Article - BK Genius or Fool

[pound4pound]

Nothing new - a recap of the Aamare trade if BK was the one who pulled the deal:

http://sundaypaper.com/CurrentArticles/tab...-or-a-fool.aspx

[djcorley]

Half of the stuff that guy wrote was off...Avery Johnson??? He meant Anthony Johnson...2 years left on Amare's Deal??? Amare has 4 years left on his max deal. To quote Vecsey is a waste of time IMO.

I don't agree with everything BK has done in his tenure thus far...and I'm sure he'd admit to making some mistakes himself.

However, he inherited a really, really bad roster with a bunch of bad salaries...he was able to purge them all while trying to assemble championship pieces...not easy to do...not to mention doing it with an ownership that has handcuffed him in ways none of us will ever truly know about.

I think he's put this team in a position to be contenders year after year...and we have more tradeable assests then just about any other team in the league...that's leverage to go out and barter for what you need to fill out the roster..

Things are still incomplete in terms of a grade for BK and the biggest reason is Marvin. If Marvin turns out to be the player that just about every executive in the league thought he'd be...Then you can't fault BK for taking him over Deron Williams and Chris Paul...If he doesn't and he's a bust...then that move is the only one IMO that will truly haunt him as a decision maker.

[Diesel]

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he inherited a really, really bad roster with a bunch of bad salaries...he was able to purge them all while trying to assemble championship pieces...not easy to do...not to mention doing it with an ownership that has handcuffed him in ways none of us will ever truly know about.

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Wait a minute Whooptidamndoo....

He did inherit a bad roster full of talented players. However, destroying a team is easy. Trading off talented players for ending contracts is easy. Hell, BK is very good at that.

It's the rebuilding where he sucks...

Look at the names:

Deng, Iguodala, Paul, DWilliams, Roy, Yi... Those are the names of all the guys that he passed up in his drafting. He was doing quite well in FAcy until the handcuffs were taken off... Then he signed up Speedy and Lo?

Whoopti.. you have to see it for the truth, BK has a one track mind driven to build a team thats' long and versatile without thinking about the consequence of not getting Allstar talent when you have a chance.

I think that will be his downfall. YOu say he has picked up champoinship pieces. I say he has missed out on many championship pieces.

[Nicholasp27]

deng/iggy aren't really much better than chill, and it's still early in all of their careers

marvin was consensus top 2 in that draft...yes, it stings, but hopefully law will take that sting away from it...and marvin may still become an allstar btw

roy is a sg and we had one in jj...all we needed was post defense and pg...there were no pgs for 5, so he took the best post defender...we'll see how that works out

u can't say about yi yet; they haven't played in the nba yet

[gsuteke]

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deng/iggy aren't really much better than chill, and it's still early in all of their careers

marvin was consensus top 2 in that draft...yes, it stings, but hopefully law will take that sting away from it...and marvin may still become an allstar btw

roy is a sg and we had one in jj...all we needed was post defense and pg...there were no pgs for 5, so he took the best post defender...we'll see how that works out

u can't say about yi yet; they haven't played in the nba yet

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well said. even the biggest BK haters have to agree with logic, atleast most of them.

[KB21]

Exactly.

The only questionable draft move Billy has made is taking Boris Diaw over Josh Howard.

[Diesel]

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The only questionable draft move Billy has made is taking Boris Diaw over Josh Howard.

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I suggest you stay out of the conversation here KB.

If you don't think drafting a 6th man to be your 6th Sf when you are heavily in need of a PG (and there are two very good ones available) is questionable... then you need to just stick with washing feet and removing corns.

[Gray Mule]

It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.

From where we were when he came on board as our G.G.

to where we are now - Look at the difference.

BK has taken the Hawks from a group of high paid players

who were good, not great, but good. They were capable

of getting us close to the playoffs or perhaps into

the playoffs. That was the best we could ever hope

from them.

Now we believe that our current roster can get us close

to the playoffs or perhaps into the playoffs. The big

difference is, we do not have a lot of very expensive

salaries AND we sincerely believe that there is room

for improvement with all our young players.

Hindsight being 20-20, we can see plainly where he

could have made different moves that would have had

diferent and better results. We can all agree to

this. If he had made all those moves, we could say

that, yes, he is a genius. He didn't and he's not.

Looking at our current roster, the players we have and

the talent that is there, a fool could not have made

the moves that he has, especially with the ownership

in such a mess. Therefore, we must conclude the man

is no fool.

[djcorley]

Dude, you can kill the name calling...

