Atl/Miami/Minn....

[Diesel]

If you go somewhere to the very beginning of this argument... Maybe the first of that long thread.... I SAID, we will NOT match ANY offer on JT without NEW OWNERSHIP...

That has always been my premise.

AOL is 26 Billion dollars in debt. They are counting every nickel. If they wasn't they wouldn't sale the Hawks. The Hawks are really the only deal that AOL has that can MAKE money if Managed right.

However, A Bunch of you get on here and say...

"Oh, We will match ANY Offer made for JT."

I laugh. I know it's not true. I know that for AOL, they could care less about the Hawks. If McDavid had taken over the team and IF he has DEEP Pockets, we would have signed Dion and problem given JT a bigger Contract. However, He's not the owner Yet and it may be a few weeks. In the Meantime, if Miami were so inclined, they could easily offer JT 8-9 million and watch us let him slide. it's all about timing.

We are lucky...

Utah won't pay that kind of Money for JT.

Miami will but Miami has it's hands tied with Brand.

Now you guys say" Well the deal is DONE".

I laugh.

The Deal is Not DONE.

Not until the owners of the NBA vote on it. I'm sure what has happened is that McDavid is sweating bullets because the 16th has hit and he's not the owner. Everyone involved is under pressure. But If McDavid doesn't have deep Pockets, there a strong Possibility that the NBA won't OK the deal. YEP, the NBA WON'T OK the deal. You know it's already stated that McDavid wants to Finance the team.... I've broken down how the deal could pay for itself through the Phil's contract. BUT... The NBA won't do it. Especially not if we are in the Luxury tax area already and McDavid doesn't have the assets to cover the cost of the deal.

So what does that mean...

That means that JT's limit is probably 2 players away from the Luxury tax. which realistically is about 7-8 million.

Why?

Because AOL still owns the hawks and the deal won't go through if McDavid doesn't have the money.

So....

Will we Match any deal for JT??

Probably NOT. However, if we can pay him and stay out of Luxury tax, we would probably do it.

Will we SNT JT??

If we can get something and clear some Cap Space, Kasten is probably authorized to do it.

Will we trade any other players??

If we can put together a deal that saves Money.

So should we quickly discount Miami Rumors...

NO. Especially being that Miami hasn't Signed Wade Yet.

[beav]

"Dickau/Diaw?/Grob/SAR/Theo...

Does that impress you?

or howabout if we match with a 9 million dollar deal:

JT/Diaw/Grob/SAR/Theo....

Does this same team as we had last year that won 35 games impress you? "

Frankly as weak as the East is, a good coach would take either of those teams to the playoffs.

A great coach would have them as the #1 seed in the East.

Simple. Just hire Carlisle. You're never going to convince me that Detroit's team from last year had as much talent as the Hawks did.

[KB21]

I don't think approval by the NBA and NHL will be an obstacle. When have you ever heard of the NBA telling an owner that he can't buy a team?

Once the deal is agreed upon, McDavid will get to work on doing what he wants to do with this team. The approval by the NBA is a mere formality.

From everything I've heard, this is a done deal. The only thing left to do is cross the T's and dot the I's.

[jezmund]

....I'd rather have Wade than nothing. We could just make this a straight up Terry for Wade if neccessary. If we trade JT for Wade we will probably need Big Dog's shooting ability. JT for Wade will improve our defense tremendously. Wade/Diaw/Hansen would be great perimeter defense based on what I've heard about Diaw/Hansen.

[Diesel]

In reply to:

---

don't think approval by the NBA and NHL will be an obstacle. When have you ever heard of the NBA telling an owner that he can't buy a team?

---

There's always a first. When was the last time you have heard of a perspective owner trying to finance a deal?

If McDavid doesn't have he assets to cover the deal, the NBA owners may easily reject his deal and allow a guy like Checkettes to get his group together to buy the Hawks/Braves/Phil/TurnerField/Thrashers.

[Traceman]

or MORE? I'll believe it when I see it. I don't think JT has as much value on the open market as Odom. In fact, apparently, JT doesn't have as much value as Arenas, Miller, Magette or any of the other FAs who have either signed deals or received offers right now. The likelihood of a team giving JT more money than Arenas or Miller is EXTREMELY low in my opinion. The bottom line is that we can speculate all day long. Let's see if Miami actually gives JT an offer sheet that we won't be willing to match. I don't think its going to happen.