Jones/#5 for Shareef...the future of this team?

[DJ_Money]

Since I haven't said it yet, I am 100% for this deal. I'd even throw in the #21 in necessary. But, if Miami wants to sub in Grant, it's off. Jones is a guy we had targeted as the perfect backcourt mate to JT. I'm in heaven.

The top 6 players in this draft are James/Milicic/Anthony/Bosh/Ford/Kaman/Lampe.

James will go to Cleveland, Darko to Detroit. Denver will probably end up taking Carmelo.

Toronto will take either Bosh or Ford. Depending on who they choose, this team goes in two different directions.

Scenario #1: Toronto selects Ford, we select Bosh.

A hometown product, how touching.

Bosh is a naturally gifted player. He has the athleticism and skills, just not the size. Of those three, at least, size is the easiest to attain. Bosh reminds me of J. O'Neal when he came out. Honestly, if you take the best qualities of O'Neal and our own Theo Ratliff, I think you have Bosh.

He's got the offensive skills, can handle the ball well for his size, can hit the jumper, blocks shots, rebounds, ect.

It's just his lack of size that gets you. So, it's gonna take him two years to get that NBA body and get adjusted to the game.

Two years, eh? Even with Jones and his longer contract, we still lose the deals of Theo, Hendu, Robinson, and Crawford. That's $34 million there.

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. We'll come back to the summer of '05 in a minute. Let's think about the 03-04 season.

So, we've got Bosh, Jones, Theo, Robinson, Hendu, Crawford, CC, and Dickau under contract. We need some warm bodies to fill that bench. I don't suppose we could lure 'Nique out of retirement, could we?

First item of business, the draft. Assuming we still have the #21 pick, what do we do with it? We're set at the 2, 3, and 5.

Just to be different, what about a guy like Kendrick Perkins? A big body, loves to bang in the post. The closest thing we may ever see to Shaq. If he pans out, we've got a dominant frontcourt on our hands.

With the #37, we grab an athletic wing player. Dahntay Jones is my first choice. But, I won't be dissapointed if we get Ndubi Ebi or Josh Howard.

After that, we've gotta resign JT. We don't have much money to use in the FA market, and really don't need it. Bring home the vets. Get Smitty and K. Anderson in here. [censored], maybe even K. Willis, he could show our youngins a thing or two.

03-04 Atlanta Hawks:

JT/Dickau/Anderson

E. Jones/D. Jones

Robinson/CC/DJ

Theo/Bosh

Nazr/Perkins/Willis

Back to the Summer of '05, and our boatload of cap space. $34 million should get us a good player or two. We've got JT, EJ, Bosh, and hopefully, Perkins as our core. If we can add a quality SF and a couple role players, we're set. We could pick up a guy like Battier, Jefferson, or Turkoglu for the SF.

05-06 Atlanta Hawks:

JT/EJ/Battier/Bosh/Perkins wouldn't be a bad squad.

Whew...now for something totally different.

Scenario #2: Toronto takes Bosh, we select T.J. Ford.

Toronto is said to favor Bosh at this point, so we should expect this to be the pick. I'm not opposed. I've proposed trading JT for Ford before, so I'd still be happy.

PGs can succeed as rookies, as Parker and Tinsley demonstrated for us. But, I'd probably feel comfortable having JT around. If there was some way to convince him to take that one year tender...

We'd let JT/EJ be our starting backcourt. Ford would come off the bench, and we could even play JT/Ford together at times. We could run any team in the L off the floor, just as long as Big Dog is on the bench.

We've got a gaping hole at PF, however. We can go at this one of two ways.

A. Take a PF with the #21.

B. Sign-and-trade JT for a PF.

A. I don't see a whole lot of PF talent available in that area. Collison and West were both great in college, but I just don't see that translating in to the NBA. Varejao would probably be our best option, but I don't see him as ready to play immediately. He's slipped from top 10 to around our area, and I'll take that. If he was good enough to be considered up there, he's gotta have something good going for him. Hendu/Nazr would have to hold us over.

B. Honestly, I'm having a hard time coming up with a PF with a

comparable salary and skills to JT. Kurt Thomas came to mind. But, NY would ask for JT/Ford/Theo/our next 37 1st Round Picks for him, so that's off. Scratch the SNT idea, signing a hard-nosed vet like Tyrone Hill would probably pay off just as well.

So, this year we have:

JT/Ford/Dickau

Jones/(D. Jones/Ebi/Howard)

Robinson/CC/DJ

Hill/Hendu/Varejao

Theo/Nazr

In a year, we've got...

