Why not Steven Hunter?

[AtLaS]

I've always liked him as a defensive C. This would give us a good backup athletic 7'0 C that could play defense and block shots for 15-20 minutes per game. He's on a VERY reasonable contract (3 mil per year) and he's locked up until the 09-10 season. He's only 26 years old, why not? What could we offer Denver?

[Zone034life]

I would rather give Solomon Jones a chance to fill that role. If he can't then I would entertain bringing in a Stephen Hunter.

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I would rather give Solomon Jones a chance to fill that role. If he can't then I would entertain bringing in a Stephen Hunter.

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I agree. Solo is a much better shotblocker than Hunter.

This is from Hollinger about Hunter.

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Scouting report: Hunter is a moderately athletic 7-footer whose game mostly consists of dunks and layups around the basket, although he will bust out the occasional right-handed hook shot from the block or pop a jumper when left open at the free-throw line. He's best in transition because he's faster than many other centers.

Hunter has a somewhat thin frame and doesn't have a great motor, so his rebound rate is annually below par -- last season it ranked 54th out of 62 centers. Although he blocks shots at a decent clip, his defense also leaves a lot to be desired because he loses focus and can be overpowered by bigger centers.

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[AtLaS]

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I agree. Solo is a much better shotblocker than Hunter.

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That's not true except for last season, really. Hunter averages a career of 2.7 blocks per 40, Solomon averaged 2.5 last year. Hunter is also 2 inches taller, at least 10 lbs heavier, and I'm sure he's longer as well. Don't get me wrong, I really want to give Solo a chance, but Hunter at $3 million per is a GREAT risk to take. Any legit defensive C will usually cost a lot more. And I don't think Solomon is anywhere NEAR ready to backup the center position for 15-20 minutes per game, especially given how foul prone he is. Hunter doesn't foul NEAR as much.

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Any legit defensive C will usually cost a lot more.

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Then we should pay more rather than waste $3 million on Hunter.

Don't you think there are reasons that teams let him go so easily? The Suns badly needed interior D but had no problem letting him go. Ditto Philly.

Hunter can't play man D or rebound. In 23 minutes last season he average 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Sorry not impressed.

[AtLaS]

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Then we should pay more rather than waste $3 million on Hunter.

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It's an extremely small risk worth taking IMO. Who else could we get? Camby MAY be possible, but he's very risky. There's really noone else I'm interested in that we could get without giving up a ton.

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Then we should pay more rather than waste $3 million on Hunter.

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It's an extremely small risk worth taking IMO. Who else could we get? Camby MAY be possible, but he's very risky. There's really noone else I'm interested in that we could get without giving up a ton.

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Who else could we get?

That sounds like the same logic the Hawks used when they signed Speedy.

[AtLaS]

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Who else could we get?

That sounds like the same logic the Hawks used when they signed Speedy.

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Speedy was signed to a much bigger contract, had extreme health issues, and had never been a starter in his entire career. We signed him hoping that none of those factors would affect his play and were horribly wrong.

Hunter makes much less, and is much less risky. Even if he plays like crap it doesn't hurt us.

Since everyone on this site keeps screaming about a backup defensive C, who can we get? I'm trying to get someone low risk that could potentially help. It's not THAT bad an idea, especially given the lack of defensive centers in the NBA, and ones that aren't extremely overpaid.

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Since everyone on this site keeps screaming about a backup defensive C, who can we get?

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I am not looking for a backup defensive C who can't rebound or guard guys like JO or Curry. I think the Hawks need to look for a guy who can start as a defensive C and guard other bigs with size like Curry and JO without getting manhandled.

I don't see Horford as a C but i am ok with him playing backup minutes there assuming he can play it half decently.

MrH started a thread about this not long ago and said that most likely in season trade candidate would be Foster. Possible free agent aquisitions next summer are Diop and Kwame.

[Zone034life]

I wanted Petro until I read on hoopshype that he had some kind of heart condition. Diop doesn't seem to be going anywhere right now with dampier hurtin. I say sign Dale Davis. He looked ok in limited mintues with the pistons last season. He could play solid man to man defense and is more of an veteren inside presence than anyone on the team. He would be a better option than Lo Wright.

[DrReality]

What I like about Solo is that he has "fire in the belly." Sometimes tries too hard. He needs time and a guarantee that he will get 12-15 minutes a night so he can make his mistakes and learn.

[AtLaS]

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MrH started a thread about this not long ago and said that most likely in season trade candidate would be Foster. Possible free agent aquisitions next summer are Diop and Kwame.

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Foster isn't a bad idea at all, I didn't even think of him, he's a rebounding machine. Doesn't Indy value him pretty high though? We could probably give them Shelden/filler for him, but I wouldn't want to give too much. Not sure if they'd accept that though.

