Archie Blows Up the Hawks and Starts Over

[archie44]

Here you go. If I was GM (contrary to popular belief at one time on this board - I am not) of the Hawks, here are the deals I would make tomorrow to remake this team.

DEAL #1: (Real GM Trade Code 960632)

Shareef Abdur-Rahim

to Chicago for

Jamal Crawford

Marcus Fizer

Eddie Robinson

SYNOPSIS: SAR goes away for three players who can contribute. Crawford and Fizer are only going to get better. Crawford is a real deal point guard who is going to be a star.

DEAL #2: (Real GM Trade Code 960658)

Theo Ratliff

to Orlando for

Mike Miller

Andrew DeClercq

Darrell Armstrong

SYNOPSIS: Orlando gets the big man it craves. We get a shooting guard who can score. DeClercq has one year left on his deal after this season. He can help take Theo's place by complimenting Nazr Mohammed. Darrell Armstrong will be a free agent after this season and will not re-sign.

DEAL #3: (Real GM Trade Code 960761)

Jason Terry

Chris Crawford

to LA Clippers for

Elton Brand

SYNOPSIS: This deal gives us a physical player inside. With Crawford and Miller on board, there is no reason to keep JT. We all love JT, but he's always going to be misplaced. We re-sign Elton Brand to a max contract. He becomes our young star we build the team around. He's a lot better than SAR!

DEAL #4: (Real GM Trade Code 960730)

Glenn Robinson

to LA Lakers for

Kareem Rush

Robert Horry

Tracy Murray

SYNOPSIS: Lakers get another scorer. Rush is a young player who can develop and back up Mike Miller. Horry has another year left and gives us some muscle. Tracy Murray is a free agent after this season and will be gone.

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THEN in MAY, we win the lottery and get the #1 pick in the NBA Draft in June. We select: LEBRON JAMES

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Your 2003-2004 Atlanta Hawks

PG:

Jamal Crawford

Dan Dickau

SG:

Mike Miller

Kareem Rush

SF:

Lebron James

Marcus Fizer

Eddie Robinson

PF:

Elton Brand

Robert Horry

Alan Henderson

C:

Nazr Mohammed

Andrew DeClercq

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Now I GUARANTEE you that this team has tremendous potential and will be one of the most exciting teams in the NBA.

[KB21]

Blowing the team up to fast is what put the Hawks into this mess. Doing it again will only further prolong the suffering.

You do that, and all you accomplish is what the Bulls have accomplished recently. The Bulls blew their team up and decided to build around Elton Brand. They added Jamal Crawford thinking he could be the future at PG. They signed Eddie Robinson thinking he would give them a player on the rise. Then, when none of that worked, they decided to bomb that and start all over again, building around Chandler and Curry. Well, it still hasn't panned out.

[Traceman]

get carried away! JT/CC for Brand? If Pete could pull off that one trade, I'd take back everything bad I ever said about him!

[archie44]

Wait are you saying blowing the team up too quickly is what has us in this mess?

You mean when we traded Smith, Blaylock, and eventually Dikembe Mutombo?

I'm sorry. How many championships did that group win?

Steve Smith's numbers have steadily declined since he was traded from here. He was a leader, but he was not a star and was not going to lead us to anything except the first round of the playoffs.

Mookie Blaylock was a great player for us. But he was traded at the perfect time. Plus, the player we got for him is pretty good (despite the fact I'd trade him in this scenario).

Dikembe Mutombo was going to be in his mid-30's and a new contract for him would take him into his late 30's or early 40's. Why build a team around an aging player who has also shown decreased production since leaving us.

It's amazing the affection some still have for the Smith, Blaylock, Dikembe group. Sure, it's easy now, as we are losing, to wish we could at least win enough games to get to the playoffs (like that group of three did). But the fact was they were never going to get us past the second round of the playoffs. That's why they were dealt away.

Yes, the plan that replaced those players has not worked. No arguing that at all. That's why I want to blow it up. Would just trading SAR, or just trading Theo help the team and build a brighter future?

I don't think so. Therefore, the bomb exploded!

[KB21]

It's not any affection for Mookie, Smith, or Dikembe. What's the problem is when you have a 12 man roster one season, and then the next season, you have only 3 players from that team still on the roster.

From the 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 season, the only players that the Hawks kept were Dikembe, Henderson, and Crawford.

Instead of doing what the Jazz have done, keeping Stockton and Malone around while developing the players to take their place (i.e. Kirilenko, Harpring, Raul Lopez, etc), the Hawks just decided to make mass changes. The results of mass change is what you see now.

What should have happened in hindsight is this. When the Hawks dealt Mookie for Jason Terry, they should have left it at that. They should have kept Steve Smith for that year. It's a good possibility that they could have pulled off the same trade that Portland did a year later and send Smith to San Antonio for Antonio Daniels and Derek Anderson. Smith could have done a lot for team continuity as well as helping JT along.

[archie44]

If Smith had been kept, Lon would have never been able to switch JT over to shooting guard, which is what got JT going in the first place.

Smith was a decent complimentary player, but he was not a star and was never going to lead us to anything.

The three players you mentioned on Utah that the Jazz has eased into their rotation are currently being mentioned in trade talks with the Clippers.

A blowup is what I did in my post. The Hawks made two major trades to start the transformation (Smith/Rider and Blaylock/Terry). Then they traded Dikembe during the next season. That next offseason, they got SAR. Then last offseason, Glenn Robinson. The transformation started in June of 1999 and went through the summer of 2002. That was a gradual transformation.

The players involved, the mix that was assembled, has NOT worked. But like it or not, the previous nucleus had to be broken up. It was not going to get us past the first round of the playoffs, particularly since the three main players (Mookie, Smith, Deke) were all getting older.