Ford/Jones/Robinson/Varejao/Theo

In the summer of '05, we'll have Ford/Jones/Varejao. Still gotta pick up that SF, need a Center too. Haywood and Curry are the only names on my list, so we'd probably need to find something in the draft.

We could form a very good transition team with Ford/Jones/Jefferson/Varejao/Draft Pick.

Whew...that took a while. Much love to anyone who reads that whole thing. Feedback would be appreciated. I'm probably getting way ahead of myself, but I'm a dreamer. My head is spinning now...

[ATLien_]

Why is everyone so high on TJ Ford? He looks like Brevin Knight part 2 to me. He has some ball handling and passing skills, but so does Brevin Knight. Brevin Knight is a better defender also.

IMO you don't take a undersized PG who can't shoot or play defense with the #5 pick. Call me crazy but I wouldn't do it. I would take Kamen before I took him.

[dj_me]

his leadership ability and all around excitement for the game. Ford and JT could work, but I don't know if I'd be willing to risk it. Besides, DD may still workout.

[coachx]

What i would do is wait until the 5th pick comes up before a decision is made. If Bosh is gone (most likely scenerio)Then I would CONSIDER taking Grant and the #5 pick only id Wade proves he is worth it in workouts. I'd draft Wade if he dominates Hayse and Euros in workouts to prove he is worth the #5 pick. If a 2 guard does not stand out I stand pat with what we have and allow stability to wor its magic. Wade would have to totally wow me is workouts to even consider this but he is the best 2 guard in the draft (Hawks' biggest need)

If Bosh is still around I would take Jones and draft Bosh in a heartbeat. The #21 pick can be thrown in as well to sweeten it up for Miami if needed. I would hate paying Jones that kind of money until he is 36 but Bosh's upside is worth it.

Ford, Wade, Bosh, Kaman, Hayse, and more lottery picks must be invited to workouts to see if this deal has legs or just a internet joke. If These guys come to Atlanta for workouts we then know deals are being talked about

However, standing pat to the teams nucleus is fine with me if Bosh is gone at #5.

[Guest]

Somebody said on the Miami radio they were reporting

Carter/Grant/5th pick for Shareef/JT....

[coachx]

I hope that is just a Miami Sports DJ's wet dream and nothing more.

The more I think about it the more this seems like a farce.

No huge deal shoulld take place before a coach or owner is even known.

+ Anthony Carter should not even be in the league. Ya, Carter and Dickua can run the team what a joke. Then we have to draf Ford at #5 who have an NBA quality pg (a guy who can't shoot) who only looks to pass. Too bad he would only have one scorer to pass to (Dog) and Puppy can't even create his own shot. That would be the worst deal in Hawks history (which is saying alot) and the worst team in Hawks history, who ever the new owner, coach, and and the GM who pulls this deal should be run out of town.

[Guest]

and Miami would be a juggernaut. I mean, that's the team I want here, more or less ~ Eddie, JT, and SAR. Why give those all to them...

[Guest]

Just think...If they brought Zo back they'd have JT/Jones/

Butler/SAR/Zo.Way different look than what this years

Heat team had.

[Diesel]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-heat23may23,0,6873126.story?coll=sfla%2Dsports%2Dfront

Now...

If we were to trade with Miami...

Shareef/JT for Grant/#5/Carter... Could it be good?

First off, Salarywise, it would mean that JT is traded and signed to only the qualifying offer of about 2.9 mil. I don't think we'd do that. It's in our best interest to Sign and trade JT.

Secondly, Carter has a players option on this year's contract. That means that he could opt out (Maybe) and we'd be left with nothing. Plus this is his last year under contract.

So assuming BOSH is GONE at 4. We would have to pick for Wade, Ford, Kaman, and Lampe.

The real question is Could Ford be our Micheal Vick?

What we would have left is:

Ford/Glover/Grob/Grant Theo.

The question again is HOW good is ford.

The alternative is:

Wade.

Is he a franchise player. He's a bit small for the NBA but the guy has game.

Carter/Wade/Grob/Grant/Theo.

This team would be interesting. The question is can Wade come in and be dominant. The SG is normally a position that you don't draft high.

I would want more compensation for JT though.

[Traceman]

We would take SIGNIFICANT downgrades at PG and PF and we would take on a longterm horrible deal in Grant while making Miami a surefire playoff team. NOBODY who might be available at 5 is worth that. I'm not sure I'd do that deal if we could get Carmelo at 5.

Theo

Grant

Carmelo/Dog

DG/DJ

Carter

Is that team going to win anything of significance?