if the Hawks trade Al for 1 first rounder

[mrhonline]

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I think the demand would have been there had more teams been under the salary cap.

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And, with GS essentially dropping out of the discussions, the bargaining power belongs to Indiana. The Hawks would be awfully lucky to get Harrison.

[er9dverk]

i am saying that of the bigs available, i would choose wilcox. if we could get him at about 9 mil per year, for 4 years or so.

magloire for one year doesnt excite me - i wouldnt turn him down of course, but mags would be exciting only if i felt he was motivatied, and if we could lock him in for a few years at some halfway reasonable price.

i would be happy with foster and a pick. if all we get is a pick out of the al trade, but we could lure wilcox via an unmatched offer sheet, i would be very happy.

my order of preference:

indy's first next year, with some protection, plus

1. wilcox

2. mags for several years (if...)

3. foster

4. mags for one year

[mrhonline]

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i am saying that of the bigs available, i would choose wilcox. if we could get him at about 9 mil per year, for 4 years or so.

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That would be an extreme gamble I doubt Knight would be willing to make.

[Packfill]

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How do you figure?

First, Billy raped Indiana in the deal that brought Al to Atlanta by giving them just Stephen Jackson. Now, Billy is going to get Indiana to commit money that Al isn't worth in the long run by doing a sign and trade with them.

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How exactly did BK rape Indiana? Stephen Jackson is a fundamentally flawed player as is Al Harrington. I guess if you consider that Jackson is a fundamentally flawed person as well you may have a point but it was an even trade talent wise.

[mdawg]

If BK gives up Al for nothing (and I'm tired of hearing about cap space. They have cap space every year, and they still struggle to win 20 games), let me ask something: how can anyone Belkin brings in do any worse than BK? Unless everyone on this board is thrilled with winning 20 games a year, I don't see how Belkin or Jan Volk or ML Carr can do any worse.

[mrhonline]

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me ask something: how can anyone Belkin brings in do any

better

than BK?

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I fixed it for you.

(I'm open to hearing feasible deals for Harrington).

[er9dverk]

its a gamble like any deal with anyone is. but i dont think its extreme. seattle offered him 5 years at 8 mil per year, so they think he's worth something. i do too. i like the guy.

[KB21]

It would have to be a separate deal to get him anyway. I feel that what the Hawks are wanting is the first round pick, and it's a bonus to them if they don't have to take on any long term contracts in the process. However, I believe they would make a deal for a young big man like David Harrison if it meant they didn't have to take back any bad contracts to get him. I would throw a guy like Andris Biedrins out there as well, which is probably why no deal is going to be made with Golden State.

[er9dverk]

yeah i agree with this. the pick is all i care about from indy. foster or harrison would be a bonus. biedrens would be great, though apparently unavailable. so would wilcox, though seattle would have to fail to match our offer.

but from indy alone, just the pick and no players is fine with me. better than taking back salary for someone we dont need.

[DrReality]

Has anyone read or posted the Insider info on the Al trade? I don't expect that it is gonna be any different info, but I don't have access to Insider.

[DrReality]

The Hawks go from one media crisis to another. It's either BK being an ass in the media, not shaking Belkin's hand, the Spirit fiasco, Diaw, etc. And now the blunder with Al. Even if they come away with great swap, the way they've drawn this thing out has been yet another media crisis. One step up and four back.

[Diesel]

There's a bright side SOMEWHERE.

There's a bright side somewhere.

Don't you rest until you find it.

KB. We gave them Al and SJax and we got what? Maybe a first round pick? Oh, I know.. John Edwards!

But the bright side is that Al will be making so much money.

The other bright news is that with Granger, Al, and JO.. Indy probably has the strongest frontcourt in the East now.

[Peoriabird]

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The other bright news is that with Granger, Al, and JO.. Indy probably has the strongest frontcourt in the East now.

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I have to laugh at this statement

[TexasPete]

I get a good laugh out of all of the people who last week were giddy about the prospect about getting Foster or Harrison and a 1st rounder...and now, if we get just a 1st for AL then that OK. After all, its Billy Knight and he must know what he is doing, right? In BK we trust. LOL.

We have one GM in town who is a candidate for NFL commissioner and is highly respected throughout the NFL. We have another GM who has won 14 straight division titles and always keeps his team competitive despite massive salary decreases over the years. And then there is Billy Knight. A GM who is more arrogant than any in town. A GM who telegraphs draft picks and doesn't respect fans or media. And most importantly has never whiffed .500 in any professional season as a GM. He has never even won 30 games in a season. And this is the guy some on here have so much faith in? His draft picks (Smoove excluded) could ALL have been better. Childress and his latest high lottery pick are both role players. Do you really believe that there is any magic in getting a role player in the top half of the lottery?

AL is an asset that could have been used cleverly to create more value for the Hawks than a lousy pick. BK raped Indy getting AL for Jax? OK, I don't see that but Indy is bending BK over the table now and giving it to him good.

BK is a piss poor GM employed by piss poor owners who have no clue what they are doing. The Hawks won't get to the playoffs with this guy. He isn't good enough and his coach is second rate. But it would be nice if some would just be honest in their appraisals of the mighty GM's performance. Just because its their hero making the deal it doesn't deserve blind loyalty. This would be a bad, bad trade for the Hawks and the owners and GM hold the accountability for it.