And again, your points are way off...Destroying a team isn't easy...getting someone to take your bad contracts is not easy (ask Isiah Thomas).

Those names that you gave are player that, at most, are only marginally better then the players he drafted...Deng Iguodala

Or he passed on a player that plays the same position as our only all-star and one who plays 40 mins a night (Roy)

And, I'm not even going to mention Yi...he hasn't even played one single game.

As far as Lo and Speedy...News flash Diesel...Free Agents aren't jumping at that opportunity to come here...Neither was his first choice..

I think he's done a good job in most circumstances at drafting and Free Agency...Marvin is the wild card...if he's a star...BK will be a genius...if he's a dud...BK is an idiot for not taking Deron Williams(already a star) and Chris Paul(well on the way)...

Stay tuned Diesel

[thesheedera]

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Deng, Iguodala, Paul, DWilliams, Roy, Yi... Those are the names of all the guys that he passed up in his drafting.

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I didn't know you changed your mind on Shelden?

[ATLBob]

Nice post mule.

[DJlaysitup]

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...Therefore, we must conclude the man

is no fool.

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BK is no fool. He drafted Childress (hipshot) over Deng (a bordeline all-star)...and Marvin over CP3 (a real all-star)...and he is still cashing paychecks.

A fool would have been fired over those mis-steps. Obviously BK has skills when it comes to duping ignorant owners...

[pound4pound]

I think we need to judge BK by his peers to see if he is a fool or genius. Over the past three years, to make it fair for Charlotte, we have had the fewest wins in the East.

Atlanta - 69

Charlotte - 77

New York - 89

Milwaukee - 98

Boston - 102

Toronto - 107

Orlando - 112

A highschool drop out is a genius compared to second graders but compared to his peers - he is a fool. In a bubble, or the Atlanta Spirit Group as is the case, BK isn't judged by outside factors. Just that his team is improving, there are legal situations limiting his abilities, they are the youngest team in the NBA, and the ownership group is splintered.

EXCUSES

We need a GM who puts a premium on winning basketball games. All of this talent we amassed is inching us closer to respectability but what GREAT NBA franshise stays in the lottery? They don't. They have one or two bad seasons and maximize their time there to get the players they need to rebuild around.

Toronto - Bosh

Miami - Wade

Dallas - Novitski

New Jersey - Jefferson

Pheonix - Amare

Or they draft great players late in the draft

Detroit - Prince

Lakers - Kobe

San Antonio - Parker

Or they trade for them

Houston - McGrady

New Jersey - Kidd

Miami - Shaq

Detroit - Wallace

Or they purchase them outright

Pheonix - Nash

Cleveland - Hughes

Orlando - Lewis

Boozer - Utah

Not every deal works - but good GM's make good deals. See Colangelo in Toronto and Pritchard in Portland as shining examples of how to rebuild a team.

[TroyMcClure]

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...Therefore, we must conclude the man

is no fool.

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BK is no fool. He drafted Childress (hipshot) over Deng (a bordeline all-star)...and Marvin over CP3 (a real all-star)...and he is still cashing paychecks.

A fool would have been fired over those mis-steps. Obviously BK has skills when it comes to duping ignorant owners...

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And posters. Anyone who truly defends Chil, really doesn't know what they are talking about. When he plays good, it's like when you let the 13 yr old play and he has a little game and he makes a few plays. But then you see his awful wack j. Chil ruins the floor dynamic. He simply can't take the shots that others can. He shoots from too low a spot and needs like 20 feet to get his shot off. This would be acceptable if he were 7ft and had a post game. He doesn't and it isn't. He's an energy scrub and we need to trade up in the abilities department.

[mudderfudder77]

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deng/iggy aren't really much better than chill, and it's still early in all of their careers

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Wrong. I won't speak for Iggy, but if you think Deng and Josh are the same player you are dead wrong.

So you wouldn't trade Chill for Deng straight up?

Childress per 40 numbers have held steady at 13.5 & 7 each of his three seasons. Dengs have been at 19 & 7.7

Last seasons PER

Deng's PER 18.79

Josh's PER 16.24

3 yr avg PER

Deng's PER 17.09

Josh's PER 15.81

Deng is the better scorer - although Childress clearly has the better 3 point shot. I'd give the Chidress the edge on defense although it is alot closer than many here might believe.

Any metric you might want to use - including eyeball - have Deng on top.

Like I said - I am not going to speak to whether Iggy ranks or not - but Deng is clearly the better player between th two.