That being said I'd still take a small risk on Hunter.

[AtLaS]

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What I like about Solo is that he has "fire in the belly." Sometimes tries too hard. He needs time and a guarantee that he will get 12-15 minutes a night so he can make his mistakes and learn.

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He'd probably foul out in 15 minutes. We don't have time to develop projects right now. I would give him time, but I wouldn't just let him play through mistakes. This isn't 04-05, we have to win this year. If he plays well, than I'll agree with him getting PT, but we aren't giving players on training wheels time if they aren't playing well.

[Zone034life]

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What I like about Solo is that he has "fire in the belly." Sometimes tries too hard. He needs time and a guarantee that he will get 12-15 minutes a night so he can make his mistakes and learn.

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He'd probably foul out in 15 minutes. We don't have time to develop projects right now. I would give him time, but I wouldn't just let him play through mistakes. This isn't 04-05, we have to win this year. If he plays well, than I'll agree with him getting PT, but we aren't giving players on training wheels time if they aren't playing well.

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I agree. But what if Shelden isn't playing well? I haven't got one person to answer that question and I've asked it countless times in another thread. I hope he doesn't but it is possible.

[AtLaS]

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I agree. But what if Shelden isn't playing well? I haven't got one person to answer that question and I've asked it countless times in another thread. I hope he doesn't but it is possible.

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I'd bench Shelden too. Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely give Solo minutes in a situation like that, but only if he's playing well. We can't have him giving away free points by constantly putting people on the line.

If neither are playing well, I'd give Zaza the primary backup minutes at both positions. Obviously he isn't a defender, but he's a better offensive player than most backup bigs in the league. Regardless, I'd just play who was playing the best, not because he has the most potential (Solomon) or someone we invested a high pick in (Shelden). If both suck, trade them or just don't play them and work with a 3 man rotation of Smith/Horford/Zaza with Shelden/Solo getting minimal backup minutes.

[Zone034life]

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I agree. But what if Shelden isn't playing well? I haven't got one person to answer that question and I've asked it countless times in another thread. I hope he doesn't but it is possible.

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I'd bench Shelden too. Don't get me wrong, I'd definitely give Solo minutes in a situation like that, but only if he's playing well. We can't have him giving away free points by constantly putting people on the line.

If neither are playing well, I'd give Zaza the primary backup minutes at both positions. Obviously he isn't a defender, but he's a better offensive player than most backup bigs in the league. Regardless, I'd just play who was playing the best, not because he has the most potential (Solomon) or someone we invested a high pick in (Shelden). If both suck, trade them or just don't play them and work with a 3 man rotation of Smith/Horford/Zaza with Shelden/Solo getting minimal backup minutes.

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Thats the best logic i've heard about this yet. Thats all I was trying to say in the thread about Solo and Shelden. Shelden hasn't been playing well this preseason. I asked over and over, if Shelden is giving up offensive possesions by missing lay ups and traveling and is not making an impact on defense then what do you do with him. No one seemed to want to answer the question. They kept saying Shelden will be good in the future. What about Nov 2nd though? The future is now for this squad. Or they would say Solo isn't better than Shelden. Who cares if he is playing better then he deserves more minutes than Shelden. I am taking my favoritism out in this season and only want to play who is producing. That includes my guy Smoove. In the past I would say why take out smoove when this team is horrible. Let the kid learn now and he will benefit later for it. Now we have depth and Smoove and Marvin must be consistent if they are to be starters. Bring it or your minutes should be cut.

[AtLaS]

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Shelden hasn't been playing well this preseason. I asked over and over, if Shelden is giving up offensive possesions by missing lay ups and traveling and is not making an impact on defense then what do you do with him. No one seemed to want to answer the question. They kept saying Shelden will be good in the future.

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First of all, I don't really know anyone on this site who is that optimistic about Shelden other than Diesel. And I don't even think Diesel is optimistic about him, he just won't admit he was wrong.

But I know what you're saying, Shelden just seems nervous out there. It's not even a lack of confidence, it goes MUCH further than that. He seems shaky, almost afraid. I don't know what the problem is, but I NEVER saw him play like that at Duke. Playing like that leads to stupid mistakes like travelling and missed layups. What he needs to do is get pissed off and use his doubters as motivation.

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In the past I would say why take out smoove when this team is horrible. Let the kid learn now and he will benefit later for it. Now we have depth and Smoove and Marvin must be consistent if they are to be starters. Bring it or your minutes should be cut.

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Yeah, in the last few seasons there was no reason to NOT play the young players. This season is completely different because we have FAs coming up and we don't have a pick in the first round.