so everyone else must be lying? Please.

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I believe the rumor... But it doesn't make a difference anyway. They got who they wanted, it doesn't appear anyone before the Hawks was really considering him. So what does it matter?

[Lascar78]

Because some people are acting as if it's fact and that therefore the man is a clueless idiot, when the rumor is likely false. I'm sure Shelden knew that we were very interested and that if Aldridge and Bargnani were gone we'd be very likely to take him, and I'm sure we didn't actually make a promise.

[Plainview1981]

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Because some people are acting as if it's fact and that therefore the man is a clueless idiot, when the rumor is likely false. I'm sure Shelden knew that we were very interested and that if Aldridge and Bargnani were gone we'd be very likely to take him, and I'm sure we didn't actually make a promise.

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Did he shutdown all his workouts? If he did, why would he do that if he didn't expect to be picked in the top 5?

[Lascar78]

Because he impressed the hell out of everyone he worked out for, we probably told him we would probably take him if aldridge and bargnani were gone, and he probably thought it was extremely likely that they would indeed be gone by the time he got to us. Plus he had already worked out for a number of teams below us anyhow, and done great in camp.

That's still very different from a promise where we would have been screwed if Bargnani or Aldridge had fallen down to us.

[Plainview1981]

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Because he impressed the hell out of everyone he worked out for, we probably told him we would probably take him if aldridge and bargnani were gone, and he probably thought it was extremely likely that they would indeed be gone by the time he got to us. Plus he had already worked out for a number of teams below us anyhow, and done great in camp.

That's still very different from a promise where we would have been screwed if Bargnani or Aldridge had fallen down to us.

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It's strage considering most people don't think he's worthy of a top 5 pick. Yes, fans aren't gm's... But gm's are pretty dumb too... Think of all the busts over the years.

heck, even with good players... Big Dog was taken number one of the likes of Grant Hill and Jason Kidd one year.

[Johnnybravo4]

Quote:

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Because he impressed the hell out of everyone he worked out for, we probably told him we would probably take him if aldridge and bargnani were gone, and he probably thought it was extremely likely that they would indeed be gone by the time he got to us. Plus he had already worked out for a number of teams below us anyhow, and done great in camp.

That's still very different from a promise where we would have been screwed if Bargnani or Aldridge had fallen down to us.

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But you have to admit that you don't have to be Michael Moore or Oliver Stone to see the conspiracy in this case. There is more circumstantial evidence here than there is linking the Mafia in the Kennedy assassination.

[Final_quest]

Is it possible that part of the promise was that he would take the lowest salary possible for the #5 pick?

[Lascar78]

During the supposed talks of a trade with houston, they were supposedly afraid to do that trade because they thought boston or minny might take him at 6 or 7. One mock had him going at 2. That's not to say he belongs at 2 (he doesn't), but it's all relative. Whoever we pick will get bashed automatically. We all would have been really happy to trade down and get him at 8, which I'll admit, is probably about where he deserves to be. But trades are easier said than done. And in the end, is there such a huge difference at picking a guy at 5 or the same guy at 8? I don't know man, if he's the best fit, he's the best fit. I would have preferred Foye, but if we were going to go big, we came out with the best guy we could. There's something to be said for that.

[Lascar78]

behind every conspiracy theory is at least a motive.

What would BK's motive for making such a promise be? There is none. The only thing to gain is that Shelden stops working out so he won't work out for anyone else and go higher than 5, but we all knew that the top 4 would be Aldridge-Bargnani-Thomas plus one of Gay-Morrisson anyhow. So there was absolutely nothing to gain. That is why it makes zero sense. Add to that that every single person involved has commented that there was no deal in place, and what are you left with?

Some guy somewhere who made a rumor, who is probably the same guy still claiming that Smith and Marvin fight all the time in practice when they don't.

[Johnnybravo4]

The motivation is just Billy Knight displaying his ego.

BK thinks that Shelden Williams was the best big on his board and he was going to get him at 5. If we had the #1 pick we'd get him at 1. IF all the other GM's promised in blood that they'd never pick Shelden in the first round, he'd still pick him at #1 rather than trade down. That's why.

[Lascar78]

what does that have to do with a promise? Maybe he would have picked him at 1. That doesn't change the fact that he still would have nothing to gain by making a promise. And if it's about him showing the world that he has the balls to make a promise, why is he denying it as well as everyone else? To tell the world that he doesn't have balls?

[Johnnybravo4]

Denying things is what GM's do.