[Peoriabird]

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I get a good laugh out of all of the people who last week were giddy about the prospect about getting Foster or Harrison and a 1st rounder...and now, if we get just a 1st for AL then that OK. After all, its Billy Knight and he must know what he is doing, right? In BK we trust. LOL.

We have one GM in town who is a candidate for NFL commissioner and is highly respected throughout the NFL. We have another GM who has won 14 straight division titles and always keeps his team competitive despite massive salary decreases over the years. And then there is Billy Knight. A GM who is more arrogant than any in town. A GM who telegraphs draft picks and doesn't respect fans or media. And most importantly has never whiffed .500 in any professional season as a GM. He has never even won 30 games in a season. And this is the guy some on here have so much faith in? His draft picks (Smoove excluded) could ALL have been better. Childress and his latest high lottery pick are both role players. Do you really believe that there is any magic in getting a role player in the top half of the lottery?

AL is an asset that could have been used cleverly to create more value for the Hawks than a lousy pick. BK raped Indy getting AL for Jax? OK, I don't see that but Indy is bending BK over the table now and giving it to him good.

BK is a piss poor GM employed by piss poor owners who have no clue what they are doing. The Hawks won't get to the playoffs with this guy. He isn't good enough and his coach is second rate. But it would be nice if some would just be honest in their appraisals of the mighty GM's performance. Just because its their hero making the deal it doesn't deserve blind loyalty. This would be a bad, bad trade for the Hawks and the owners and GM hold the accountability for it.

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So I guess I can officially put you down as a BK Hater right! What about Sheden, do you still hate him too?

[TexasPete]

I don't hate Billy the Great. I DESPISE him as a GM. On Shelden, he is a class kid and solid citizen who I see as a 6ppg and 5rpg guy next season. I never hated Shelden, only passing over Foye and Roy for an unathletic career role player. I also hated the unprofessional way that we went about promising a kid who was there all day for us anyway.

I don't hate Shelden. But he certainly wasn't the player we should have taken. And that will be obvious to even the BK lovers by the end of the next season.

[gsuteke]

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The Hawks go from one media crisis to another. It's either BK being an ass in the media, not shaking Belkin's hand, the Spirit fiasco, Diaw, etc. And now the blunder with Al. Even if they come away with great swap, the way they've drawn this thing out has been yet another media crisis. One step up and four back.

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when does it end?

[Dejay]

Fantastic post, TP. You echoed everything I've wanted to say but didn't have time to put together. One GM has a Super Bowl ring, has his current team in position to be in the running for one, while being a candidate for league commish. Another has engineered a once dormant franchise to 14 straight division titles, four league pennants, a world title despite it's absentee owner's attempts to cut payroll into the middle-tier of teams in MLB, and will have a bust made of him in Cooperstown once he retires. Then there is one who's led as many teams to the playoffs as I have and is known as the running punchline in many NBA circles. Guess which one I give the LEAST margin of error to when it comes to player acquistions?

If Al is traded for just a mid-late pick without any other moves being made during the offseason, I'd be beyond disgusted. While I was all for the JJ trade (to get him and get rid of Diaw), I can't fathom this going down. After all of this talk during and after the season about how the team would be improved from the pieces acquired from the S/T of Harrington, a middling 1st round pick and $$$ (which they'll likely waste anyway) is the best they can come up with? Talk about bending over, grabbing ankles, and taking it. If I was an NBA GM, I couldn't wait to get on the phone with BK once Smith and JJ become free agents; what would he take back for them, a second-rounder? TWO second-rounders?

And while I'm trying to still rationalize the Sheldon pick, I'm still trying to get over the fact that BK chose not just one but TWO guys with high draft picks who talent-wise are no more than role players (Childress and now S.Williams). I wouldn't mind the Williams pick if more was on the roster to justify it (meaning the Hawks would be picking him at 12 instead of at 5) but it make me wonder about the makeup of the front office and just what they are doing.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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I think the one truly incompetent action that BK could have done would have been to resign Al. All we needed was yet another attempt to build the Hawks around a player who wasn't suited for it. I am going to be pretty happy if we get a 1st round pick put of this, Indy isn't a lock to be a good team next year. It really looks like there wasn't a lot of demand for Al around the league. Imagine that, GMs who are as intelligent as the average Hawksquawker!

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Yeah for all those b*tching and moaning can we at least be happy that we didn't re-sign the guy? I mean there was a chance that BK could have thrown money his way. We surely had enough to convince him to stay. That would have stunted the growth of the young forwards on this team.

If nothing else can these pessimists at least be happy for that?

BTW, like I said that 1st round draft pick even if it's in the 20s could be better than an unproven headcase or Jeff Foster. Names like Roy Hibbert, Alexis Ajinca, and Tiago Splitter are guys that could slip with all the talented guys going in the lottery.

[DrReality]

I fear you may be right. It is likely too early to tell . . . but it all hangs in the balance and if BK doesn't make good on this trade with Al, I think the balance shifts against him.