Well here is a new wrinkle....

[jeddelong]

AOL wants to keep a small stake in the teams and partner with McDavid

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/0703/22aol.html

[Diesel]

That makes a lot of sense...

McDavid probably doesn't want to burn assets to pay for the Hawks. Meaning, he doesn't have enough to afford he deal yet.

I told you before that the deal that AOL/McDavid has for the Arena could pay for the deal itself and pay a profit if Managed Right.

AOL basically goes into Partnership with McDavid.... Guaranteeing him the capital to get past the NBA... And Reaping 15% of the profits from the Hawks/Thrashers/Phil...

Also McDavid doesn't have to hunt for a TV Station to carry Hawks games.

It makes sense for everyone involved for those reasons.

It also means that There will still probably be a cap on how much we will spend on players and a coach....BUT if McDavid is a disciple of Cuban he will realize that he has to lower ticket prices and put a team on the floor that fans want to see before he can really make money with Luxury Boxes and in the future television deals.

[Lascar78]

according to the article AOL qould have no say in the operations:

" AOL Time Warner would retain a small ownership stake in the Hawks and Thrashers -- but no voice in any aspect of their operation -- under a complex sales agreement expected to be completed soon with Texas auto dealer David McDavid"

"Under the proposed arrangement, AOL would have no input into any decisions related to the teams or arena, including personnel and budget. McDavid would have full ownership autonomy."

[Diesel]

Yeah, AOL plays Silent Partner.

AOL is basically saying that McDavid is better at making money than us. And they have a point. I think first thing is that McDavid will clean house. He will put good people in position. I don't know if he will stray from using Stotts... Mainly because Stotts shows promise and Stotts is really cheap. I suspect Fratello would cost us about 5-6 million dollars.

Halarious would be McDavid brings in Karl as GM and Stotts as HC...

However, I don't think anyone would do that.

I wouldn't be surprised to see our team gutted like Dallas was back when they gutted the triple J ranch.... Jim Jackson, JasonK, Jamaal mashburn....

[KB21]

Well, a couple of points.

1. McDavid is more of a Tom Hicks disciple than a Mark Cuban disciple. Hicks owns the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Stars. McDavid has studied the paradigm of Arthur Blank and Mark Cuban though. He's an avid basketball fan, but I think McDavid will play more of a role where he just spends the money. He will let the basketball people make the decisions, IMO. In the long run, I think he will be more like Tom Hicks than any of the other owners.

2. McDavid was actually against breaking up the Jimmy, Jason, Jamal trio. He felt that that group needed some time and a new direction from a coaching standpoint. This is when Ross Perot Jr and that other guy who's name escapes me at the moment froze him out. McDavid was a big player in recruiting Don Nelson to Dallas though.

3. I feel that if McDavid could get him, he'd love to get Don Nelson to come in and run the Hawks. Nelson signed a 3 year extension recently though, so he's more than likely off the market. George Karl, Rick Carlisle, and Mike Fratello are the biggest names available, but all three will cost big money. I feel though that with the season about to start, McDavid may stick with the current regime to maintain some form of continuity. Had this deal been finalized earlier, McDavid may have made a play for one of the bigger names. In the end, I think Terry Stotts will remain the head coach of the Hawks with Billy Knight as the GM.

[Guest]

I don't like the sound of all this for some reason.